L-1 Visa

What is L-1A Visa?

The L-1A visa allows a U.S. employer to bring in an executive or manager from their affiliated foreign offices to work in the United States. It also allows a foreign company to send an executive or manager to the U.S. to establish a new office.

Requirements for Employers:

1. The U.S. employer must have a relationship with a foreign company (like being a parent company, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate).
2. The employer must be doing business in the U.S. and at least one other country, directly or through a related organization, during the employee’s stay.

Note: “Doing business” means providing goods or services regularly, not just having an office.

Requirements for Employees:

1. The employee must have worked for the foreign company for one continuous year in the three years before coming to the U.S.
2. The employee must be entering the U.S. to work in an executive or managerial role.

• Executive role: Making important decisions with minimal oversight.
• Managerial role: Supervising and controlling the work of professional employees or managing an essential function of the organization.

New Offices:

If a foreign employer wants to send an employee to the U.S. to set up a new office, they must also show:

1. They have a place for the new office.
2. The employee has been an executive or manager for one continuous year.
3. The U.S. office will have an executive or managerial position within a year.

Period of Stay:

• New office setup allows a maximum initial stay of one year.
• Other qualified employees get a maximum initial stay of three years.
• Extensions are possible, but the total stay cannot exceed seven years.

Family of L-1 Workers:

• Spouses and unmarried children under 21 can come to the U.S. too.
• They apply for L-2 classification and usually get the same stay duration as the employee.

Spouse Employment Authorization:

• Spouses in L-2 status are allowed to work.
• They can present specific documents for employment authorization.
• There’s an automatic extension for certain conditions, providing additional work authorization.

Remember, this is a simplified overview, and the actual process can involve more details.

8.01.2024