L-1 for Indian IT Professionals in 2026: Blanket L, the $4,500 Fee and the PERM Suspension Explained

The PERM suspension does not stop an onsite L-1 transfer, but the $4,500 fee, in-person interviews and the five-year L-1B clock are what Indian IT staff must now plan around.

Part of our guide to H-1B visa stamping.

If you work for an Indian IT services company and have been offered an onsite role, here is how the L-1 visa from India works as of November 1, 2026. Your employer either files an individual Form I-129 petition with USCIS or, if it holds a blanket L approval, gives you a Form I-129S to take to an in-person interview at a US consulate in India. The PERM suspension the Department of Labor announced on 2026-10-08 for eight employers, including TCS, Infosys, Cognizant, Wipro and HCL, does not reach L-1 petitions as announced. What it can stall is the green card behind your transfer.

Status as of 2026-11-01

• In effect: a $4,500 9-11 fee on L-1 petitions, extensions included, for "covered employers" (since 2026-09-09; it sunsets after 2027-09-30).
• In effect: DOL's PERM suspension of Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini (announced 2026-10-08; no written notice, no end date).
• In effect: in-person interviews for L applicants, renewals included, under the State Department's 2025-09-18 update.
• Scheduled: from 2026-11-09, USCIS accepts only the 09/09/26 edition of Form I-129.
• Proposed, not in effect: ending the 60-day worker grace period (comments close 2026-11-10) and removing deference on I-129 extensions (comments close 2026-11-13). Check the Federal Register for any final rule after those dates.
• Does not apply to L-1: the $100,000 H-1B entry proclamation, whose text covers H-1B only and never names L-1 (its fee is blocked in court in any case).

L-1 visa India in 2026: the short answer

An L-1 lets a multinational move you from its Indian entity to a US affiliate after at least one continuous year of work abroad within the three years before admission. L-1A covers managers and executives (up to seven years); L-1B covers specialized-knowledge staff (up to five). There is no lottery, and as of November 2026 L applicants in India, renewals included, interview in person.

A Congressional Research Service insight dated 2026-10-14 says Cognizant, Infosys and Tata submitted 100%, 91% and 95% fewer FY2027 H-1B registrations. CRS does not say what replaced them, and we found no public data showing a matching rise in L-1 filings. For the H-1B side, see how TCS, Infosys and Cognizant handle H-1B sponsorship.

How do Indian IT employees get an L-1 visa?

Through one of two tracks. If the US company holds a blanket L approval covering your Indian employer, a consular officer in India decides your eligibility at the interview, using Form I-129S. Otherwise your employer files an individual Form I-129 with USCIS, and you interview after USCIS approves it.

Individual L-1 petition vs blanket L (as of 2026-11)

A blanket approval covers only the entities it names, and USCIS's L-1A page sets size and volume tests (such as 10 L-1 approvals in the previous 12 months, or a US workforce of at least 1,000); see whether your employer qualifies for a blanket L-1. For L-1B workers, the USCIS L-1B page adds a condition IT staff often miss: "in order to qualify under the blanket petitioning process," "the employee having specialized knowledge must also be a professional."

The blanket L route, step by step

1. Ask your employer's global-mobility team whether the blanket approval names your Indian entity, and whether you go as L-1A or L-1B.
2. Collect Form I-129S, a copy of the blanket approval notice (Form I-797) and the role letters counsel asks for.
3. Complete the DS-160 on the State Department's Consular Electronic Application Center.
4. Confirm on the US Mission India visa pages which post currently accepts blanket L cases, then book an appointment.
5. Attend in person with your passport, I-129S, approval notice and counsel's document list, and expect questions about your role and knowledge.
6. Check your I-94 on the CBP I-94 website after you land, and those of any L-2 family members.

On the individual track, steps 3 to 6 are the same, but you book only after the I-129 approval notice arrives. From 2026-11-09 USCIS accepts only the 09/09/26 edition of that form, per the USCIS I-129 page.

What about your spouse?

USCIS says that "spouses of L-1 workers in valid L-2S nonimmigrant status are considered employment authorized incident to status," and an unexpired I-94 showing L-2S is evidence of that. An optional (a)(18) EAD card is filed on paper only, and the USCIS processing-times tool showed 18 months for that category on 2026-11-01.

Coming back after OPT: the one-year rule

If you went home after OPT and joined an IT firm's Indian entity, the L-1 opens only after one continuous year with that organization abroad, within the three years before admission. OPT or STEM OPT months in the US do not count. See working abroad for a year and returning on L-1.

Where do you get an L-1 visa stamped in India?

At a US post in India, in person. Since 2025-09-06 you apply in your country of nationality or residence, and under the State Department's 2025-09-18 interview waiver update, effective 2025-10-01, L applicants interview in person, renewals included. There is no interview-waiver ("dropbox") route for an L-1 renewal.

