The L-1A Visa enables 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 enables a foreign company which does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office to send an executive or manager to the United States with the purpose of establishing one.

General Qualifications of the Employer and Employee

To qualify for L1 visa 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 qualifying organizations); and
  • Currently be, 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 as an L-1.

Also to qualify, the named employee must

  • Generally have been working for a qualifying organization abroad for one continuous year within the three years immediately preceding his or her admission to the United States; and
  • Be seeking to enter the United States to render services in an executive or managerial capacity to a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations.

New Offices in the U.S.

If foreign employers are seeking to send an employee to the United States as an executive or manager in order to establish a new office, it must be shown that:

  • Sufficient physical premises to house the new office have been secured
  • 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.

Period of Stay

Qualified employees entering the United States to establish a new office will be allowed a maximum initial stay of one year.  All other qualified employees will be allowed a maximum initial stay of three years.

Family of L-1 Workers

The transferring employee may be accompanied or followed by his or her spouse and unmarried children who are under 21 years of age.  Contact Boyer Law Firm and we will help you with the different visa involved for this.

L-1B Intracompany Transferee Specialized Knowledge

The L-1B Visa enables a U.S. employer to transfer a professional employee with specialized knowledge relating to the organization’s interests from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the United States.  This classification also enables a foreign company which does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office to send a specialized knowledge employee to the United States to help establish one.

General Qualifications of the Employer and Employee

  • These are similar to the L1-A requirements listed above.

New Offices

For foreign employers who are seeking to send an employee with specialized knowledge to the United States in order to be employed in a qualifying new office, it must also be shown that

  • Sufficient physical premises to house the new office have been secured; and
  • 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 be allowed a maximum initial stay of one year.  All other qualified employees will be allowed a maximum initial stay of three years.  For all L-1B employees, requests for extension of stay may be granted in increments of up to an additional two years, until the employee has reached the maximum limit of five years.

Family of L1 Visa Workers

The transferring employee may be accompanied or followed by his or her spouse and unmarried children who are under 21 years of age.  Contact Boyer Law Firm and we will help you with the different visa involved for this.

L-1B Intracompany Transferee Specialized Knowledge

The L-1B Visa enables a U.S. employer to transfer a professional employee with specialized knowledge relating to the organization’s interests from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the United States. This classification also enables a foreign company which does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office to send a specialized knowledge employee to the United States to help establish one.

The general qualifications of the employer ant the employee, as well as the admission of family members are, in general, similar to the L1-A requirements.

Regarding the period of stay, for all L-1B employees, requests for extension of stay may be granted in increments of up to an additional two years, until the employee has reached the maximum limit of five years.