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Explained: As H-1B fee spikes, could L-1 visa be the alternative?

The L-1 has been used for decades by multinational firms to shuffle executives and staff between overseas and US offices. How is it different from H-1B, and who is eligible?

President Donald Trump gestures from the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, on Monday. (AP photo)

At a time when the President Donald Trump administration has announced a steep new $100,000 fee on fresh H-1B applications, many are asking if the lesser-known L-1 visa could be an alternative. The L-1 has been used for decades by multinational firms to shuffle executives and staff between overseas and US offices.

What is the L-1 visa, and who is eligible to apply?

The L-1 is a non-immigrant work visa for intracompany transfers. A worker must have been employed abroad by a multinational’s parent, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate for at least one continuous year in the last three years, in either an executive/managerial role (L-1A) or a specialised knowledge role (L-1B). Only the company can petition; individuals cannot apply on their own.

Texas-based attorney Chand Parvathaneni told The Indian Express, “It is an intra-company transfer visa. If you are working for company X in India for a year, you can be transferred to the same company X in the US but you cannot switch to company Y or Z. The rule is very narrow.”

How many L-1 visas are issued each year, and how many are refused?

According to official US State Department data, issuances dipped during the pandemic but quickly recovered: 76,988 were issued in FY2019, just 24,863 at the 2021 low, and then 76,671 in FY2023. Refusal rates, once around 10%, have fallen to about 3–4%.

Still, Parvathaneni cautioned that “L-1s have higher rejection rates than H-1Bs because of potential misuse. Specialised knowledge is vague, so consulates in India especially scrutinise them very closely.”

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the L-1?

The main attraction is that there is no lottery or quota. Multinationals can apply year-round, and large firms can use “blanket petitions” to speed up processing. The visa also allows dual intent holders can pursue a green card without jeopardising their status, and spouses on L-2 visas can work automatically in the US.

But the restrictions are sharp. The visa is available only if the worker has already spent a year abroad in the same company. It ties the employee to that firm’s US branch, with no portability to another employer. And it has hard time limits: five years for L-1B and seven for L-1A. Unlike H-1B holders, L-1 workers cannot extend simply because they are waiting for a green card.

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Houston-based attorney Rahul Reddy said companies factor this in: “If a person is more eligible for L-1, they were already bringing them on L-1 because it costs less and keeps them tied to the company. But it’s not easy. Rejections are high because the government wants to make sure the skill set is truly unique.”

Also in Explained | H-1B $100,000 entry fee explained: Who pays, who’s exempt, and what’s still unclear?

How does the L-1 compare with the H-1B?

The H-1B is meant for “speciality occupation” professionals with a bachelor’s degree or higher, and is capped at 85,000 new visas each year.
Employers must pay the prevailing wage and prove they are not undermining US workers. By contrast, the L-1 has no cap and no prevailing wage requirement, but only applies to intra-company transferees.

Reddy rejected the idea that H-1Bs are “cheap labour”: “If I hire a US citizen, technically I could pay them just the minimum wage, around $20,000. But if I hire an H-1B, the Department of Labor sets the prevailing wage. For a software developer, it’s about $100,000, and we cannot pay less than that. On top of that, there are filing fees of $2,500 to $10,000, plus lawyer costs. So H-1B is never cheap labour. If anything, L-1 has fewer wage requirements.”
Is the L-1 really an alternative to the H-1B?

Not for most workers. Parvathaneni said: “The number of L-1 visas is not going to suddenly go up because of the H-1B changes. Companies like Infosys or TCS already use this option when their employees don’t clear the H-1B lottery. For most individuals, it is not a substitute.” Reddy agreed: “Even before this new $100,000 fee, companies were already choosing L-1 if their employees were eligible. It’s not something new.”

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Would a student on F-1 be eligible for L-1?

No. “For students in the U.S. on F-1, this is not an option at all. They haven’t worked abroad for a year with the same company. L-1 is for employees already embedded in the company’s global operations,” Parvathaneni told The Indian Express.
What about dependents? Can L-1 spouses work?

Yes. A major advantage of the L-1 is that dependents can build their own careers. “Not only can the spouse come,” Reddy explained, “they get an automatic work permit. If I am taking one of my employees from India to the U.S. on L-1, their spouse is more inclined to stay with my company because they can also work.” This contrasts with H-1B, where spouses on H-4 visas face restrictions.

