L-1 Visa for Intracompany Transferee

International companies planning to set up offices or expand their operations in the U.S. may bring in their executives, managers and employees under an L-1 visa.

The L-1 visa category is intended to facilitate international business by permitting the transfer of international executives, managers and specialized personnel to the U.S.

There are two types of L visas: L-1A and L-1B.

L-1A is for multinational executives and managers. The Immigration and Nationality Act defines executives as having authority to establish goals and policies with wide latitude in decision-making for the company.

Managers must function at the senior level and must have supervisory control over the management of the organization and authority to make personnel choices or exercise discretion over its operations or functions. For this category, a maximum initial period of stay of up to three years and a total period of stay of up to seven years is allowed.

L-1B is for “specialized knowledge personnel.” Under the statute, a transferee is qualified under this category if he or she employs that specialized knowledge with respect to a company product and its application in international markets or has an advance level of knowledge of the company’s processes and procedures acquired through extensive experience with the company. A maximum initial period of stay of up to three years and a total period of stay of up to five years is allowed under this category.

L-2 is available to the dependent spouse or child of intracompany transferees (L-1A or L-1B). They may seek employment authorization on their derivative L-2 visa and need not secure a change of status to F-1 to be able to study in the U.S.

For start-up companies, the United States Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS) will allow an initial one-year period under L-1 subject to extension for the intra-company executive or manager to open the company’s office and get its business started. The petitioner will be required to provide documentation to demonstrate its intended U.S. operations and that it will be able to support the L-1 intra-company worker during his/her stay in the U.S. as an L-1.

Specific organizational requirements must be met in order to allow a company to apply for L visas to transfer its international employees to the U.S.

There must be a qualifying relationship between the parent company and its branch, affiliate or subsidiary that is either going to be set up or already existing in the U.S. These business relationships are statutorily defined under U.S. tax laws.

The parent company may be a foreign or a U.S. company that must be doing business in the U.S. and at least one foreign country during the entire period of the alien’s stay in the U.S. as an L-1 transferee.

A branch office is an operating division or office of the same organization housed in a different location. An affiliate must show that control by the parent company is in the same proportion as in other entities or affiliates. A subsidiary must show that the at least 50 percent of the company is owned or controlled by the parent company, or be in a joint venture with equal control, or that the parent company has de facto control of the entity if less than 50 percent is owned.

L-1 visa applicants are required to show proof that they worked abroad in either (a) a managerial or executive position, or (b) in a position performing services entailing “specialized knowledge”, and must be coming to work in the U.S. in one of these capacities.

The company for which the employee worked abroad must be either the same company for which the employee will be working for in the U.S., or a branch, subsidiary, or affiliate of that company. The employee must have worked abroad for that particular company for one continuous year within the three year period immediately preceding the filing of the petition for the L-1 visa.

The employee must be qualified, in terms of education and experience, for the position and must intend to leave the U.S. at the end of the authorized period of stay. The company in the U.S. and the related company abroad must continue doing business in the U.S. and in one foreign country during the entire period of the transfer.

Considering these legal requirements, it is important that the company coordinates closely with the immigration attorney and discuss their goals and needs thoroughly at the onset.