The "L" Visa

Date: Thursday, September 19, 2002 2:39 PM

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ZaZona.com has received letters from L visa holders about the exploitation
and bad treatment they have suffered both from the US government and the
companies they work for. You can read some of these at:
http://www.zazona.com/ShameH1B/Horror.htm

Until recently I considered the L visa to be a little used visa that wasn't
much of a factor as far as American workers were concerned. H-1B is the visa
with all the publicity and that is what most of the protest groups have
focused on. Michael T. Emmons wrote a compelling letter (letter below) to
this site that inspired me to do further research. I found that the L visa
may be an even bigger threat to American workers than the H-1B. It is being
used to replace American workers like Emmons and that is a reason to sound
the alarm! There are no regulations that protect American workers against
being replaced with L visa holders. H-1B does have some vague protections
riddled with intentional loopholes but at least if a company didn't follow
the legal loopholes they could in theory be sued (to my knowledge a US
worker has never won a court case based on H-1B).

Emmons mentioned the fact that the L visa holders were being paid by TATA
and probably avoided paying taxes. Refer to my newsletter "How Do H-1Bs
avoid paying taxes?" because they seem to be using the same method of living
allowance the H-1Bs at TATA use. Also be sure to read Rubenstein's article
at http://www.zazona.com/ShameH1B/Library/Archives/SaveSS.htm

The L visa is tailor made for multinational corporations that have
operations both in the U.S. and a foreign country. Since so many companies
are relocating overseas we can expect this visa to grow in popularity.

The number of L visas has increased at roughly the same rate as H-1B visas.
There are other work visas but the L is used to import full time technical
an managerial workers just like H-1B. The %L column below is the percentage
of L visas that were issued from the total of Ls and H-1Bs. Notice that for
over a decade roughly half of the work visas were Ls. That means that those
of us that have focused on the H-1B were only looking at half the job
destruction picture.

Year L1 Visa H-1B Visa % L

1985 65,349 47,322 57%
1990 63,180 100,446 38%
1995 112,124 117,574 48%
1996 140,457 144,458 49%
1998 203,255 240,947 45%
1999 234,443 302,326 43%
2000 294,658 355,605 45%

http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/aboutins/statistics/Yearbook2000.pdf

Listed below are some of the differences between the L visa and the H-1B.
There are so many advantages to the L visa it's very surprising that it's
not the dominant visa. Assuming that the H-1B quota goes down to 65,000 in
2004, and that will be a contentious issue in Congress, the L visa will
probably be the visa of choice for employers. That's because THERE IS NO
NUMERICAL LIMIT ON THE NUMBER OF L VISAS THAT CAN BE ISSUED. Even more
troubling is the blanket L visa which allows companies to issue unlimited
visas and get them approved in a week. Lobbyists like Harris Miller have
tried unsuccessfully to get approval of blanket H-1B visas.

Information sources:
http://www.murthy.com/UDoverl1.html
http://www.assureconsulting.com/h1b/L1visa.shtml

Comparison of the L-1 Visa with the H-1B

* There is no upper limit to the number of L-1 visas which the INS can
issue. H-1B has a yearly quota.

* The L-1 visa is guaranteed to the employee as long as the paperwork is
filed correctly. H-1B visas can be denied either by the DOL or INS.

* L-I visa holders can convert their visas to H-1B, TN, or Green Cards. The
Consulate guarantees the visa Green card applications filed by L-1 holders
are given preference over H-IB applicants. In other words the L visa is a
fast track to a Green Card.

* An L1B worker in the specialized knowledge category can remain up to 5
years in the U.S., L1A can stay for 7 years. To get an extensions the L visa
holder is required to go back to the companies foreign headquarters and
apply for an extension. H-1B visas are issued for 3 years with a 3 year
extension and after that 1 year extensions indefinitely.

* There is no prevailing wage requirement for the L-1 category so there is
no bottom limit to salaries. Companies are required to pay H-1Bs the
prevailing wage. I have explained many times that the prevailing wage is a
farce but it does at least provide a means for H-1B visa holders or American
workers to file lawsuits.

