L-1A
Transfer inside
L-1A
Transfer inside
L-1A VISA
Executives or managers transferred to US locations.
The L1A VISA nonimmigrant classification allows a U.S. employer to transfer an executive or manager from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the United States. This classification also allows a foreign company that does not yet have an affiliated US office to send an executive or director to the United States for the purpose of establishing one. The employer must submit the form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, on behalf of the employee.
Below are some of the features and requirements of the L-1 nonimmigrant visa program.
General Employer and
Employee Requirements
To be eligible for L-1 classification in this category, the employer must:
- Have a qualifying relationship with a foreign company (parent company, branch, subsidiary or affiliate, collectively referred to as qualified organizations)
- Be, or will be, doing business as an employer in the United States and in at least one other country directly or through a qualified organization during the duration of the beneficiary’s stay in the United States as an L-1. Although the business must be viable, it is not required to engage in international trade.
Doing business means the regular, systematic and continuous supply of goods and/or services by a qualified organization and does not include the mere presence of an agent or office of the qualified organization in the United States and abroad.
Additionally, to qualify, the named employee must:
- Have generally worked for an organization qualified abroad for one continuous year within the three years immediately preceding admission to the United States
- Be attempting to enter the United States to provide services in an executive or managerial capacity to a branch of the same employer or one of its qualified organizations.
Executive ability generally refers to an employee’s ability to make wide-ranging decisions without much supervision. Management ability generally refers to the employee’s ability to supervise and control the work of professional employees and to manage the organization, or a department, subdivision, function, or component of the organization. It can also refer to the employee’s ability to manage an essential function of the organization at a high level, without the direct supervision of others.
New offices
For foreign employers seeking to send an employee to the United States as an executive or manager to establish a new office, it must also be demonstrated that:
- Sufficient physical premises have been secured to house the new office
- The employee has been employed as an executive or manager for one year continuously in the three years prior to the filing of the petition
- The planned US office will maintain an executive or management position within one year of approval of the request.
Period of stay
Qualified employees entering the United States to establish a new office will have a maximum initial stay of one year. All other qualified employees will have a maximum initial stay of three years. For all employees L-1A, requests for extension of stay may be granted in increments of up to two additional years, until the employee has reached the maximum limit of seven years.
Family
Of workers with L1A visa
The relocating employee may be accompanied or followed by his or her spouse and unmarried children under 21 years of age. These family members may apply for admission into the L-2 nonimmigrant classification and, if approved, will generally be granted the same period of stay as the employee. If these family members are already in the United States and wish to change their status or extend their stay in the L-2 classification, they may apply collectively, for a fee, on Form I-539. Spouses of L-1 workers may apply for work authorization by submitting Form I-765 with a fee. If approved, there is no specific restriction on where the L-2 spouse can work.
General requests
General requests
Some organizations may establish the required intracorporate relationship before filing individual L-1 petitions by filing a general petition. To establish eligibility for general L certification, the employer:
- And each eligible organization must be engaged in commerce or services
- Must have an office in the United States that has been doing business for a year or more
- Must have three or more national and foreign branches, subsidiaries and affiliates
- Must meet one of the following criteria
- Have obtained, along with other eligible organizations, at least 10 L-1 authorizations during the previous 12-month period; either
- Have subsidiaries or affiliates in the US with combined annual sales of at least $25 million
- Have a US workforce of at least 1,000 employees.
Approval of a general L petition does not guarantee that an employee will be granted L-1A classification. However, it provides the employer the flexibility to move eligible employees to the United States quickly and on short notice without having to file an individual petition with USCIS. In most cases, once the general petition is approved, the employer simply completes Form I-129S, Nonimmigrant Petition Based on General Petition L, and send it to the foreign employee along with a copy of the notification of approval of the general request and other necessary evidence, so that the employee can present it to a consular official.
TAKE THE FIRST STEP
Don't postpone your dreams
We support your process of moving to the United States with the appropriate type of visa for your profile. (E1, E2, EB-2, F1, among others)
TAKE THE FIRST STEP
Don't postpone your dreams
We support your process of moving to the United States with the appropriate type of visa for your profile. (E1, E2, EB-2, F1, among others)
