I have received an offer for an ML scientist position in US from europe. The company is willing to sponsor both visas H1B and L1 ( 1y work in EU office then relocate for L1). Which one should I chose? Relevant information: * live in Europe with EU citizenship * born outside EU (but not India/china) * married, my wife want also work in US but not immediately (after ~1 year) * would like to get green card eventually * currently work in a reputable biotech company. Good wlb, but slow growth and shit TC * 1 YoE current role, before 2y postdoc and 1 YoE with BSc degree * PhD in CS, good publication record with high chance for an E2B GC application 1YoE, TC 90k$ #workvisa #h1b #l1
Which is the company and the TC in us and Europe
Join the U.S. entity first, internal transfer put you to the bottom of the band
The TC is still not negotiated, but what if it pays similar in both cases?
It’s not that common to have global pay(u.s. pay) in the industry. Not every company offers that. Unless it’s something like google Zurich
Dang 90k tc
Well it’s biotech industry, not tech. Also the cost of living is less than the bay are. but yes..
Go for L-1. You don’t have to wait for the lottery. Once you’re in the US, your company will immediately apply for your green card, and since not born in India and China, priority date is current so you’ll get it ASAP
Company has a general rule that only applies for GC after 12 months of working in the US office. Is this rule uncommon?
such rule is common
Okay. H1b is better but it is lottery. Since you are not indian or Chinese and have PhD, I highly recommend you contact a US immigration attorney specializing in eb2 niw which is a green card category where you need 0 employer support. If possible you can kick off GC on your own and it is much better. Coming back to original question you may never get H1B since it's lottery so even though it's better L1 is more realistic but again my recommendation is to look at eb2 niw.
EB2 seems to have a large backlog and could take 2+ years I assume. I have contacted attorneys and they gave high chance of acceptance(98%) with refund offer if rejected. Also they’re recommending me to focus on an academic research track for EB2. Would an EB2 application now interfere/disrupts with a future L1/H1b application?
2 year backlog is not that bad OP. Your employer can drag GC application for years. No, it would not but I recommend filing Eb2 niw when you are on American soil on h1 or l1 since it demonstrates immigrant intent. Like if you file it tomorrow and try to get a visitor visa, they may deny visitor visa.
L1A to get green card Faster.
I think I would fall to L1B. Also, the company will sponsor GC after 12 months of working in the US office. Would you think it would be still faster? How long would you estimate? Thanks
L1A is great for green card purposes
L1 then green card - I did this and got my GC within 3 months. Was a pain to not being able to travel internationally though so choose the three months wisely.
Congrats! L1A or B? How was your timeline? How long you were on L1? 3 months sounds veery short!:)
L1B (specialized knowledge). L1A is for managers, I think. 3 months is basic for Germans.
H1 gives you job portability, L1 doesn't. As a result the pay for L1 is lower than H1. Only go for L1 as a backup of H1 isn't picked up in lottery.
I would assume they make the same offer in both cases. Do you mean the pay & negotiation for the consecutive years would be less?
Yes. Because you can't change employers on L1 they aren't incentivised to give you higher pay. There's a sizeable pay difference usually.