L1 Visa - The Ultimate Guide

Introduction

If you are a business owner who is looking to expand your company into the United States, there is a powerful option called the L1 visa. A USA L1 visa allows foreign nationals to work for a U.S. branch of a foreign company. Both executive and key employees can apply for the L1 visa. In this guide, we will discuss everything you need to know about the USA L1 visa, including eligibility requirements and how to apply. Let's get started!

What is the L-1 Visa?

The L1 visa is a non-immigrant visa that is often used by foreign companies and multinational corporations (MNCs) to transfer executives, managers, and key employees from an overseas parent company or subsidiary to the U.S. company.

When a key employee, executive or manager is transferred to the US on an L1 visa, he or she must work in a special capacity at the US company as a manager, executive, or employee with special knowledge.

What are the types of L-1 Visa?

There are two types of L1 visas. L1A visa is used to transfer an executive or high level manager. L1B visa is used to transfer a specialized knowledge worker whose skills and knowledge cannot be easily replaced in the United States.

Who can petition for the L1 Visa?

The L1 visa must be petitioned by a US company. When an executive or manager opens up a new US branch of a foreign affiliated company, the executive can petition for a new enterprise L1A visa using the company as the petitioner. When a key employee gets transfered to the US branch of a foreign parent company, the US branch will serve as the petitioner of the L1B employee.

Who is eligible for L1 Visa?

To qualify for L1 classification in this category, an L1 visa petitioner must show that they have a qualifying relationship with a foreign company (same parent company, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate, collectively referred to as qualifying organizations); and that the company is either currently, or will be doing business as an employer in the United States and in at least one other country directly or through a qualifying organization for the duration of the beneficiary’s stay in the United States under an L1 visa.

What are the L1 Visa Requirements?

There are several requirements for the L1 visa:

1. The U.S. company and the foreign company must maintain a “qualifying relationship,” with one of the entities being the parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate of the other. A qualifying relationship could mean greater than 50% ownership interest and/or actual control by one entity of the other; each company is owned by the same group of individuals owning the same share or proportion of each entity.

2. The L-1 visa applicant must have worked full time for at least 365 days during the past three years for an overseas office.

3. The L-1 visa applicant must be in the managerial or executive position, or specialized knowledge capacity position in both the overseas and U.S. entities.

4. The U.S. office should be in operation for a minimum of one year prior to application to minimize chances of denial. It’s possible to get a new office with under 1 year operation approved. However, the approval period for an L1 new office will be one year only and will need to be renewed.

5. Must have leased a premise / office for the U.S. company.

L1A Manager Visa Requirements

1 Year Rule

The L-1A foreign work must have worked full time for the foreign company for at least one year during the past three years before the L1 visa petition. USCIS will want to see your payroll tax-records to prove this.

Managerial and Executive Role Overseas

The L-1A employee must have worked in a senior manager position overseas. They must also be coming to the U.S. to work in a senior managerial position.

Managerial and Executive Role in USA

The L-1A employee must be coming to the USA as a senior managerial position. These include managers who will have other people report to them; or department managers running a specific function of the company.

New Office

If the L-1A employee is coming to the U.S. to manage a new office, the employer has the duty to show proper investment and business plan in place so that the L-1A manager will have several managers below them.

Managing Others

The L-1A manager must be doing the management of other people in the company. If USCIS finds that the manager is both implementing the strategy and execution, then it will deny the application.

Organization Charts

The employer needs to show that there are enough employees to implement the clerical work under the L-1A manager. An org chart will be helpful to show this.

L1B Specialized Knowledge Employee Visa Requirements

1 Year Rule

The L1B specialized knowledge employees must have worked full time for the foreign company for at least one year during the past three years before the L1 visa petition. USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) will want to see your payroll tax-records to prove this.

Not Feasible to Hire a U.S. Worker

The employer must attest that there is no immediate available U.S. worker with the specialized knowledge and skill possessed by the L-1B worker, and that the company's need for the L-1B worker's presence is urgent and it's not feasible to train a U.S. worker to do the job.

Hard to Train US Worker

If the employer can show that it will cause them undue hardship to operate the business, then the person may be considered “special.”

Wage Requirements

The employer must not pay the L-1B worker significantly below the prevailing wage.

How long does L-1 Visa last?

L-1A Visa

• An L-1A manager can stay for a maximum of up to seven years;

• Initially up to three years will be granted;

• For extensions, usually two years will be granted;

L-1B Visa

• An L-1B special worker can stay for a maximum of five years;

• Initially up to three years will be granted;

• For extensions, usually two years will be granted;

New Office

• If the U.S. petitioning company is less than 1 year old by the time the petition is submitted, then the L-1 visa worker will only be allowed an initial stay of 1 year.

Prior H1b Time

If the L1 visa worker had previously held H1b visa status, any time used during the H1b visa status will be counted towards the L1 visa clock.

L1 Visa New Office

A foreign employer seeking to send an employee to the United States to establish or to be employed at a new office must show that the employer has secured sufficient physical premises to house the new office.

If the employee will be employed at managerial or executive capacity, the employer must also show that:

·      The employee has been employed as an executive or manager for one continuous year in the three years preceding the filing of the petition; and

·      The intended U.S. office will support an executive or managerial position within one year of the approval of the petition.

