Visa for Intra-Company Transfer in the US

The visa for intra-company transfer in the US, or the L-1 visa, allows a US employer to transfer an executive or manager from one of its affiliated offices abroad to one of its offices inside the country. This type of visa also enables a foreign firm that does not have an affiliated office in the US to send an executive or a manager to the country with the aim of forming one. If you do not qualify for this type of visa, you might want to apply for an investor visa. 

Intra-company transfer in the USA under the L-1 visa

The L-1 visa was created in 1970 according to information here and is a non-immigrant visa available only for a manager, executive, or anyone with specialized knowledge qualified to be transferred from a foreign company to a US company. The US business must be the foreign business’ parent, subsidiary, or affiliate. The transferred employee must occupy a managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge position within the US organization (not necessarily the same position).

There are two types of visas under which intra-company transfers in the USA become available, namely:

• the L-1A visa for a person who will work as a management or executive;
• the L-1B visa if the individual will work as a person with specialized knowledge.

A managerial capacity implies:

• administering the company, or one of its departments or subdivisions;
• supervising and managing the work of other management, professional, or staff members;
• take charge of a department or other division of the organization that performs a crucial role.

 When it comes to executive capacity the main purpose is to oversee the management of the business or a significant part or function of the company.

If you need more information about the eligibility conditions of the two types of visas, you can rely on our immigration lawyer in Miami.

Requirements for the Intra-Company Transfer Visa in the US

In order to qualify for the visa for intra-company transfer, there are certain requirements that the employer has to meet. These are:

•    To have a qualifying relationship with a foreign company (parent firm, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate, known as qualifying organizations); and
•    To be in business, presently or in the near future, as an employer in the US and a minimum one other country directly or by a qualifying organization while the visa candidate will live in the US. Our immigration lawyer in Miami can give you more details on this matter. 

Here is also an infographic on this type of visa:

The requirements for the employee who applies for the L-1 visa for intra-company transfer are:

•    To have been working for a qualifying organization outside the US for one full year in the last three years before his or her admission in the country; and
•    To have the intention of coming to the US in order to render service as an executive or manager for a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations.

Intra-company transfer visas are also available for those who relocate to USA from UK.

New office in the US

If the foreign employer wants to send an employee to the US as an executive or manager to launch a new office, the employer also has to prove that:

•    Adequate physical locations for the new office were secured. Our immigration attorney in the US can help you with this issue;
•    The employee has been working as an executive or manager for one full year in the last three years before filing the visa application; and
•    The new office in US will ensure an executive or managerial job within one year after the L-1 visa approval. 

If you are interested in USA citizenship, you can send your questions to our lawyer.

Who must file for the visa?

Intra-company transfer in the USA is subject to a special procedure unlike filing for a work visa with the prospect of obtaining a Green Card. Specifically, the US company must apply for the transfer of the foreign employee. In the case of foreign-owned businesses, it is also common for the entity located abroad to decide or approve the application for the L-1 visa.

Depending on your case, if you need assistance in filing for an L-1 visa, you can get in touch with our lawyer who can help you.

Salary requirements under the L-1 visa for the USA

Intra-company transfer visas for the USA do not require the local employer to pay a specific wage to the foreign employee. The compensation must be, however, consistent with the position and work title in order to qualify for some visa categories. Also, laws governing the minimum wage at state and federal levels will still apply to the US employer.

Considering this is a case-to-case scenario, if you are a US employer seeking to transfer employees, you can request the advice of our immigration lawyer who can guide you properly.

Advantages of the US intra-company transfer visa

Intra-company transfers in the USA come with certain benefits for both employee and employer. In the case of the first, the perks are:

• the spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 may travel with the employee to the United States;
• as dependents, the spouse and unmarried children would be granted the L2 status.
• the spouse can also apply for employment and work in the United States incident to L-2 status, without needing a separate work permit (EAD);
• children can be enrolled in US schools to start, continue, or complete their education.

Also, the L-1 visa is subject to the premium issuance rules, meaning USCIS will act on the petition within 15 business days, provided an additional fee is paid.

Compared to other types of working visas, intra-company transfer visa applications for the United States are not capped. We also have a video on this type of visa:

Duration of visas obtained for intra-company transfers in the USA

Employees who are qualified and come to the US to open a new office can initially stay in the US with a visa for intra-company transfer for a maximum of one year. All the other employees who are qualified can initially stay in the country for up to three years. For L-1 intra-company transfer visa holders, requests for stay extensions could be issued in increments of a maximum of two supplementary years, until the visa holder stays for up to seven years in the US.

L-1 visas have different validity periods, as follows:

• the L- 1A visa for managers and executives has an initial validity period of 3 years;
• the L-1B visa also has a validity period of 3 years;
• the L-1A visa can renewed for 4 more years, totaling 7 years;
• the L-1B visa can renewed for 2 more years, up to a total of 5.

If you need assistance to complete an intra-company transfer in the USA, do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

We are qualified immigration lawyers in the United States and we can help you apply a for residence permit in USA. If you need to know more about this type of visa, please contact us.