Immigration Law / L-1 VISAS

L-1 VISAS (INTRA-COMPANY TRANSFER)

 

The L1 intra-company transferee visa is nonimmigrant, temporary visa, enabling the worker to work in the United States for up to seven years, available to employees of international companies who are being transferred to a parent, branch, affiliate or subsidiary in the U.S. These workers come to the U.S. as intra-company transferees who are coming temporarily to perform services either :

in a managerial or executive capacity (L-1A); or
for a position which requires specialized knowledge (L-1B)
The employee must have been employed abroad for the corporation, firm, or other legal entity (or an affiliate or subsidiary thereof) on a full-time basis for at least one continuous year out of the last three-year period to qualify.

Benefits:

  1. There is currently no annual cap on L-1 visas.
  2. L visa holders are exempted from the requirement of having to establish their continued non-immigrant intent, greatly smoothing the progress of the transition to an immigrant employment based visa, leading to a “green card”.
  3. The employer is not required to obtain a labor certification prior to petitioning in the L-1 category. Compensation level is not prescribed, but U.S. income must be sufficient to prevent the alien from becoming a public charge.
  4. Dependents (i.e. spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age) of L-1 workers are entitled to L-2 status with the same restrictions as the principal. Dependents may be students in the U.S. while remaining in L-2 status. The spouse of an L-1 visa holder (not dependent children) can get employment authorization that allows them to obtain employment and work freely for any legal business they want to work in.
  5. Initial L-1 visa is usually issued for 3 years and can be extended for a total of up to 7 years.

Requirements

L-1 visas are available to a person (and L2 to his/her family), to transfer him/her to work in the United States for an employer, who has worked abroad for 1 continuous year within past 3 years in a related business entity in a manager/executive or specialized knowledge staff capacity. The applicant must be coming to the U.S. to continue providing services for this same employer. The worker does not need to be directly employed by the sponsor. It is OK even if he/she is paid through personnel service company or an agency, or even as independent consultant, as long as the sponsor had management and control over the worker during the qualifying year.

 

Evidence of the qualifying relationship between the U.S. and the foreign employer which address ownership and control, such as an annual report, copies of articles of incorporation, financial statements, or stock certificates; a letter from the alien’s foreign qualifying employer detailing his or her dates of employment, job duties, qualifications and salary and demonstrating that the alien worked for the employer abroad for at least one continuous year within the three-year period before the filing of the petition in an executive or managerial capacity or in a position involving specialized knowledge; and detailed description of the proposed job duties and qualifications and evidence the proposed employment is in an executive or managerial capacity or in a position involving specialized knowledge.

 

If the alien is coming to the U.S. as a manager or executive (L-1A) to open or to be employed in a new office, also file the petition with evidence that:

  1. Sufficient premises to house the new office have been secured;
  2. The beneficiary has, or upon establishment will have, the qualifying relationship to the foreign employer and the qualifying position; and
  3. The intended U.S. operation will be able to support the executive or managerial position within one year of the approval of the petition. This must be supported by information regarding: the proposed nature of the U.S. office (size and scope, organizational structure, and financial goals), financial information about the foreign entity (the size of the U.S. investment and the financial ability to remunerate the beneficiary and to commence doing business in the U.S.), and the organizational structure of the foreign entity.
  4. The legal definition of manager and executive role must be strictly followed and a detailed description of duties must be enclosed along with the petition. Generally, an executive or a manager should have supervisory responsibility for professional staff and/or for a key function, department or subdivision of the employer.

If the alien is coming to the U.S. in a specialized knowledge capacity (L-1B) to open or to be employed in a new office, also file the petition with evidence that:

  1. Sufficient premises to house the new office have been secured;
  2. The business entity in the U.S is or will be a qualifying organization
  3. The petitioner has the financial ability to compensate the alien beneficiary and to begin doing business in the U.S.
  4. An employee should have knowledge of the company’s products/services, research, systems, proprietary techniques, management, or procedures. The level of knowledge required and the employment of the specific alien must directly relate to the proprietary interest of the petitioner. To be proprietary, the knowledge must relate to something which relates exclusively to the petitioner’s business.

L1 Visa for opening new office in the U.S.

It is possible for a manager or executive to come to the U.S. for opening a new office, provided evidence for following are produced:

  1. Sufficient real estate space has been secured to operate a new office
  2. The beneficiary has been employed for one continuous year in the three year period preceding the filing of the petition in an executive or managerial capacity and that the proposed employment involves executive or managerial authority over the new operation; and
  3. The intended United States operation, within one year of the approval of the petition, will support an executive or managerial position, supported by information regarding:
  4. The proposed nature of the office describing the scope of the entity, its organizational structure, and its financial goals;
  5. The size of the United States investment;
  6. The financial ability of the foreign entity to remunerate the beneficiary and to commence doing business in the United States; and
  7. The organizational structure of the foreign entity.
  8. It is expected that a manager or executive who is required to open a new business or office will be more actively involved in day-to-day operations during the initial phases of the business, but must also have authority and plans to hire staff and have wide latitude in making decisions about the goals and management of the organization.