L-1B Intra-company
transfer
L-1B Intra-company
transfer
L-1B VISA
Intra-company transfer of professionals
The L-1B nonimmigrant classification allows a U.S. company to transfer a professional employee with specialized knowledge related to the organization’s interests from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its U.S. offices. This classification also allows a foreign company that does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office to send an employee with specialized knowledge to the United States to help establish one. The employer must file Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, on behalf of the employee.
General
Employer and Employee Requirements
To obtain L-1 classification in this category, the employer must:
- Have a qualified relationship with a foreign company (parent company, branch, subsidiary or affiliate, collectively referred to as qualified organizations)
- Be or 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 company must be viable, it is not necessary for it to engage in international trade.
Doing business means the regular, systematic, and continuous provision 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 a qualified foreign organization for one continuous year within the three years immediately preceding your admission to the United States
- Be attempting to enter the United States to provide services requiring a specialized knowledge capacity to a branch of the same employer or one of its qualified organizations.
Specialized knowledge means a person’s special knowledge of the product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management or other interests of the applicant organization and their application in international markets, or experience in the organization’s processes and procedures. . Such knowledge goes beyond the norm and is not common in the sector or in the requesting organization. In other words, the employee must be more than just an expert or knowledgeable about the employer’s interests.
L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2004
The L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2004 applies to all petitions filed on or after June 6, 2005, and is specifically directed to those filed on behalf of L-1B employees who will be primarily stationed in the workplace. from a non-affiliated employer. In order for the employee to obtain L-1B classification in this situation, the applicant employer must demonstrate that:
- The employee will not be primarily controlled or supervised by the unaffiliated employer.
- The work performed by the employee is not considered employment for the non-affiliated employer.
New offices
For foreign employers seeking to send an employee with specialized skills to the United States to work in a new qualified office, it must also be demonstrated that:
- Sufficient physical premises have been secured to house the new office
- The employer has the financial ability to remunerate the employee and begin doing business in the United States.
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-1B, 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 five years.
Family
Of L-1 workers
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 commercial or service activity.
- Must have an office in the United States that has been doing business for a year or more.
- They must have three or more national and foreign branches, subsidiaries and affiliates.
- You must meet one of the following criteria.
- Together with other eligible organizations, have obtained at least 10 L-1 approvals during the previous 12-month period.
- 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.
To qualify for the general application process, the employee with specialized knowledge must also be a professional.
Approval of a general L petition does not guarantee that an employee will receive L-1B classification. However, it provides the employer with 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 overseas 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)
