L visas – Law Offices of Peng Fang

L-1 visa

The U.S. employer must have a corporate relationship with your foreign entity abroad where you have been employed as a manager, executive, or worker with specialized knowledge.

The following evidence you may submit to show that the US and non-US employers must be related in one of four ways: parent and subsidiary; branch and headquarters; sister companies owned by a mutual parent; or “affiliates” owned by the same or people in approximately the same percentages; and that both the U.S. office and the foreign entity must continue to share common ownership and control.

Some of the evidence you may submit to show that your S. employer has the requisite corporate relationship to your overseas employer includes:
Articles of incorporation showing common ownership of the U.S. and foreign entities
Business licenses or other documents showing common ownership of the U.S. entity
Annual reports describing the corporate structure
Contracts or other documents detailing the affiliate relationship
Corporate filings in the United States or abroad describing the corporate relationship
Any other evidence demonstrating ownership and control over the U.S. and foreign entities (i.e., stock purchase agreements, voting rights agreements, capitalization table, and term sheet)

While the amount of physical space may vary depending on the nature of the business, an appropriate space must be secured through lease, purchase or other means.

The L-1 classification also enables a foreign company which does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office to send an employee to the United States to help establish one, with additional requirements. The “new office” L-1 visa is meant to facilitate a “ramp up” period for a new U.S. office of a foreign entity. This period is limited to one year. After that time, an extension of the L-1 visa is available if the new office meets this requirement. What makes an office active and operating will differ depending on the nature of the business. Typically it will involve factors such as hiring additional employees, fulfillment of contract orders, having a revenue stream, or holding inventory, if applicable

While a new office may be opened on an L-1 visa by someone working within your organization in a managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge capacity, after one year the office must be sufficiently active to support a manager or executive. During the first year ramp up, a manager or executive may be required, as a practical matter, to engage in many “hands-on” tasks that go beyond inherently managerial or executive tasks. After the first year, however, the manager or executive will be required to focus primarily on managerial or executive tasks in order to obtain an extension of the L-1 visa.

Spouses of L-1 visa holders are allowed to work without restriction in the US (using an L-2 visa), and the L-1 visa may legally be used as a stepping stone to a green card under the doctrine of dual intent.

The L-1 visa has two subcategories: L-1A for executives and managers, and L-1B for workers with specialized knowledge. L-1A status is valid for up to 7 years, L-1B for 5. After the expiration of the 7 or 5 years respectively, the foreign national can generally only qualify for L-1 status again by working abroad for at least 1 year for the parent, subsidiary, affiliate or branch office of the U.S. company. There are two types of L-1 procedures: Regular L-1 visas, which must be applied for and approved for each individual by the USCIS; and Blanket L-1 visas, which simplify the process of later filing for individual L-1A or L-2A workers. See 8 CFR 214.2(l)(4) and 8 CFR 214.2(l)(5) for more details regarding blanket petitions. Certain organizations may establish the required intracompany relationship in advance of filing individual L-1 petitions by filing a blanket petition. For a regular L-1 visa, the company must file a petition with the USCIS and each petition is evaluated on its own merits.

L-1A Intracompany Transferee Executive or Manager

An L-1A is an alien coming temporarily to perform services in a managerial or executive capacity for the same corporation or firm, or for the branch, subsidiary, or affiliate of the employer who employed him or her abroad for one continuous year within the three-year period (six months within the previous three years if the employer is eligible and has filed for a blanket L-1 approval and meets the requirements for expedited processing), immediately preceding the filing of the petition, in an executive, managerial, or specialized knowledge capacity.

To qualify 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 qualifying organizations); and
Currently be, or will be, doing businessas 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. While the business must be viable, there is no requirement that it be engaged in international trade.

To qualify, the named employee must also:

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 provide service in an executive or managerial capacityfor a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations.

For foreign employers seeking to send an employee to the United States as an executive or manager to establish a new office, the employer must also show that:

The employer has secured sufficient physical premises to house the new office;
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.

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-1A 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 seven years.

The transferring employee may be accompanied or followed by his or her spouse and unmarried children who are under 21 years of age. Such family members may seek admission in L-2 nonimmigrant classification and, if approved, generally will be granted the same period of stay as the employee.

L-1B Intracompany Transferee Specialized Knowledge

The L-1B nonimmigrant classification 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.

To qualify 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 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. While the business must be viable, there is no requirement that it be engaged in international trade.

To qualify, the named employee must also:

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 provide services in a specialized knowledge capacity to a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations.

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.

A petition to change status to L1A may be filed on behalf of a foreign national in L1B status in order for the individual to move into a managerial or executive position. However, in order for the L1B worker to be eligible for the full 7 years of L-1 status typically provided to L1A workers, the petition must be approved by the USCIS at least 6 months prior to the individual reaching the 5-year maximum period in L1B status.

Spouses of L-1B workers may apply for work authorization by filing a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization with fee. If approved, there is no specific restriction as to where the L-2 spouse may work.