Here is another edition of "Dear Sophie," the advice column of a practicing lawyer who answers questions about immigration at work in technology companies.
"Your questions are critical to the dissemination of knowledge that enables people around the world to push boundaries and pursue their dreams," says Sophie Alcorn, an immigration attorney in Silicon Valley. "Whether you are in people ops, a founder or looking for a job in Silicon Valley, I would love to answer your questions in my next article."
Extra Crunch members have access to the weekly "Dear Sophie" columns; use the promotional code ALCORN to purchase a one or two year subscription with a 50% discount.
Dear Sophie: I am currently here in the US on an E-2 visa. My employer, a company based in Slovakia, moved me to the United States to help establish our operations in the United States. What are my options if I want to look for other job opportunities here in the US with a different company? Is there a feasible procedure to upgrade my E-2 visa to another type, such as an L? Thank you! - Restless in Redwood CityDear restless,
Thanks for your questions. Non-immigrant (temporary) visas that allow you to work in the United States require an employer to sponsor you for the visa, and those visas remain tied to the employer's sponsor and the position you were hired for. We recently launched the Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp (DEARSOPHIE promo code for 20% off signup) - this is a course that can help you bolster your credentials if you end up pursuing an O-1A visa, which I'll talk about later.
There are a few visa options available if you find a US company willing to sponsor you such as J-1, O-1A and H-1B and various green card pathways. You had applied for an L visa, but this would only have been an option if you had worked for the new company overseas for at least one year in the past three years. Both the L-1A visa and the L-1B visa allow multinational corporations to transfer a manager, executive or employee with specialist knowledge from an overseas office to a U.S. office - or to open an office in the U.S. - from an office abroad. The L-1A visa for executives or managers transferred within the company is similar to the E-2 visa in that both allow the visa holder to travel to the United States to set up a new office for the sponsoring company.
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