The L-1 is not a blanket substitute for H-1B. It is a specialised tool, meant for multinational transfers, with big advantages for those who qualify but hard limits for everyone else. As Reddy summed it up, he said, “These are really skilled people that companies are paying a lot of money to bring into the country.”

“For people in India working for big firms, yes, it can be an option. For students or those already in the U.S., no. H-1B remains the main pathway. So the number of L1 applications flowing in going forward will grow at the same pace and will have no impact on the H1B’s rule changes because both have independent and separate paths and requirements,” Parvathaneni added.

Vidheesha Kuntamalla

Vidheesha Kuntamalla is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express, based in New Delhi. She is known for her investigative reporting on higher education policy, international student immigration, and academic freedom on university campuses. Her work consistently connects policy decisions with lived realities, foregrounding how administrative actions, political pressure, and global shifts affect students, faculty, and institutions. Professional Profile Core Beat: Vidheesha covers education in Delhi and nationally, reporting on major public institutions including the University of Delhi (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia, the IITs, and the IIMs. She also reports extensively on private and government schools in the National Capital Region. Prior to joining The Indian Express, she worked as a freelance journalist in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for over a year, covering politics, rural issues, women-centric issues, and social justice. Specialisation: She has developed a strong niche in reporting on the Indian student diaspora, particularly the challenges faced by Indian students and H-1B holders in the United States. Her work examines how geopolitical shifts, immigration policy changes, and campus politics impact global education mobility. She has also reported widely on: * Mental health crises and student suicides at IITs * Policy responses to campus mental health * Academic freedom and institutional clampdowns at JNU, South Asian University (SAU), and Delhi University * Curriculum and syllabus changes under the National Education Policy Her recent reporting has included deeply reported human stories on policy changes during the Trump administration and their consequences for Indian students and researchers in the US. Reporting Style Vidheesha is recognised for a human-centric approach to policy reporting, combining investigative depth with intimate storytelling. Her work often highlights the anxieties of students and faculty navigating bureaucratic uncertainty, legal precarity, and institutional pressure. She regularly works with court records, internal documents, official data, and disciplinary frameworks to expose structural challenges to academic freedom. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2024 & 2025) 1. Express Investigation Series JNU’s fault lines move from campus to court: University fights students and faculty (November 2025) An Indian Express investigation found that since 2011, JNU has appeared in over 600 cases before the Delhi High Court, filed by the administration, faculty, staff, students, and contractual workers across the tenures of three Vice-Chancellors. JNU’s legal wars with students and faculty pile up under 3 V-Cs | Rs 30-lakh fines chill campus dissent (November 2025) The report traced how steep monetary penalties — now codified in the Chief Proctor’s Office Manual — are reshaping dissent and disciplinary action on campus. 2. International Education & Immigration ‘Free for a day. Then came ICE’: Acquitted after 43 years, Indian-origin man faces deportation — to a country he has never known (October 2025) H-1B $100,000 entry fee explained: Who pays, who’s exempt, and what’s still unclear? (September 2025) Khammam to Dallas, Jhansi to Seattle — audacious journeys in pursuit of the American dream after H-1B visa fee hike (September 2025) What a proposed 15% cap on foreign admissions in the US could mean for Indian students (October 2025) Anxiety on campus after Trump says visas of pro-Palestinian protesters will be cancelled (January 2025) ‘I couldn’t believe it’: F-1 status of some Indian students restored after US reverses abrupt visa terminations (April 2025) 3. Academic Freedom & Policy Exclusive: South Asian University fires professor for ‘inciting students’ during stipend protests (September 2025) Exclusive: Ministry seeks explanation from JNU V-C for skipping Centre’s meet, views absence ‘seriously’ (July 2025) SAU rows after Noam Chomsky mentions PM Modi, Lankan scholar resigns, PhD student exits SAU A series of five stories examining shrinking academic freedom at South Asian University after global scholar Noam Chomsky referenced Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an academic interaction, triggering administrative unease and renewed debate over political speech, surveillance, and institutional autonomy on Indian campuses. 4. Mental Health on Campuses In post-pandemic years, counselling rooms at IITs are busier than ever; IIT-wise data shows why (August 2025) Campus suicides: IIT-Delhi panel flags toxic competition, caste bias, burnout (April 2025) 5. Delhi Schools These Delhi government school grads are now success stories. Here’s what worked — and what didn’t (February 2025) ‘Ma’am… may I share something?’ Growing up online and alone, why Delhi’s teens are reaching out (December 2025) ... Read More