If the employee will be providing services in a specialized knowledge capacity, the employer must also show that:

·      The employer has the financial ability to compensate the employee and begin doing business in the United States.

How long does it take to apply for the L-1 Visa?

The L1 visa petition is filed in several stages. If you are filing from within the US from another status, you will go through a Change of Status L1 petition. You will file it with the USCIS and it will take 1 to 3 months at the California or Texas Service Center. Premiums Processing is available for L1 visas for an additional fee, and you can get it approved within 15 days.

If you are applying for the L1 visa from overseas, you will still need to first get the L1 petition approved by the USCIS. There’s an additional step after the L1 petition is approved. You will need to apply for a travel visa at the US consulate of your home country (or country of residence). You may do this by completing the DS160 online, paying a visa fee, and scheduling an interview with the US embassy or consulate.

What are the Pros and Cons of the L-1 Visa?

1. Able to Live and Work in the US

2. Pathway to green card

3. Dependent status for your family

4. Premium processing

5. No annual quota

What are L1 Blanket Petitions?

If a foreign employer is seeking to transfer multiple employees to a U.S. qualifying organization, a blanket petition might be extremely helpful in saving time and energy since the employer may establish the required intracompany relationship by filing one single blanket petition.

Eligibility for an L-1 Blanket Petition may be established if:

·      The petitioner and each of the qualifying organizations are engaged in commercial trade or services;

·      The petitioner has an office in the United States which has been doing business for one year or more;

·      The petitioner has three or more domestic and foreign branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates; and

·      The petitioner along with the other qualifying organizations, collectively, meet one of the following criteria:

o   Have obtained at least 10 L-1 approvals during the previous 12-month period; 

o   Have U.S. subsidiaries or affiliates with combined annual sales of at least $25 million; or

o   Have at least 1,000 employees in the U.S.

What is the L1 Visa Application Process?

Without a Blanket Petition

·      Step 1: Gather all necessary information, documentation, evidence establishing the required intracompany relationship and employee eligibility;

·      Step 2: The employer files a LCA Labor Condition Application;

·      Step 3: The employer files Form I-129 and L-supplement;

·      Step 4: The employee applies for a L-1 change of status petition in front of the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) if they are within the US, or applies for a visa at a U.S. Consulate upon approval of employer’s I-129 petition if they are abroad.

Under a Blanket Petition

·      Step 1: The employer completes Form I-129S and send it to the employee along with the Blanket Petition approval notice.

·      Step 2: The employee applies for an L-1 visa at a U.S. consulate with the said documents as well as all other supporting evidence.

L1 Visa Document Checklist

DOCUMENTS ABOUT THE FOREIGN COMPANY:

·       Incorporation Documents/Partnership or Joint Venture Agreement:

o   Articles/Memoranda of Incorporation;

o   Bylaws;

o   Stock certificates/ledger;

o   Name change/registration;

·       Business permits/licenses/registration;

·       Company annual report/marketing brochure/resume;

·       Lease/deed; mortgage or rent receipts;

·       Organizational chart;

·       Articles, promotional materials about the company, its products, services, or key people;

·       Recent company tax return or financial statement;

·       Copies of awards, memberships or special achievements by the company or key personnel;

·       Photographs of the inside and outside of the facilities.

DOCUMENTS ABOUT THE U.S. COMPANY:

·       Incorporation Documents/Partnership/Joint Venture Agreement;

·       Branch qualification to do business in United States or State;

·       Business permits/licenses/registration;

·       Company annual report/marketing brochure/resume;

·       Latest financial statement or federal tax return;

·       Information on any changes affecting corporate structure (if applicable);

·       Lease/deed; mortgage or rent receipts;

·       Organizational chart;

·       Articles, promotional materials about the company, its products, services, or key people;

·       Copies of awards, memberships or special achievements by the company or key personnel;

·       Photographs of the inside and outside of the facilities.

Can I Self-petition an L-1 Visa?

You need an employer to sponsor an L-1 visa. If you are an entrepreneur who wish to establish a U.S. branch, you may use the foreign company to apply for yourself as an executive. However, an individual without a company cannot self-petition for the L-1 visa.

Can my Spouse and Children Apply with me?

Yes, spouse and children of the L-1 principal beneficiary can apply for dependent visas to accompany the principal.

Success Examples of L1 visa petitions

Company X, a fintech consulting firm out of Canada, wishes to open a new branch office in the US to capture the dynamic and rapidly growing market. Company X hires Xu Law Group to set up a new business entity in the state of Delaware, and uses the newly set up company to sponsor L1A executive visas for its founders, as well as L1B special knowledge visas for its key hires.

Company E, a niche marketing startup based out of Singapore, wishes to expand its services to the USA to work with its many small business owners thriving on the wave of ecommerce boom. Company E hires Xu Law Group to transfer all three of its cofounders: CEO, COO, and CMO, to work on the branch office in the USA on L1A visa.

Contact Xu Law Group for your L-1 Visa Petition.

Whether you are an employer or employee with ties to a foreign company, an L1 visa classification is a challenging task to tackle. Our team of expert immigration lawyers will guide you in both processes of filing an I-129 petition and applying for an L1 visa afterwards. Reach out today for a consultation.

Related Readings:

L-1 Visa New Office

L-1 to Eb-1 Green Card

EB1C Multinational Executive Visa - The Ultimate Guide

EB1 Green Card Processing Time And Steps

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