The harder question is which post. Searches for "L1 visa stamping in India" still surface 2011-era notices that sent all blanket L cases to a single post. We could not confirm current blanket L routing as of 2026-11-01, so check the US Mission India pages and ask your employer's counsel rather than rely on a decade-old notice.

How long is the L-1 appointment wait in India?

It changes by post and by month. The State Department's Global Visa Wait Times page showed "Last updated: 21-OCT-2026" as of 2026-11-01, and its figures are estimates, not bookings.

1. Open the Global Visa Wait Times page and select each US post in India you can use.
2. Read the estimate for petition-based temporary workers, the group that includes L.
3. Compare it with the dates the US Mission India appointment system actually offers.
4. Plan around the one free reschedule US Mission India has allowed since 2025-01-01.

The interview is not always the end. Mintz wrote on 2026-10-30 that section 221(g) administrative processing holds "can delay issuance for weeks or months" (Mintz outlook). Do not resign or book a one-way flight until the visa is in your passport.

Does the PERM suspension stop L-1 transfers at TCS or Infosys?

No, not as announced. DOL's 2026-10-08 action covers PERM labor certification for eight employers, and an L-1 petition does not use PERM. Nothing announced reaches the I-129 L petition or the I-129S (our reading).

As of 2026-11-01 the suspension is in effect, with no written DOL notice, no stated basis and no end date. Mayer Brown reports the announcement that DOL "will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labor certification applications" for the eight, and notes the action "does not suspend any employer from the H-1B program."

The employers have spoken about business impact, not your case: TCS reportedly said on 2026-10-09 that its PERM filings "were in single digits"; Cognizant's CFO said on the 2026-10-29 earnings call, per the published transcript, "We do not expect the PERM suspension to have a material impact."

Where it bites is the green card: if your plan was L-1 to permanent residence through PERM at one of the eight, that first step is on hold. Our PERM suspension explainer covers the H-1B and AC21 angles.

The $4,500 fee: what changed on September 9, 2026

The 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit fee under Public Law 114-113 used to apply only to initial L-1 petitions and change-of-employer petitions. A DHS final rule effective 2026-09-09 extended it to L-1 extensions, USCIS confirmed this in Policy Alert PA-2026-16 on 2026-10-27, and the fee runs for petitions postmarked through 2027-09-30.

The policy alert says the fee "applies to all L-1 petitions filed by covered employers except for amended petitions that do not request an extension of stay." A covered employer has 50 or more US employees, more than half of them, in the aggregate, in H-1B, L-1A or L-1B status, part-time staff included. The employer pays, and coverage depends on a payroll you cannot see, so ask HR. More in our guide to the $4,500 L-1 extension fee.

Old rule, new rule, what to do (as of 2026-11)

Is L-1B harder to get than H-1B for IT staff?

It is a different kind of hard: no lottery, but the evidence must be about you and your employer's own knowledge. USCIS's I-129 data for FY2026 Q1-Q3 show L-1B petitions approved at 91.3% with requests for evidence (RFEs) in 29.4% of cases, against 97.0% and 8.5% for H-1B (L-1A: 91.2% and 25.9%).

Those rates are approvals divided by approvals plus denials, initial petitions and extensions combined; USCIS notes its L-1A and L-1B tables exclude blanket L filings. They also predate PA-2026-05 (in effect since 2026-08-05, challenged in court), which lets officers deny without an RFE when required initial evidence is missing.

The test explains the higher RFE rate. USCIS describes specialized knowledge as "special knowledge possessed by an individual of the petitioning organization's product, service, research" or "an advanced level of knowledge or expertise in the organization's processes and procedures." In our reading, skill in a widely used language or platform is not, on its own, what that definition describes. Our guide to how consular officers probe L-1B specialized knowledge walks through the interview side.

If your onsite job is at a client's office

This is where many IT services placements get stuck. Under the L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2004, as the USCIS L-1B page explains, an L-1B worker stationed primarily at an unaffiliated employer's worksite qualifies only if the petitioner shows that "the employee will not be principally controlled or supervised by such an unaffiliated employer" and that the work "is not considered to be labor for hire." Ask to see what your employer filed about your role and the client site, so you can describe your actual job accurately. Our explainer on the L-1B third-party worksite rule covers how petitioners document these cases.

Can I get a green card from an L-1B at an IT services firm?

Yes in principle, but two clocks work against Indian-born L-1B workers: the five-year L-1B maximum, and India Final Action Dates of 2013-11-01 for EB-2 and 2014-01-22 for EB-3 in the November 2026 Visa Bulletin. At the eight employers under DOL's suspension, the usual first step, PERM, is also on hold with no end date.

The L-1B route usually runs PERM, then an EB-2 or EB-3 I-140, then a wait for your priority date. For November 2026, USCIS's filing-charts page requires employment-based I-485s to use the Dates for Filing chart (2015-01-15 for EB-2 and EB-3 India); consular cases use Final Action Dates. Outside the suspension, PERM runs on current rules, and DOL's FLAG page showed analyst review at January 2026 priority dates as of 2026-10-21.

