L-1 Intracompany Transfers

The L-1 visa category applies to someone who has worked for at least one (1) year for a foreign company with a parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate office in the U.S. These workers come to the U.S. as intra-company transferees who are coming temporarily to perform services either 1) in a managerial or executive capacity (L-1A) or 2) in a  specialized knowledge (L-1B) capacity for a parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate of the same employer that employed the professional abroad.  There is currently no annual cap on L-1 visas.  Multinational companies use this visa to transfer workers who meet the L-1 legal standard.

See L-1 Visa at a Glance

Our office helps multinational companies with the following:

• Determining if the foreign worker meets the Executive or Manager legal standard.
• Determining if the foreign worker meets the Specialized Knowledge legal standard.
• Advising companies on the latest changes to the L-1 program.
• USCIS site visit compliance.
• L-1 visa stamping advice and strategy
• Determining how corporate restructuring impacts current L-1 employees.
• L-1A and L-1B extensions.
• Strategy and responses to USCIS Requests for Evidence (RFEs) and Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs).
• General immigration strategy for transferring foreign workers to the U.S.

Spouses and children (under 21) of individuals who hold valid L-1 worker status are eligible for L-2 dependent status.  A spouse in L-2 dependent status can also obtain work authorization (EAD). 

If you are interested in obtaining L-1 status or sponsoring an employee, please contact us to speak with one of our business immigration attorneys.