L1, L1A Visa for Inter-Company Transfers

Characteristics of L1 and L1A Visas

• The L1 visa is for foreign workers employed by a multinational company that also has offices in the United States. The visa is required for employees who are being temporarily transferred to the U.S. office.
• The L1A visa is for executives and managers, while the L1B is for workers with specialized knowledge.
• This visa is valid for 1-3 years, and can be extended for 2 years at a time, with a maximum of 7 years. After this, the foreign national must work outside the United States for one year before another visa can be applied for.
• L1A and L2B visas are particularly advantageous to foreign companies that desire to expand their businesses into the United States. Foreign workers can effectively set up an operation in the U.S. during the course of their visas, and train local staff to manage the business presence on an ongoing basis after that time.
• Workers that qualify for this visa have worked at least one unbroken year out of the last three for the parent company or one of its subsidiaries.
• Large, multinational organizations may apply for the L1 Blanket Petition Program.
• The L1 visa is dual-intent, so applying for permanent residency will not jeopardize the validity of this visa.

Our Services

Whether you are seeking to expand your business into the United States, or you are a U.S. employer desiring to transfer a valuable foreign worker to the United States, contact us for a free consultation. Our expert attorneys are cognizant of the very latest changes in immigration regulations and procedures, and are ready to work with you step by step to see the process through to its completion.

We have helped many other businesses to build successful strategies for employing foreign national workers in the United States, and our firm is entirely focused on the practice of immigration law. Please contact us for more details, either by phone or in person at one of our three west coast locations.