* To qualify for an L-1 the alien must have worked at a company subsidiary
for one year. H-1Bs have no such requirement.

* L-1s are used for people with "Specialized knowledge" while H-1Bs are used
for "specialty occupation." Only a lawyer can explain the difference.

* The "blanket" L-1 enables a petitioning multinational corporation to
transfer managers, executives, and specialized-knowledge professionals to
the U.S. on work assignments under a single, "blanket" petition. Thus, it
eliminates the need to separately petition for each individual whom the
company desires to bring to the U.S. A blanket petition allows companies to
obtain a visa within a week.

* Blanket L-1s allow indefinite renewals.

http://www.visa-us.com/intranl1.htm
Initially, a blanket L-1 petition can be approved for only three years.
However, if the company continues to qualify, at the end of three years it
can obtain an indefinite renewal.

AND CHECK THIS OUT:
If you are eligible for or now have an L-1 visa as either a manager or an
executive, you may also be eligible for a green card through employment. In
addition to your eligibility, you also have the benefit of being able to get
the green card without going through the rigorous procedures of Labor
Certification, which is usually the first step required for those seeking
green cards through employment. The purpose of the Labor Certification
procedure is to show that there are no American workers available to take
the U.S. job that has been offered to you. However, if you qualify for L-1
status as a manager or executive, you also fall under a green card
preference category called priority workers. This category is exempt from
Labor Certification requirements.

September 18, 2002

My Story by
Michael T. Emmons
Florida

Indians from India now dominate my work group. They’re in the USA on work
visas, specifically here to replace American workers. My job has now
changed from working on the e-Business applications that I developed,
enhanced and supported for the past 6 years to training these Indians so
they can take over my position and support the products I developed. My
scheduled displacement date is December 2002. Others have already been
replaced. The next round of layoffs is Sept 30, 2002. We’ll all be
displaced by December 2002.

Currently we have 13 Indians on work visas at the Siemens ICN office. More
arrived today and more are due to arrive within a week. It is happening all
across America, is only getting worse and affecting more and more
industries.

Think about it?
You have a job in America and a foreigner comes into your country and takes
your job. But first you have to TRAIN him so he can do your job then your
company lays you off.

Can you believe it?
Now, what if this happened to you? How would you feel? At what point in
time is enough enough? Our congressional members have gone too far and I
beg you to stand up to them. Congressional staffers tell me this is illegal
yet nothing gets done. When staffers tell you it’s illegal, think again,
they are uninformed. Congress set up these visa laws to let foreigners into
our country (an alphabet soup of visas) and there is nothing that stops a
company from replacing American workers with foreigners. This is not the
same as moving a plant to China or Tiawan. The US government has no
jurisdiction over those territories. This is happening in our own backyards
by corporations who only care about net profit.

Why does Congress do this? What is the value of replacing Americans with
Indians? Senator McCain, you actually think this is good for America?

My replacement is in the USA on an intra-company transfer L-1 visa.
Intracomany transfer from Tata Consulting, India to Tata Consulting, USA.
He's then sold off as a "consultant" to American businesses. From what I've
heard, they get paid expenses to work here in the USA plus their Indian
salary(about $1000/month). So, there probably are no taxes being paid, but
they are free to drive on our roads and their children are free to go to our
schools. I swear to god, I saw him reading the "Introduction to the Progress
4gl document". Is that a qualified replacement; I don't think so but I guess
the price is right.

There are many other Indian firms displacing Americans with foreigners on
visas (H-1B and L-1) and it’s not just Indians but they comprise a huge
margin of foreign workers. Often the Indians workers do not know the real
economic situation in the USA. They are told there are too many jobs for
Americans. When the Indians arrived on-site in Lake Mary they were shocked,
you could see it on their faces. This unscrupulous consulting firm misled
them. They had no idea they were coming to America to replace American
workers. They thought there was this great need in America for technology
workers. I think some actually care about the Americans losing their jobs
but what can they do.

The next place this is going to affect is in our educational system.
Students are not going to choose Engineering or Computer Sciences, etc; when
foreigners comprise the majority of those jobs at cutthroat rates? Our
technological skill sets will wither away.

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