L-1A managers and executives may instead use EB-1C, which needs no labor certification, so the suspension does not on its face reach it; EB-1 India's Final Action Date is 2023-02-01. But under 8 CFR 204.5(j)(3), someone already in the US needs at least one year abroad "in a managerial or executive capacity" in the three years before entering as a nonimmigrant, so a US promotion to L-1A does not by itself open EB-1C.

The trap is AC21. The extensions that let workers stay past a status limit while a green card is pending sit in the H-1B regulation, 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(D)-(E). L-1 has no equivalent, so a pending PERM or approved I-140 does not stretch an L-1B past five years.

A worked timeline (hypothetical dates)

By our arithmetic, a priority date set in 2027 or later sits more than 13 years behind today's EB-2 India cutoff. That is not a forecast, but it shows why the L-1B maximum usually arrives first. Options people raise with counsel include a change to H-1B (cap-subject unless you were counted before; the FY2028 registration is not announced) and, where duties abroad and in the US are genuinely managerial, L-1A and EB-1C. Our guide to L-1 to green card paths compares them.

Common mistakes

• Reading the PERM suspension as an L-1 or H-1B ban. As announced, it covers PERM labor certification only.
• Trusting a 2011 consulate notice. Confirm blanket L routing on the US Mission India pages or with counsel before booking.
• Planning a dropbox renewal. L renewals interview in person since 2025-10-01.
• Assuming a pending green card extends an L-1B. AC21 extensions belong to H-1B; the L-1B maximum is five years.
• Assuming the blanket covers every L-1B. A specialized-knowledge employee must also be a professional to use it.
• Treating proposals as law. The grace-period and deference proposals are not in effect; today's rules apply.

Frequently asked questions

How do Indian IT employees get an L-1 visa?

After one continuous year with the company's Indian entity in the three years before admission, the US employer files Form I-129 with USCIS or, with a blanket L approval, gives you Form I-129S for the consulate. Either way you interview in person in India; State's 2025-09-18 update covers L renewals too.

Does the PERM suspension stop L-1 transfers at TCS or Infosys?

No, not as announced. DOL's 2026-10-08 suspension of eight employers, including TCS, Infosys, Cognizant, Wipro and HCL, covers PERM labor certification, which an L-1 petition does not use. It can stall a PERM-based green card and, as of 2026-11-01, has no written notice and no end date.

How long is the L-1 appointment wait in India?

There is no single current number. Check the Global Visa Wait Times page (last updated 2026-10-21, as of 2026-11-01) against the dates the appointment system actually offers, not a forum post.

Is L-1B harder to get than H-1B for IT staff?

There is no lottery, but the evidence must show knowledge specific to your employer. USCIS data for FY2026 Q1-Q3 show L-1B approvals at 91.3% with RFEs in 29.4% of cases, against 97.0% and 8.5% for H-1B, all before the August 2026 PA-2026-05 policy.

Can I get a green card from an L-1B at an IT services firm?

Usually through PERM and an EB-2 or EB-3 I-140, but the L-1B maximum is five years with no AC21-style extension. India's November 2026 Final Action Dates are 2013-11-01 (EB-2) and 2014-01-22 (EB-3), and at the eight suspended employers PERM is on hold. See an immigration attorney early.

Who to ask

Your employer's counsel represents the employer, so take personal status strategy (an H-1B switch, an L-1A move, green-card timing) to your own licensed immigration attorney. If you are still on F-1, OPT or STEM OPT in the US, ask your DSO about anything touching SEVIS. Tax after moving onsite belongs with a professional who handles nonresident and dual-status returns.

Sources

• USCIS, L-1B Intracompany Transferee Specialized Knowledge
• USCIS, L-1A Intracompany Transferee Executive or Manager
• USCIS, PA-2026-16, Fee Guidance for L-1 Intracompany Transferees (2026-10-27)
• USCIS, G-1055 Fee Schedule and Form I-129
• USCIS, I-129 RFE and approval data, FY2026 Q3, processing times and adjustment filing charts
• State Department, Interview waiver update and Global Visa Wait Times; US Mission India visas
• DOL, FLAG processing times
• Code of Federal Regulations, 8 CFR 214.2 and 8 CFR 204.5
• Congressional Research Service, Insight IN12747 (2026-10-14)
• Mayer Brown, DOL enforcement actions

How we checked this: we read the USCIS L-1A and L-1B pages, PA-2026-16, the USCIS I-129 data file, the CRS insight, the Mayer Brown alert and 8 CFR 214.2 and 204.5 directly, and took fees, processing times, State Department, DOL FLAG and Federal Register items from those agencies' pages as published through 2026-11-01.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice; your own approval notice, I-94 and your attorney's advice govern your case.

If you are weighing an onsite L-1 against a US job search on F-1, OPT or H-1B, F1Jobs can help you plan a focused search for employers that sponsor.