L-1 visas

Employees of an international company who are being temporarily transferred to a parent branch, affiliate, or subsidiary of the same company in the United States require Intra Company transfer (L-1) visas. The international company may be either a U.S. or foreign organization. To qualify, the employee must be at the managerial or executive level, or have specialized knowledge and be destined to a position within the U.S. company at either of these levels, although not necessarily in the same position as held previously. In addition, the employee must have been employed outside the U.S. with the international company continuously for one year within the three years preceding the application for admission into the United States.

Petition Approval

In order to be considered as a nonimmigrant under the above classifications the applicant's prospective employer or agent must file Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the Department of Homeland Security. Important Note: It is very important for prospective employers to file the petition as soon as possible (but not more than 6 months before the proposed employment will begin) to provide adequate time for petition and subsequent visa processing. Should you need petition processing faster, see Premium Processing Service on USCIS website.

Visa Application Process

The employment must be approved in advance by the USCIS.  Once approved, the employer or agent is sent a Notice of Action, Form I-797, the notification of petition approval. Petition approval is now verified in the Department of State's system called Petition Information Management Service (PIMS). If the petition approval is not entered and verified in PIMS, the visa cannot be issued and this can result in delays in the visa application process. In order to verify the petition approval, the Embassy will need the approved I-129 petition receipt number.  Please make sure to have this receipt number available when you are scheduling your visa appointment via our call center.  You must also provide the receipt number when you appear for your visa interview at the Embassy.

PIMS Processing Update:  Important information for prospective employers and visa applicants, when extension of stay, change of status or petition amendment has been requested...READ MORE

Individual petition verses blanket petition

The employment must be approved in advance by the USCIS. Companies seeking the classification of multiple aliens as intra company transferees may file a blanket petition with USCIS. The blanket petition provision is meant to serve only relatively large, established companies having multi-layered structures and numerous related business entities. The blanket petition provision is available only to managers, executives and specialized knowledge professional that are destined to work in an established office. The Embassy takes no part in the petition approval process.  Any questions which you may have concerning this process should be addressed to the appropriate USCIS office in the United States. 

Blanket L-1 Visa Applicants - Additional Documents Required. Please read these instructions carefully.

Scheduling Your Appointment

On receipt of temporary worker approval from the USCIS and verification in PIMS, the beneficiary may apply for the visa. Please check our How to Apply for a Non-Immigrant Visa page on this website for more information.

Considerations

1) The Enterprise

• Required to demonstrate its ongoing international nature --a qualifying organization is required to demonstrate its ongoing international nature and that it continues to do business in the United States and abroad.
• Must continue to do business in the U.S. and abroad -- For the duration of the Intracompany Transferee's stay in the United States, the qualifying organization be "doing business as an employer in the United States and at least one other country." The regulations also require a qualifying organization to demonstrate its ongoing international nature and the existence of foreign operations to which the employee can reasonably be expected to be transferred at the end of the authorized stay in the United States.
• A qualifying relationship between the business in the U.S. and the business abroad must exist -- The petitioner desiring to bring the alien to the United States must be "the same employer or an affiliate or subsidiary thereof" for whom the alien has been employed abroad prior to entry.

2. The Beneficiary:

• Prior continuous, full-time employment for one year with the petitioning enterprise, including subsidiaries, required --Regulations require that the alien has been continuously employed by the same employer, an affiliate or subsidiary thereof, for at least one year during the three years immediately preceding the application for the L-1 visa.
• The one-year qualifying experience must be wholly outside the U.S. --The beneficiary must have been employed outside of the United States continuously by the petitioner for one full year during the three years immediately preceding the beneficiary's application for admission to the United States.
• Beneficiary's function in the organization must be executive, managerial or involve specialized knowledge --The alien must be destined to a position identified as executive or managerial, or which involves specialized knowledge, in the petition and in an organization listed in the petition. The beneficiary must be destined for an executive or managerial position, or possess proprietary or specialized knowledge essential to the operation of the organization in the United States.
• L-1 status does not apply to skilled workers --"Specialized knowledge" means knowledge possessed by an individual whose advanced level of expertise and proprietary knowledge of the organization's product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management or other interests of the employer are not readily available in the United States labor market. This definition does not apply to persons who have general knowledge or expertise, which enables them merely to produce a product or provide a service (skilled workers).
• Beneficiary must intend a temporary stay in the U.S. -- The beneficiary must be going to the United States for a specified, temporary period.

Additional Information

Family members

Spouses and/or children under the age of 21 who wish to accompany or join the principal visa holder in the United States for the duration of his/her stay require derivative or L-2 Visas.  More information for partners and common-law spouses.

Working on an L-2 Visa

As a result of a recent change in the law, spouses of L-1 visa holders may seek employment authorization on derivative L-1 visas. For further information, please contact the USCIS on your arrival in the United States.

Visa Validity/Time Limits

L-1 Intracompany Transferee executives and managers may remain in the United States for up to seven years. Specialized knowledge personnel, however, are limited to a five-year stay. No extensions for "extraordinary circumstances" are permitted.

Note:

1. A corporation may employ and petition for its owners, even in cases where there is a sole owner. 
2. An alien in a managerial, executive or specialized knowledge capacity, if qualified, may come to open or be employed in a new office provided that:

• Sufficient premises to house the new office have been secured; 
• The beneficiary's prior year abroad was in an executive, managerial or specialized knowledge capacity and the proposed employment involves executive or managerial authority over or specialized knowledge of the new operation;
• The intended U.S. operation, within one year of approval of the petition, will support an- executive, managerial or specialized knowledge position. While it is not necessary for an applicant for an intracompany transferee visa to have a residence abroad which he/she has no intention of abandoning, a clear, unequivocal expression of intent to depart the United States upon termination of status is required.