L-1A and L-1B visas are available for temporary intracompany transferees who work in managerial positions or have specialized knowledge.
Eligibility
L-1A and L-1B visas may be issued when an employer files a petition to obtain authorization for qualified employees to be allowed to work and live in the United States.
• The L-1A visa is for intracompany transferees who work in managerial or executive positions in a company that is located outside the United States.
• The L-1B visa is for intracompany transferees who work in positions requiring specialized knowledge.
Establishing New Offices
Foreign employers seeking to send an employee to the United States as an executive or manager to establish a new office must show:
• They have a physical location for the new office;
• The employee has been employed as an executive or manager for one continuous year in the three years before filing the petition; and
• The new office will support an executive or managerial position within one year of the approval of the petition.
L-1A Classification
The L-1A nonimmigrant classification enables a U.S. employer to transfer an executive or manager from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the United States. This classification also enables a foreign company which does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office to send an executive or manager to the United States with the purpose of establishing one. Your employer must file Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, with fee, on your behalf.
To qualify, you must:
• Generally have been working for a qualifying organization abroad for one continuous year within the three years immediately before your admission to the United States; and
• Be seeking to enter the United States to provide service in an executive or managerial capacity for a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations.
Executive capacity generally refers to your ability to make a wide range of decisions without much oversight.
Managerial capacity generally refers to your ability to supervise and control the work of professional employees and to manage the organization, or a department, subdivision, function, or component of the organization. It may also refer to your ability to manage an essential function of the organization at a high level, without direct supervision of others. (See section 101(a)(44) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, and 8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii) for complete definitions.)
General Qualifications of Employer and Employee for L-1A Visa
To qualify for L-1 classification in this category, the employer must:
• Have a qualifying relationship with a foreign company (parent company, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate, collectively referred to as qualifying organizations); and
• Currently be, or will be, doing business as an employer in the United States and in at least one other country directly or through a qualifying organization for the duration of the beneficiary’s stay in the United States as an L-1. While the business must be viable, there is no requirement that it be engaged in international trade.
Doing business means the regular, systematic, and continuous provision of goods and/or services by a qualifying organization and does not include the mere presence of an agent or office of the qualifying organization in the United States and abroad.
To qualify, the named employee must also:
• Generally have been working for a qualifying organization abroad for one continuous year within the three years immediately preceding his or her admission to the United States; and
• Be seeking to enter the United States to provide service in an executive or managerial capacity for a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations.
Executive capacity generally refers to the employee’s ability to make decisions of wide latitude without much oversight.
Managerial capacity generally refers to the ability of the employee to supervise and control the work of professional employees and to manage the organization, or a department, subdivision, function, or component of the organization. It may also refer to the employee’s ability to manage an essential function of the organization at a high level, without direct supervision of others. See section 101(a)(44) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, and 8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii) for complete definitions.
L-1B classification
The L-1B nonimmigrant classification enables a U.S. employer to transfer a professional employee with specialized knowledge relating to the organization’s interests from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the United States. This classification also enables a foreign company which does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office to send a specialized knowledge employee to the United States to help establish one. Your employer must file Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, with fee, on your behalf.
To qualify, you must:
• Generally have been working for a qualifying organization abroad for one continuous year within the three years immediately before your admission to the United States; and
• Be seeking to enter the United States to provide services in a specialized knowledge capacity to a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations.
Specialized knowledge either means knowledge you have about the petitioning organization’s product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management, or other interests and its application in international markets, or an advanced level of knowledge or expertise in the organization’s processes and procedures. (See 8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii)(D).)
General Qualifications of Employer and Employee for L-1B Visa
To qualify for L-1 classification in this category, the employer must:
• Have a qualifying relationship with a foreign company (parent company, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate, collectively referred to as qualifying organizations); and
• Currently be, or will be, doing business as an employer in the United States and in at least one other country directly or through a qualifying organization for the duration of the beneficiary’s stay in the United States as an L-1. While the business must be viable, there is no requirement that it be engaged in international trade.
Doing business means the regular, systematic, and continuous provision of goods and/or services by a qualifying organization and does not include the mere presence of an agent or office of the qualifying organization in the United States and abroad.
To qualify, the named employee must also:
• Generally have been working for a qualifying organization abroad for one continuous year within the three years immediately preceding his or her admission to the United States; and
• Be seeking to enter the United States to provide services in a specialized knowledge capacity to a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations.
Specialized knowledge means either special knowledge possessed by an individual of the petitioning organization’s product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management, or other interests and its application in international markets, or an advanced level of knowledge or expertise in the organization’s processes and procedures (See 8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii)(D)).
How to File
Your employer must:
• Review the instructions for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker;
• Complete and sign Form I-129;
• Pay the filing fee, if applicable; and
• Provide all required evidence and supporting documentation, including a duplicate copy of your Form I-129 and all supporting documentation, even if they are filing the Form I-129 to seek a change of status (COS) or extension of stay (EOS) on your behalf.
After You File
Once United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) receives your Form I-129, they will process your petition and your employer will receive a:
• Receipt notice confirming USCIS received the petition;
• Biometric services notice, if applicable;
• Notice to appear for an interview, if required; and
• A notice of USCIS’s decision.
Family of L-1 Workers: L-2 Visa
The transferring employee may be accompanied or followed by their spouse and unmarried children who are under 21 years of age. Such family members may seek admission to the United States in L-2 nonimmigrant classification.
If successful, the spouse or unmarried child (under 21) of an L-1 visa holder will receive an L-2 visa—also known as an L-1 dependent visa. If approved, the L-2 visa holder will generally be granted the same period of stay as the L-1 worker.
If these family members are already in the United States and seeking change of status to or extension of stay in L-2 classification, they may apply collectively, with fee, on a Form I-539, Application to Change/Extend Nonimmigrant Status.
Spouses of L-1 workers may apply for work authorization by filing a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, with fee. If approved, there is no specific restriction as to where the L-2 spouse may work.
In Texas, as in all states, the L-1A and L-1B visa regulations are governed by federal law, not state statutes. The L-1A visa is for intracompany transferees who work in managerial or executive positions, while the L-1B visa is for those with specialized knowledge. To qualify, employees must have worked for the company outside the U.S. for at least one continuous year within the three years preceding the application. For companies opening new offices in the U.S., there must be a physical location, and the office must be able to support a managerial or executive position within one year. Employers must file Form I-129 along with the required fee and supporting documents to petition for an L-1 visa. The process includes receiving various notices and potentially an interview. L-2 visas are available for the family members of L-1 visa holders, and spouses on L-2 visas can apply for work authorization using Form I-765. It's important to note that while the employer must be doing business in both the U.S. and another country during the L-1 employee's stay, there are no additional Texas-specific regulations affecting the L-1 visa process.
