Obtain an L Visa

What Is An L Visa?

L Visa is a Non-Immigrant Visa available to companies that have offices abroad and wish to transfer company executives, managers, and specialized knowledge employees from their international office to their office in the United States.

If a company does not yet have an office in the United States, it may transfer an employee to open a new office. This is one of the most popular employment based visas and is used by large multinational corporations as well as small family-owned businesses.

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L Visa Requirements

To qualify for an L1 visa, there must be a qualifying relationship that exists between the U.S. company and the foreign company.

The qualifying relationship can be a parent/subsidiary relationship, a branch office relationship, or an affiliate relationship. This relationship can be one that is already in existence or a brand new one.

The transferred employee must have been employed by the foreign affiliate for at least one continuous year within three years prior to coming to the United States.

Transfer of Executive and Managers (L1A) v. Specialized Employees (L1B)

Managers or executives must be coming to the US to supervise other employees or hold a key position for the employer. An executive must have the ability to make a wide range of decisions without too much oversight. A manager must have the ability to supervise and control the work of others and to manage the organization or a department.

A Specialized Knowledge employee does not have any degree requirements, however, the employee must hold a key position in the company. The easiest way to describe it is that the employee must have such unique knowledge as it relates to the company and such knowledge is essential to the company’s growth and development. Specialized Knowledge can be shown if an employee has (a) a “special” knowledge of the company product and its application in international markets; or (b) an “advanced” level of knowledge of the processes and procedures of the company. USCIS defines specialized and advance knowledge as follows:
- * specialized knowledge is knowledge of the employer’s particular product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management, or other interests and its application in international markets that is demonstrably distinct or uncommon in comparison to that generally found in the particular industry or within the petitioning employer
- * advanced knowledge is knowledge or expertise in the organization’s specific processes and procedures that is not commonly found in the relevant industry and is greatly developed or further along in progress, complexity and understanding than is generally found within the petitioning employer.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT L VISAS

Blanket L Petitions

A blanket L1 Petition is available for large companies engaged in commercial trade or services. Such company must have an office in the US and have been doing business here for more than one year, have three or more domestic and foreign branches, subsidiaries, or affiliates, and meet certain other requirements such as: (a) having at least 10 L-1 petitions approved in the last 12 months, or (b) having a combined annual sales of at least $25 million; or (c) having a workforce of at least 1000 employees.

Blanket petition allows a company to avoid filing individual petitions if it is seeking to bring numerous employees here from abroad.

Duration of Stay

As stated in the beginning, L1 visa is a nonimmigrant visa, which means it only allows the individual to stay here on a temporary basis. The total L1 visa duration is anywhere from 5 to 7 years depending on whether you apply for an L1A visa or L1B visa. Additionally, the initial length of your L1 visa will depend on whether you are applying for an L1 visa as a new office or whether you will be working for an existing business.

Spouses and Children

Spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21 can accompany the L1 beneficiary by obtaining an L2 visa for the same duration period as the main applicant. Spouses are allowed to obtain an employment authorization in the United States for the duration of their L2 visa.

Let The Antonovsky Gorelik & Associates Team Help You Get An L Visa

This is just a brief overview of the L1 visa. This type of visa is very complex and involves submission of business plans, documents establishing qualifying relationship, qualifications of potential transferee and detailed explanation of why such transfer is necessary.

For those reasons, it is imperative to work with experienced immigration attorneys who have a proven track record, know exactly what USCIS is looking for and can competently prepare the petition and file all necessary documents.

Our attorneys have a proven track record and have successfully worked with large Fortune 500 companies as well as small family owned business from all over the world. We take pride in our work and our ability to help grow the US economy by bringing talented businesses and employees here.

For all your immigration needs, please contact our office today to schedule a confidential consultation.

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