H-1B vs L-1: Which US Work Visa Fits Your Situation

Choosing between H-1B and L-1 comes down to whether you have a job offer from a US company and a bachelor’s degree (H-1B), or at least a year of experience at an affiliated foreign company and a structure set up to grow staff in the US (L-1).

In short

• H-1B requires a bachelor’s degree and a job offer, but only about 20% of registered applicants get a slot in the lottery.
• The additional $100,000 H-1B fee formally applies to petitions filed on or after September 21, 2025, while the appeal is pending.
• L-1 requires at least 1 year of experience at an affiliated foreign company — a degree and job offer alone aren’t enough.
• L1A suits executives (about 90% of cases), L1B suits specialists with narrow expertise (about 10% of cases), and proving that expertise for L1B is harder.
• To renew L-1, a new US company must show at least 8, ideally 10, employees within a year — a spouse doesn’t count toward that headcount.

How H-1B and L-1 Differ

H-1B and L-1 are both nonimmigrant work visas — issued for temporary employment in the US, not as a direct path to a green card. That’s where the similarity ends: from there, the two visas diverge in eligibility rules, employer requirements, and renewal procedures. The details for each visa follow in the next sections.

H-1B Requirements

H-1B requires a bachelor’s degree or higher, and the position being offered must also require that level of education — this is a visa for specialists with a specific qualification.

• Bachelor’s degree. The baseline requirement is a higher education credential at bachelor’s level or above.
• Specialty occupation. The job being offered must genuinely require that education. The narrower the specialization, the better the chances of approval.
• Generic titles are a risk. Positions like “manager” or “director of business development” are considered too generic and can create difficulties in getting the visa approved.
• Job offer. A job offer from a US company is required — without one, there’s no filing an application.
• Company type doesn’t matter. The law sets no requirements on a company’s age, headcount, or industry: even a startup founded the day before can file a petition.

Positions like “manager” or “director of business development” are considered too generic and can create difficulties in getting the visa approved.

The $100,000 H-1B Fee: Where Things Stand

In 2025, Trump introduced an additional $100,000 fee on H-1B: it applies to certain H-1B petitions filed on or after September 21, 2025, and must be paid by the petitioner regardless of whether the visa is processed at a consulate or involves a change of status inside the US. The law allows for exceptions, which the Department of Homeland Security approves only in rare cases. In early 2026, a court struck down this requirement, but the Department of Justice appealed the ruling. Until the appellate court rules on the case, the effect of that decision is stayed — meaning the fee formally remains in force.

Until the appellate court rules on the case, the effect of that decision is stayed — meaning the fee formally remains in force.

The material doesn’t give a clear-cut answer on whether the $100,000 must be paid right now: the matter is in litigation, and a final ruling hasn’t been issued. If the appellate court upholds the lower court’s decision, the fee will be struck down; if not, it stays in effect. Anyone applying for H-1B through a consulate should check the current status of this dispute right before filing — the situation could change at any time.

How the H-1B Lottery Works

1. Spring. USCIS runs an annual registration period for the H-1B lottery.
2. The draw. Of all registered applicants, roughly 20% are selected and get the chance to file visa paperwork.
3. Summer. Those selected in the lottery file for the visa: applicants already in the US go through a change of status, while others apply at a consulate.

The filing process itself after winning a slot is fairly straightforward — the real hurdle is the lottery, where not every applicant gets a spot.

L-1 Requirements: Experience and an Affiliated Company

L-1 requires a job offer from a US company and at least 1 year of work experience at an affiliated foreign company. Without that work history, there’s no filing for L-1 — unlike H-1B, where a degree and a job offer are enough.

An affiliated company means a legal connection between the US entity and the foreign one: either the US company is a subsidiary of the foreign parent office, or both share the same controlling shareholders. In other words, the controlling shareholders of the foreign company must also be the controlling shareholders of the US company.

Most often, it’s company owners who move on L-1: someone is the CEO of a foreign firm, opens a US subsidiary, and that subsidiary sponsors their visa. This is the most common L-1 scenario, though the law also allows simply transferring an employee with a year of tenure at the overseas branch or headquarters.

H-1B vs L-1: Key Differences

Criterion	H-1B	L-1
Education	Bachelor’s degree or higher required	No formal degree requirement
Work experience	Not required	At least 1 year at an affiliated foreign company
Selection process	Annual lottery, about 20% selected	Filed based on job offer and affiliated company, no lottery
Employer size requirement	Not checked: age, headcount, and industry don’t matter	Staff size and job titles directly affect renewal
Additional fee	$100,000 for petitions filed on or after September 21, 2025 (in litigation)	Not mentioned

Figures reflect what’s stated in the article.

L1A vs L1B: What’s the Difference

Category	Who qualifies	Share of L-1 cases
L1A	Executives and managers: CEO, deputy director, head of a major department at the foreign company	around 90%
L1B	Specialists with specialized knowledge: the company’s own software, specific production processes, proprietary methods	around 10%

For L1A, the US position doesn’t have to mirror the foreign one exactly — a former CFO can take on a CEO role — but the managerial level of the position has to be maintained. For L1B, the applicant must prove they hold knowledge that ordinary candidates on the US labor market don’t have, and that their presence in the US is needed to train local staff or build out a new department. It’s precisely because this is hard to prove that L1B is seen less often.

Staffing Levels for L-1: How Many Employees You Need and How It Affects Renewal

At the foreign company, the applicant must have managed at least 10 employees — this confirms sufficient business scale even before filing. For a new US company, the bar is lower: after one year of operation, it needs to show at least 8 employees, ideally 10.

This is where L-1 fundamentally differs from H-1B: for H-1B, the employer’s headcount doesn’t matter and isn’t checked, while for L-1, staff size and job titles directly affect whether the visa can be renewed.

If the US company is new, L-1A or L-1B is initially granted for just one year. The renewal application must include data on every employee and an organizational chart. In practice, some applicants only learn about the 8-to-10 threshold when renewal time comes and manage to hire just 3–5 people — that isn’t enough.

In practice, some applicants only learn about the 8-to-10 threshold when renewal time comes and manage to hire just 3–5 people — that isn’t enough.

What matters isn’t just the headcount but the structure of the staff. For L1A, a hierarchy is expected: the main applicant as CEO, at least two managers with higher education reporting to them, and rank-and-file employees below the managers. The final headcount should be at least 8 employees, not counting the applicant.

A spouse is never counted toward the headcount, under any circumstances. Other relatives, however, can be included in the count.

Proving Managerial Work for L1A and Specialized Knowledge for L1B

For L1B, the applicant must prove the uniqueness of their own knowledge and skills — showing they hold specific expertise that ordinary company employees don’t have.

For L1A, headcount alone isn’t enough: beyond staff size, the applicant must prove that their job is predominantly managerial in nature. To do this, applicants prepare a percentage breakdown of how their time is spent across different types of tasks. The goal is to show that the main activity is management, not operational functions like sales or making client calls: subordinates handle all the day-to-day routine work, while the applicant manages them and oversees the company’s overall direction.