# L1B Visa holder's right



## YUVRA_1978 (Oct 23, 2008)

Hi All, I came to US on LIB Visa and was told that i would be performing a particular role...when i came to US i was asked to do jobs which were far away from the role that i was told i will be doing? Infact i was asked to do things that were far away from what was mentioned in the petition.......what are legal remedies available to me? can i sue my employer for damages? 

Also does employer can fire the L1 employee in US ? If yes are they responsible to pay for the travel expenses back home? Please let me know. 

Thanks,


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## gkloken (Aug 9, 2007)

I am not up to date with those in the moment but I can refer you to someone that specializes in these cases. Contact him for advice. Home


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## bobodaclown (Oct 15, 2008)

YUVRA_1978 said:


> Hi All, I came to US on LIB Visa and was told that i would be performing a particular role...when i came to US i was asked to do jobs which were far away from the role that i was told i will be doing? Infact i was asked to do things that were far away from what was mentioned in the petition.......what are legal remedies available to me? can i sue my employer for damages?
> 
> Also does employer can fire the L1 employee in US ? If yes are they responsible to pay for the travel expenses back home? Please let me know.
> 
> Thanks,


well you told the US government that you want to come to America and when they asked why should we let you in you answered because of my specialised knowledge. admittedly I dont know what you can do legally to your employer but am pretty sure that if you went down that route that you will end up booking a one-way ticket back to your motherland.

Yes, your employee can fire you if your on a L1. Depedning on why you got fired for is dependant if they have to pay for your flight back home, i.e you go to work naked singing the macarena then you are looney and they have every rght to fire you and say we do not want to deal with you anymore. On the otherhand, if there isnt enough work in the company for your specialist knowledge then they will still have to pay for your flight back home.

Best thing to do is to re-read the contract that you signed.


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## synthia (Apr 18, 2007)

I would assume the employer is required to get the employee out of the country, as a condition of the visa.


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## bobodaclown (Oct 15, 2008)

synthia said:


> I would assume the employer is required to get the employee out of the country, as a condition of the visa.


The Visa is between you and the US government. 

The details about who pays for what, coming and going, is in a contract between you and your employer, I know of people who are on L1's that paid there own way here and have to pay their own way back. So if you breach that contract between you and your employer then they don't have to honour the rest of it which would be your ticket back.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

bobodaclown said:


> On the otherhand, if there isnt enough work in the company for your specialist knowledge then they will still have to pay for your flight back home.
> 
> Best thing to do is to re-read the contract that you signed.


I wouldn't count on that. If you have a contract regarding your employment (which is not all that common in the US) see what it says about repatriation. It's also possible that something about this might be stated in your offer letter, if you have one. If all else fails, see if your employer has any sort of employee policy manual that might indicate their obligation toward "international" transferees.

But if you get fired, there is no legal obligation for your employer to pay your way back home unless you had some form of written agreement on the subject prior to your taking the job. When the company I was working for had their first lay-off, all the international folks who were fired got notice that they had 30 days to leave the country.
Cheers,
Bev


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## synthia (Apr 18, 2007)

I moved to South Africa, on a contract, to take up a very specific internal consulting and training job for a specific product. Sometime during my first weekend there, before my first day at work, someone mentioned my staff. I asked what they were talking about, and why I would need a staff. Well, I was told, of course you will have a staff as manager of internal systems. Apparently they changed their mind about what they wanted me to do, and told everyone else, deliberately neglecting to tell me for fear I wouldn't show up. That was a reasonable fear, because managing wasn't something I that interested me. I had a choice then, to raise a fuss and demand to be sent home, or suck it up and do the job. I chose the latter.

Unfortunately this is not an unusual thing to have happen. Bt the time people actually get in to the US, the business may have changed or there may have been a reorganization. Or they may have lied from the get-go.

Of course you want to do work that will enhance your resume, and that fits with your skills. Are you being asked to do additional work to the work you were hired for? Or is all your work totally outside your role?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

YUVRA_1978 said:


> Hi All, I came to US on LIB Visa and was told that i would be performing a particular role...when i came to US i was asked to do jobs which were far away from the role that i was told i will be doing? Infact i was asked to do things that were far away from what was mentioned in the petition.......what are legal remedies available to me? can i sue my employer for damages?


Most employment in the US is "at will" - which means at the will of the employer and of the employee. Unless you have a written contract that outlines your specific duties (and this is rare in the US), the employer can ask/require you to do anything that needs doing. If you don't like what they ask you to do, you're free to quit.

To sue the employer for damages (assuming you have a contract), you would have to prove actual financial damages caused by the change in working conditions. If you are reimbursed for any out of pocket costs, you have no damages. Also, as long as you are being paid the amount they promised you in your offer letter or contract, you have no financial damages.

Moreover, an L visa is considered to be an internal transfer within a company that has the right to transfer its employees. It doesn't really matter what they told the Feds you were going to be doing. Employers have the right to change their minds like that. (Might be different if you were on an H1B, but I wouldn't count on it.)
Cheers,
Bev


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