Coming to the U.S. with the l-1 visa

• What is the L-1 Visa?
• Terms of the L-1 Visa
• General Requirements
• Status of Spouses and Minor Children (L-2 Visa)
• Who qualifies as an Executive (L-1A Visa)?
• Who qualifies as a Manager (L-1B Visa)?
• Who qualifies as an Employee with “Specialized Knowledge” (L-1B Visa)?
• Can the L-1 Visa lead to a “Greencard”?

What is the L-1 Visa?

The L-1 Visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows employees of a multinational company to be transferred to the U.S. An employee can also obtain an L-1 Visa to come to the U.S. for the purpose of starting a branch office of a Foreign Company. There are two categories of the L-1 Visa, L-1A and L-1B. The L-1A Visa is for employees who are Executives or Managers. The L-1B Visa is for employees who have “Specialized Knowledge.”

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Terms of the L-1 Visa

The terms of the L-1 Visa can vary, depending on the nationality of the Employee.

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General Requirements

• The Employee must be an Executive, Manager, or a person with “Specialized Knowledge.”
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  The Employee has been, with the three years preceding application for the L-1 Visa, continuously employed by the Foreign Company outside of the U.S.
• The Foreign Company must be related to the U.S. Company as a “branch”, “parent”, “affiliate” or “subsidiary.”
• The U.S. Office must continue to do business in the U.S. and at least one other country
• The size of the company does not restrict eligibility for the L-1 Visa
• Owners of a company, even a sole owner, may qualify as an L-1 Employee
• An L-1 Employee who is coming to the U.S. to open a new office must demonstrate that :
• Sufficient physical premises to house the new office have been secured
• The intended U.S. operation will, within one year, support an Executive or Managerial Position

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Status of Spouses and Minor Children (L-2 Visa)

The spouse, and any unmarried children under the age of twenty-one, of the L-1 Employee are entitled to the same non-immigrant classification and the same length of stay as the employee. They are given L-2 Visas. However, they cannot accept employment in the U.S. Servants of an L-1 Employees can obtain a B-1 visa with work authorization.

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Who qualifies as an Executive (L-1A Visa)?

An Executive is one who directs the management of an organization or major component or function of the organization. He or she establishes goals and policies and exercises wide latitude in discretionary decision making, receiving only general supervision or direction from higher level executives, the board of directors or stockholders of the organization.

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Who qualifies as a Manager (L-1A Visa)?

A Manager is one who has supervision and control over the work of other supervisory, professional or managerial employees, or who manages an essential function, department or subdivision of an organization. A Manager has the authority to execute or recommend personnel actions if others are directly supervised. If no other employees are supervised, he or she must function at a level within the organization or with respect to the function managed and exercise discretion over the day-to-day operations of the organization or function managed.

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Who qualifies as an Employee with “Specialized Knowledge” (L-1B Visa)?

To qualify as an employee with specialized knowledge, the individual must possess special knowledge of the petitioning organization's product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management or other interests, and its application in the international markets. The employee may also qualify under L-1 classification if he or she has an advanced level of knowledge or expertise in the organization's processes or procedures.

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Can the L-1 Visa lead to a “Greencard”?

In most cases where someone obtains Permanent Resident Status (commonly known as getting a “Greencard”), there is a petitioner (commonly known as a “sponsor”) involved. The sponsor is either a family member or an employer. For an employer to sponsor an employee, in the majority of cases, the employer has to go through a process known as Labor Certification. To successfully complete this process, the employer has to show that he has attempted to find U.S. workers to fill the job opening, and that he is only hiring the particular foreign worker because he could not find any qualified U.S. workers to.

However, for certain types of employees, Labor Certification may be waived. This is in the case of employees who are employed by a multinational company in a managerial or executive capacity, and who have been recently transferred to the U.S. branch of that company from a foreign branch. The criteria required for eligibility for an employee to apply for a green card based on a waiver of labor certification is very similar to the one required for an individual to qualify for the L-1A Visa. Therefore, the L-1A Visa provides a good path toward obtaining Permanent Resident Status.

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