What are the Benefits of an L1 Visa?

1. Ability to Live and Work in the USA

• With an L1 visa, you are authorized to live in the United States and to work for your L1 employer.

1. Extended Period of Stay

• The L1A visa for managers and executives is initially valid for a period of 3 years and can be extended for a total of 7 years.

• The L1B visa for people with specialized knowledge is initially valid for a period of 3 years and can be extended for a total of 5 years.

iii. Dual Intent Visa

• Many non-immigrant visas, such as the B1/B2 visitor visa, require that you have non-immigrant intent. This means that you must intend to return to your home country and that you do not intend to immigrate to the United States.

• The L1 visa is a dual-intent visa, meaning that you may have the intent to temporarily remain in the United States while simultaneously having the intent to possibly immigrate to the United States and become a lawful permanent resident in the future.

1. No Set Wage Requirements

• The L1 visa does not require that the US company pay you a certain wage.

• Some visa categories require that you get paid a wage commensurate with your position and job title. The L1 does not have this requirement.

• Your US employer will still have to comply with state and federal minimum wage laws.

1. Immigration Benefits for Your Family

• By getting approve for an L1 visa, your spouse and unmarried children under 21 years old are eligible to accompany you in the United States.

• Your spouse and unmarried children would obtain L2 status as your dependents.

• Your spouse can obtain employment authorization to work in the United States.

• Your children can attend US schools and get a US education.

1. L1 Visa is Eligible for Premium Processing

• The L1 visa is eligible for premium processing.

• Premium processing is a service provided by USCIS where they expedite the processing of your L1 petition for an additional fee of $2,500.

• If you select premium processing, USCIS will issue a response to you L1 petition within 15 days.

vii. No Annual Limit to the Number of L1 Visas Issued

• There is no annual limit to the number of L1 visas that can be issued.

• This is contrary to other visas, such as the H-1B visa, which has an annual quota.

The employee coming to work in the US must have been continuously employed full-time by the foreign company for at least 1 year within the last 3 years before filing the L1 petition. 

• To qualify for an L1 visa, the foreign worker seeking transfer to the US must have been continuously employed by the foreign company, full-time, for at least 1 year within the last 3 years prior to filing the L1 petition.

• The employment must be continuous. 

• Periods spent in the United States in lawful status for a branch of the same employer or a parent, affiliate, or subsidiary and brief trips to the United States for business or pleasure will not interrupt the one year of continuous employment abroad but those periods will not count towards the year of qualifying employment. [Code of Federal Regulations Section 214.2(l)]

• The entire year of qualifying employment should be satisfied by the time the L1 application is filed.

• The employment must be full-time (at least 35 hours a week). There is 1 exception to the full-time requirement in certain circumstances where the L1 beneficiary worked for multiple affiliated companies.

iii. The employment with the foreign company must have been in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity.

• To qualify for an L1 visa, you must have worked for the foreign company in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity.

Managerial Capacity

Managerial Capacity means that you primarily:

• Manage the organization, or a department, subdivision, function, or component of the organization;

• Supervise and control the work of other supervisory, professional, or managerial employees, or manage an essential function within the organization, or a department or subdivision of the organization;

• You have the authority to hire and fire or recommend those types of personnel actions for employees directly supervised. If no employees are directly supervised, you function at a senior level within the organizational hierarchy or with respect to the function managed;

• And, you exercise discretion over the day-to-day operations of the activity or function that you have authority over. A first-line supervisor is not considered to be acting in a managerial capacity just by virtue of their supervisory duties unless the employees supervised are professional. [Code of Federal Regulations Section 214.2(l)]

Executive Capacity

Executive Capacity means that you primarily:

• Direct the management of the organization or a major component or function of the organization;

• Establish the goals and policies of the organization, component, or function;

• Exercise wide latitude in discretionary decision-making;

• And, receive only general supervision or direction from higher level executives, he board of directors, or stockholders of the organization. subdivision, function, or component of the organization. [Code of Federal Regulations Section 214.2(l)]

Specialized Knowledge

• Specialized knowledge is “special knowledge of the company product and its application in international markets” or “an advanced level of knowledge of processes and procedures of the company” [INA Section 214(c)(2)(B)]

What is special knowledge of the company product and its application in international markets?:

• Special knowledge here means distinct or uncommon in comparison to what is typically found in the particular industry.

What is an advanced level of knowledge of processes and procedures of the company?:

This means “knowledge or expertise in the company’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 that generally found within the employer.'” [Business Immigration: Law and Practice, 2nd Ed. Chapter 11 L1 Visas and Nonimmigrant Status]

The employee’s work for the US company must be in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity.

• To qualify for an L1 visa, you must be coming to the United States to work for the US company in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity.

• The same definitions for managerial, executive, and specialized knowledge capacity apply for this requirement (see above).