L1 Visa Lawyer

Also known as the intracompany transferee visa, the L1 visa is often used by multinational companies to improve management effectiveness, expand U.S. exports, or to simply enhance competitiveness in markets abroad.

The top-rated business immigration attorney at Columbus, Ohio-based Porter Law Office, LLC has in depth experience with securing L1 visas.

Types of L1 Visas

Section 1(b) of Public Law 91-225 of April 7, 1970, created a nonimmigrant visa classification at INA 101(a)(15)(L) for intracompany transferees. Under the INA, an intracompany transferee is an alien who, within three years preceding the time of his or her application for admission into the United States, has been employed abroad continuously for one year by a parent, branch, affiliate, or subsidiary of the U.S. company. The individual must be coming to the U.S. to work in a managerial or executive capacity (L-1A visa) or in a position involving specialized knowledge (L-1B visa).

Assisting International Corporations with Securing L1 Visas

Requirements

The following elements must be considered in evaluating entitlement to L-1 classification in individual petition cases:

1. The petitioner must be a “qualifying organization” or parent, branch, affiliate, or subsidiary of the same employer for whom the alien has been employed abroad prior to entry.
2. The transferee, or beneficiary, is a manager, executive, or an alien having specialized knowledge, and is coming to the U.S. to work in a managerial or executive position or a position requiring specialized knowledge.
3. The petitioner and beneficiary have the requisite employer-employee relationship.
4. The petitioner must continue to do business in the United States and at least one other country for the duration of the intracompany transferee’s stay in the U.S.
5. The beneficiary must have been employed by the petitioner for one continuous year within the previous three years.
6. If the beneficiary is coming to open a new office in the U.S. additional requirements must be met. See below.
7. Dual intent is allowed under the L-1 visa regulations.

Perhaps the most important aspect of any immigration matter, including the L-1 visa petition, is to support the case with verifiable evidence that satisfies the burden of proof. The experienced immigration lawyer at Porter Law Office will be able to advise you about the type of evidence needed to meet the regulatory criteria for each element of your L-1 visa case.

Managerial or Executive Capacity (L-1A Visa)

An intracompany transferee can be employed in a managerial or executive capacity under L-1A. It is occasionally difficult to determine whether you have a manager or executive. According to INA § 101(a)(44)(A), “Managerial capacity” means an assignment within an organization in which the employee primarily:

• Manages the organization, or a department, subdivision, function, or component of the organization;
• Supervises and controls the work of other supervisory, professional, or managerial employees, or manages an essential function within the organization, or a department or subdivision of the organization;
• Has the authority to hire and fire or recommend those as well as other personnel actions (such as promotion and leave authorization) if another employee or other employees are directly supervised. If no other employee is directly supervised, functions at a senior level within the organizational hierarchy or with respect to the function managed; and
• Exercises discretion over the day-to-day operations of the activity or function for which the employee has authority. A first-line supervisor is not considered to be acting in a managerial capacity merely by virtue of his or her supervisory duties unless the employees supervised are professional.

According to INA § 101(a)(44)(B), the term “executive capacity” means an assignment within an organization in which the employee primarily:

• Directs the management of the organization or a major component or function of the organization;
• Establishes the goals and policies of the organization, component, or function;
• Exercises wide latitude in discretionary decision-making; and
• Receives only general supervision or direction from higher level executives, the board of directors, or stockholders of the organization.

Porter Law Office, LLC will be able to properly advise you whether your intracompany transferee qualifies as a manager or executive. Like many areas of the law, there are important nuances that must be considered.

Specialized Knowledge (L-1B Visa)

If you are not transferring a manager or executive, your employee may qualify for an L-1B visa as an individual with specialized knowledge. Specialized knowledge simply means special knowledge of your 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.

The knowledge requirement for the L-1B visa is more than the ordinary knowledge of an employee in particular field. USCIS will look at whether the individual has significant prior experience with the petitioning organization. The specialized knowledge must not be available in the U.S. labor market.

To provide clarity on this seemingly ambiguous definition, USCIS has released agency memoranda, which sets forth the main characteristics of an employee who has specialized knowledge. The individual must:

• Possesses knowledge that is valuable to the employer’s competitiveness in the market place;
• Is uniquely qualified to contribute to the U.S. employer’s knowledge of foreign operating conditions;
• Has been utilized as a key employee abroad and has been given significant assignments which have enhanced the employer’s productivity, competitiveness, image, or financial position; and
• Possesses knowledge, which can be gained only through extensive prior experience with the employer.

L-1 Visa to Open a New Office in U.S.

If you are opening an office in the U.S. and would like a manager or executive to oversee that process, there are additional requirements that must be met. According to 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(l)(3)(v), a petitioner who seeks L status for a manager or executive coming to open or to be employed in a new office must submit evidence that:

1. Sufficient physical premises to house the new office have been secured;
2. The beneficiary has been employed for one continuous year in the three year period preceding the filing of the petition in an executive or managerial capacity and that the proposed employment involved executive or managerial authority over the new operation; and
3. The intended United States operation, within one year of the approval of the petition, will support an executive or managerial position as defined in paragraphs (l)(1)(ii)(B) or (C) of this section.
   

If you meet the above requirements, then you must also submit evidence that establishes: (1) the proposed nature of the office describing the scope of the entity, its organizational structure, and its financial goals; (2) the size of the United States investment and the financial ability of the foreign entity to remunerate the beneficiary and to commence doing business in the United States; and (3) the organizational structure of the foreign entity.