December 10, 2004

President Signs Into Law a Bill That Changes the L-1 Visa

As part of the Omnibus Appropriations Act for FY 2005, as previously reported by GT, the L-1
Visa Reform Act of 2004 which goes into effect on March 8, 2005, restricts L-1B specialized knowledge workers from working at a worksite other than the petitioning employer’s worksite without strict oversight by the petitioning employer. The act also revokes a provision that allows certain employers with a blanket L-1 approval to bring qualified workers into the U.S. after only 6 months of employment at a related entity abroad. Those employers with blanket petition will now only be permitted to bring L-1 employees who have a minimum of one year of employment with a related entity outside the U.S. A new Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee of $500 for all L-1 petitions in addition to the $185 filing fee to USCIS was also implemented. The fee will need to be paid on all initial petitions. Please refer to the attached Press Release.

  USCIS Press Release (PDF/88 kb, 1 page)