Applying for US L1A - before or after Canadian citizenship?

[L1ASK]

Hello All,

My employer is asking me to relocate to US for a few years and willing to provide L1A. I am in the middle of Canadian citizenship process (AOR mail received). My question is, do I wait to complete Canadian citizenship process, get the passport and then apply for L1A? Or can I initiate the L1A application now and modify it once I receive Canadian passport? Is one way beneficial than the other in terms of speed of L1A or hassles of L1A change?

Issue for me is that I have to surrender my current passport after getting Canadian citizenship as my home country does not allow dual citizenship.

Thank you for taking time to reply!

 

[zackzzz]

imho the biggest benefit of Canadian citizenship with L1 is just that it doesn't require a visa stamp, you can just take your approved I-129 through the immigration and get cleared to enter US with the L1 status.

Depending on your current citizenship, the wait time to get an appointment with US Consulate inside Canada to get an L1 stamp can be very long. Last time I was lucky to book an appointment with the Toronto consulate 3 months in advance, you probably (if you're lucky) will get your Canadian citizenship already at that point

I wouldn't worry too much about the changing of passport too much if your company is doing the blanket L1 petition. You can just use your old approved I-129S at the port of entry using your new Canada passport and CBP will let you in

 

[L1ASK]

Thank you for your reply. This is very helpful.

 

[wick_sran]

Hello All,

My employer is asking me to relocate to US for a few years and willing to provide L1A. I am in the middle of Canadian citizenship process (AOR mail received). My question is, do I wait to complete Canadian citizenship process, get the passport and then apply for L1A? Or can I initiate the L1A application now and modify it once I receive Canadian passport? Is one way beneficial than the other in terms of speed of L1A or hassles of L1A change?

Issue for me is that I have to surrender my current passport after getting Canadian citizenship as my home country does not allow dual citizenship.

Thank you for taking time to reply!

One can also use TN after citizenship to work in USA. Could you share any benefits of L1 over TN? Thanks.

 

[desmat]

One can also use TN after citizenship to work in USA. Could you share any benefits of L1 over TN? Thanks.

L1A gives him green card very quick..