General 

The L-1 visa permits foreign companies to transfer managers, executives or employees with specialized skills to the company’s U.S. branch, subsidiary, affiliate or joint venture-partner.  

The L-1 visa can be used by individuals and companies that already have a pre-exiting business operation in the U.S. or individuals/companies who wish to establish a business in the United States.  As such, the L-1 visa is often the visa of choice for established companies that have a presence in the U.S., companies seeking to set up operations in the U.S. and entrepreneurs who wish to open a business in the U.S.   

Requirements  

Valid Relationship 

A valid relationship between the foreign company and U.S. company must exist.  A valid relationship will exist if the U.S. company is a parent, subsidiary, 50/50 joint venture partner, branch, or affiliate of the foreign company.  In essence, for two companies to have a valid relationship, the U.S. and foreign business entities should have the same owners (i.e. directors, partners, shareholders, etc.). 

Foreign Company Must Continue its Operations Abroad

The foreign company must continue to do business outside of the United States for the entire duration of the L-1 visa.  Thus, during the term of the non-immigrant’s L-1 status, the foreign company may not close all of its non-U.S. operations.  The company may relocate its non-U.S. operations, however.  For example, a company with its main operation in India and a branch office in the U.S. may move its Indian operations to Canada after conducting an L-1 transfer.  Such relocation is authorized as long as the company maintains an office outside of the United States.   

If L-1 companies were permitted to cease all non-U.S. operations, the L-1 visa-holder would not be able to relocate back to the foreign company upon expiration of his L-1 status, which of course would compromise the temporary nature of the visa.

Transferee Must Have Worked Outside of the U.S. for the Foreign Company for at Least One Year within the Three Years Preceding the Date of the Application

For a transferee to be eligible for an L-1 visa, he or she must have held an executive or managerial role in the company or a position requiring specialized knowledge.  The transferee must have held such a position with the foreign company for at least one full year within the three years immediately preceding the L-1 visa application date.

It is imperative that the transferee’s work was performed outside of the U.S. for at least one full year without interruption.  For example, if within the three years prior to the date of the L-1 application, the transferee worked as a manager for one year, but six months of that year was spent working in the United States for the foreign company’s U.S. branch, the applicant would not qualify for an L-1 visa.  In such a situation the transferee was not working outside of the U.S. as a manager for the company for at least a year without interruption, but instead only worked outside of the U.S. for six months without interruption.  

Transferee Must Have Had an Executive Post, Manager Position or Position Requiring Specialized Knowledge within the Foreign Company

As noted above, to be eligible for the L-1 visa the transferee must have held an executive or managerial role in the company or a position requiring specialized knowledge.  The details of this particular requirement are discussed below: 

Executive

You will be considered an executive for L-1 purposes if you manage the entire foreign company or particular division of the company.  For example, a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Chief Financial Officer (CFO) would typically be an executive for L-1 purposes.

It is important to note, however, that one’s title alone is not determinative of whether U.S. immigration officials or the USCIS will consider an L-1 beneficiary an executive.  If you do not have broad decision-making authority within your division, you are involved in the physical production of goods within the company, or you do not actually supervise higher level staff, you will likely not be considered an executive for L-1 purposes.

Manager 

Non-Functional Manager 

To qualify as a manger for L-1 purposes, you must manage and direct the day-to-day operations of the foreign company or a division within the foreign company. 

Your duties as a manager must involve the oversight and supervision of lower level managers and/or professional level employees within the foreign company.  Thus, first-line supervisors – supervisors who, on an organizational level, are immediately above non-managerial workers – are not eligible for L-1 visas as a manager since they do not supervise other managers.  However, first-level supervisors do qualify for a L-1 visa if, despite not being responsible for the management of lower level managers, their job is to manage a division of professionals within the company, such as the management of a division of accountants, lawyers, software development professionals or engineers for example. 

Functional Managers 

It is possible to qualify as a manager even if you do not actually supervise other employees.  Under the current federal regulations, you may qualify as an L-1 manager if you are a senior level employee and manage a function that is essential to the foreign company.  

