An L-1 visa lawyer can help you if your company needs to in the event that you have temporary intracompany transferees who work in managerial positions or have specialized knowledge and work for a company located outside the United States . Employees who work in managerial or executive positions are eligible for the L-1A visa, while intracompany transferees who work in positions that require specialized knowledge may be eligible for the L-1B visa. Employees coming to the U.S. to start a new company may qualify for an L-1 New Office visa. An L-1 visa 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.

Qualifying for an L-1 Visa

To be eligible for an L-1 visa, a foreign employer must show that:

  • They have a physical location for the new office;
  • The employee applying for the visa 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 position.

Qualified employees entering the United States to establish a new office will be granted a maximum initial stay of one year. All other qualified employees will be granted an initial stay of three years. Requests for extension of stay will be granted in increments of up to an additional two years until the employee has reached a maximum limit of seven years. If this sounds complicated contact an expert L-1 visa lawyer at Inventimm, PC for a free consultation.

L-1 New Office Category

The L-1 New Office category allows a foreign company to send employees to the U.S. to start a new company before the business has become fully operational. The L-1 New Office category is available when the company has been doing business in the U.S. for less than one year.

Under the New Office classification, there is a lower standard for how developed the new office must be for initial approval.

An immigrant who qualifies under the L-1 New Office category will receive an initial status of one year, as opposed to three years for an existing office.

The new office start date begins when the new company is registered in the U.S. or starts its business activity. But if the business has been in existence for more than one year it may still qualify as a new office if “regular, systemic and continuous provision(s) of goods and/or services” only occurred less than one year before filing the L-1 petition.

To qualify, the U.S. company that is acting as the petitioner for the foreign employee must show that it is prepared to commence business and will be established enough to sustain the business and the foreign employee’s position within one year of their arrival. The U.S. business must show:

  1. A realistic expectation that the enterprise will be able to start upon arrival by showing:
    1. A properly registered company
    2. A realistic, detailed, and comprehensive business plan that includes amounts invested, personnel structure, product, or service to be provided;
    3. The intended nature of the work of the employee who is coming to the U.S.; and
  2. The petitioner has “sufficient physical premises to house the new office” before submitting the L-1 petition.

The L-1 New Office visa cannot be extended beyond the initial one year. If the business does not have sufficient staffing after one year to relieve the L-1 beneficiary from performing operational and administrative tasks (i.e., “non-qualifying duties”), the petitioner is ineligible for an extension. However, an established company may be eligible for a 2-year extension.

Benefits of an L-1 Visa

The L-1 nonimmigrant visa has relatively low requirements. To qualify, the applicant is only required to be a manager, executive, or specialized employee in a multinational company. There is no need to find a sponsoring entity. If you are qualified as an L-1 applicant, you are already employed with a company that will sponsor you.

There are no annual limits on how many L-1 visas are approved each year. It is unlikely that your petition will be rejected because there are no more available visas.

The spouse and unmarried children under 21 years of age of the transferee may seek admission in the L-2 nonimmigrant classification. If approved, they will generally be granted the same stay as the employee. If they qualify for employment authorization they will be able to work in the U.S.

The L-1 visa is a dual intent visa, meaning that L-1 visa recipients can pursue lawful permanent residence (a green card) during their stay.

Reach out to an experienced L-1 visa lawyer at Inventimm, PC for a free, no obligation consultation and see where you stand.