The U.S. allows certain types of employees of a foreign office associated with a U.S. employer to transfer to the U.S. employer’s office in the United States on a temporary basis. It also allows a foreign company to send certain types of employees to the U.S. for a temporary period to establish a new U.S. office. If you are Canadian or Mexican, you may apply for a TN visa (not covered below) under the North American Free Trade Agreement. The terms of a TN visa are similar to the terms of the L-1, except that they are generally more favorable in certain aspects.
General Qualifications (Employer and Employee)
To qualify to for an L-1 visa:
- The employer must file Form I-129.
- The foreign company must qualify as a parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate (subsidiaries owned by the same parent company, for example) of the U.S. company.
- The U.S. company must be doing business in the U.S. and at least one foreign country throughout the employee’s stay in the U.S. in L-1 status (this does not apply to new offices).
- The employee must be an executive or manager (L-1A visa) or an employee with specialized company knowledge (L-1B visa).
- The employee must have worked for a qualifying organization overseas for at least one year out of the previous three years
- The position of the employee to be transferred must actually involve certain managerial/executive duties as defined by U.S. law (L-1A visa), or the employee must actually possess certain specialized knowledge as defined by U.S. law (L-1B visa)
Period of Stay
The maximum initial period of stay for intracompany transferees is three years, unless the employee is an employee of a foreign company who is being transferred to the U.S. to establish a new office, in which case the maximum initial period of stay is only one year. All L-1 employees, including employees transferred to establish new offices, may apply for successive extensions of stay of up to two years at a time, subject to an overall maximum period of stay of seven years for managers and executives and five years for specialized knowledge employees.
Family Members (L-2 visa)
Spouses and unmarried minor children (under 21) of an L-1 employee may accompany the L-1 employee by applying for and receiving an L-2 visa. The period of stay offered to the family member is typically co-extensive with the period of stay offered to the L-1 employee. Spouses may apply for a work permit by filing Form I-765. Family members already in the U.S. can apply to have their immigration status changed to L-2 by filing Form I-539.
Blanket Petitions
A larger employer who meets certain conditions and has had at least 10 L-1 petitions approved within the last year may submit a blanket petition, which will allow the employer to transfer more than one employee under the same petition. Approval of a blanket L-1 petition can significantly expedite the L-1 approval process.