Employees with Specialized Knowledge 

Members of the company who are considered to have specialized knowledge pertaining to the business may qualify for an L-1 visa.  An employee with specialized knowledge is someone who has superior and advanced knowledge pertaining to the company’s product, services, procedures, and intellectual property, including trade secrets. 

Under the federal regulations, a transferee who is seeking an L-1 visa based on the specialized knowledge qualification must meet the following requirements: 

• superior and advanced knowledge pertaining to the company’s product, services, procedures, and intellectual property, including trade secrets 
• Have knowledge that is valuable to the employer’s competitiveness in the marketplace 
• Be especially qualified to contribute to the U.S. employer’s knowledge of foreign operation conditions  
• Have been a key employee somewhere other than in the United States, with significant assignments that have enhanced the employer’s productivity, competitiveness, image, or financial position  
• Have special knowledge that can usually be gained through extensive prior experience with the employer 
• Where the foreign national has specialized knowledge of the company or product, the knowledge must be noteworthy or uncommon  
• Where the foreign national has knowledge of company processes or procedures, the knowledge must be advanced 
• the foreign national’s knowledge must be different from or surpass the ordinary or usual knowledge of an employee in the particular field, and must have been gained through significant prior experience with the petitioning organization

Duties Performed for the Foreign Company Must also be Performed for the U.S. Company

As an L-1 transferee, you must be entering the U.S. under the same role, or relatively the same role, you had while working for the foreign company.  Thus, if you were a high level manager for the foreign company, you must have a supervising role while working for the U.S. entity. 

Do note, however, that you may enter the U.S. to work in a higher position then you held in the company abroad.  For example, you may accept an executive position at the U.S. company even though you were only a high level manager for the foreign company.  Also, your duties for the U.S. company need not be the exact same as your foreign company duties.  For instance, you may have been a CFO for the foreign company, but one of your main duties as a transferee may be to oversee and manage the development of an office your company recently opened in the U.S., a task considerably different from your role as a CFO.

Advantages 

• Under the L1A visa, you may be able to transfer your status to that of a permanent resident (Green Card) in as quick as two years from the date you obtain your L1A (this is not available for L1B visa holders) 
• If you elect to choose the premium process option, your L1 status can be conferred within 15 days 
• Unlike most U.S. visas, your spouse has the right to lawfully work in the U.S. while residing in the U.S.   

Disadvantages 

• There are not any disadvantages to the L1 that are unique to this particular work visa 

Residence Status and Avenue towards Permanent Residency  

The L1 visa is a non-immigrant visa, which means you are only permitted to reside in the U.S. for a temporary period of time while on an L1. However, unlike most U.S. non-immigrant visas, you can transfer to permanent residence from your L1. Furthermore, the L1A provides the quickest route to the permanent residency out of any other U.S. work visa. 

Duration  

Your L-1 status will be granted initially for one to three years with extensions are available in two-year increments. 

If you enter the U.S. as a manager or executive, you will be entering the country as what is referred to as an L-1A visa-holder.  Those who enter the U.S. as an employee with specialized knowledge are referred to as L-1B visa-holders.  An L-1A visa-holder may stay in the U.S. for up to 7 years while an L-1B transferee may reside in the U.S. for no more than 5 years.  

Upon the expiration of your term as an L-1 visa-holder, you must leave the U.S. for at least one year and return to your post within the foreign company. 

Dual Intent 

L-1 status is a dual intent category, which means, unlike with most other non-immigrant visas, you may apply for a green card while in the U.S. as an L-1 visa-holder without relinquishing your non-immigrant status.  See the General Information Pertaining to Non-Immigrant Status article for a complete understanding of how dual intent categories work.

 Accompanying Spouses 

Unlike with most other non-immigrant visas, the accompanying spouse entering the United States with the L-1 visa-holder may work in the U.S. upon receiving employment authorization. 

Procedure for Obtaining the L-1 Visa

There are two types of L-1 procedures.  The first is the procedure for obtaining the regular L-1 visa, which involves applying for an L-1 individually through the normal USCIS petition process.  The other L-1 procedure is referred to as the “Blanket L-1” and permits large companies to transfer high level staff to its U.S. entity on short notice without having to file a separate petition.

Ife Ashabo, B.A., J.D., F.L.C.

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