L-1 INTRACOMPANY TRANSFER VISA

OVERVIEW:

I. The L1 Visa is a non-immigrant visa which allows foreign companies to transfer a manager, executive, or person with specialized knowledge to a US company. The US company must be a branch office, parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of the foreign company.

II. The employee that is transferred must work for the US company as a manager, executive, or person with specialized knowledge. If the employee will work as a manager or an executive, the visa is specifically called an L1A visa. If the employee will work as a person with specialized knowledge, the visa is specifically called an L1B visa.

III. The L1 visa is not eligible for self-petition. The US company must file the petition on the employees behalf. Therefore, the US company is considered the petitioner, and the L1 visa recipient is considered the beneficiary.

IV. The US company must be a parent/subsidiary, branch office, or affiliate of the foreign company.

I. With an L1 visa, the employee is authorized to live in the United States and to work for the L1 employer.

II. The L1-A visa for managers and executives is initially valid for a period of 3 years and can be extended for a total of 7 years.

III. The L1-B visa for people with specialized knowledge is initially valid for a period of 3 years and can be extended for a total of 5 years.

IV. The L1 visa is a dual-intent visa, meaning that you may have the intent to temporarily remain in the United States while simultaneously having the intent to possibly immigrate to the United States and become a lawful permanent resident in the future.

V. The L1 visa does not require that the US company pay you a certain wage. Some visa categories require that you get paid a wage commensurate with your position and job title. The L1 does not have this requirement. The US employer will still have to comply with state and federal minimum wage laws.

VI. By getting approved for an L1 visa, your spouse and unmarried children under 21 years old are eligible to accompany you in the United States. Your spouse and unmarried children would obtain L2 status as your dependents. Your spouse can obtain employment authorization to work in the United States. Your children can attend US schools and get a US education.

VII. The L1 visa is eligible for premium processing. Premium processing is a service provided by USCIS where they expedite the processing of your L1 petition for an additional fee of $2,500. If you select premium processing, USCIS will issue a response to you L1 petition within 15 days.

VIII. To get an L1 visa, there are 4 main requirements:

a) There must be a qualifying relationship between the foreign company and the US company.

b) The employee coming to work in the US must have been continuously employed full-time by the foreign company for at least 1 year within the last 3 years before filing the L1 petition.

c) The employment with the foreign company must have been in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity.

d) The employee’s work for the US company must be in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity.

IX. There must be a qualifying relationship between the foreign company and the US company. The L1 visa is for foreign companies to transfer certain workers to a US company. 

To get an L1 visa, there must be a qualifying relationship between the foreign company and the US company. There are 3 types of relationships that qualify:

a) Parent/Subsidiary

b) Branch Office

c) Affiliate

X.  Parent/Subsidiary: There are 3 types of relationships that qualify as a parent/subsidiary relationship:

a) One of the companies owns more than half of the other company.

b) One of the companies is a 50% partner of the other company, which is a joint venture. In this situation, the parent company must have equal control and veto power over the subsidiary company.

c) One of the companies owns less than half of the other company but has control over the company.

XI. Branch Office. A branch office is the same company as that parent company but is operating in a different location. To qualify for L1, the branch office must be registered as a foreign corporation operating in the US.

XII. Affiliate. There are 3 types of relationships that qualify as an affiliate relationship:

a) Two companies that are both owned and controlled by the same parent company or person.

b) Two companies that are owned and controlled by the same group of people. Each person must own and control roughly the same proportion of each company.

c) Some multinational accounting firms.

XIII. Duration of the Qualifying Relationship

a) There must be a qualifying relationship between the US company and a foreign company throughout the duration of the L1 beneficiary’s stay in the US.

b) For existing US business L1: the qualifying relationship does not have to be between the US company and the same foreign employer that the beneficiary worked for. Any qualifying relationship with a foreign company should suffice.

c) For new business L1: if the US business is considered a “new business” (discussed below), the foreign company that the US worker worked for must continue to operate and must maintain a qualifying relationship with the US company.

XIV. The employee coming to work in the US must have been continuously employed full-time by the foreign company for at least 1 year within the last 3 years before filing the L1 petition.

a) To qualify for an L1 visa, the foreign worker seeking transfer to the US must have been continuously employed by the foreign company, full-time, for at least 1 year within the last 3 years prior to filing the L1 petition.

b) The employment must be continuous. 

c) Periods spent in the United States in lawful status for a branch of the same employer or a parent, affiliate, or subsidiary and brief trips to the United States for business or pleasure will not interrupt the one year of continuous employment abroad but those periods will not count towards the year of qualifying employment. 

d) The entire year of qualifying employment should be satisfied by the time the L1 application is filed.

e) The employment must be full-time (at least 35 hours a week). There is 1 exception to the full-time requirement in certain circumstances where the L1 beneficiary worked for multiple affiliated companies.

XV. The employment with the foreign company must have been in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity. To qualify for an L1 visa, you must have worked for a foreign company in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity.

XVI. An advanced level of knowledge of the processes and procedures of the company. This means "knowledge or expertise in the company’s 'specific' processes and procedures that is 'not commonly found in the relevant industry' and is 'greatly developed or further along in progress, complexity, and understanding than that generally found within the employer.

XVII. The employee’s work for the US company must be in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity.

a) To qualify for an L1 visa, you must be coming to the United States to work for the US company in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity.

b) The same definitions for managerial, executive, and specialized knowledge capacity apply for this requirement (see above).