The L1 Visa is a non-immigrant visa which allows foreign companies to transfer a manager, executive, or person with specialized knowledge to a US company. The US company must be a branch office, parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of the foreign company.

Basic requirements for employers

To qualify for an L1 visa the employee, which can include business owners, must have worked for a subsidiary, parent, affiliate or branch office of the US company outside of the US for at least one year out of the last three years. Also, non-US companies seeking to send an employee to the United States as a supervisor or manager to establish a new office must provide certain evidence:

• availability of physical space for the new office;
• the employee has been employed as an executive or manager for one continuous year in the three years before filing the petition;
• the new office will support an executive or managerial position within one year of the approval of the petition..

Basic requirements for employees

To qualify for an L1 visa, an employee of the company must hold one of the highest management positions or have special knowledge. Employees who intend to obtain an L-1 visa must also have at least 12 months of uninterrupted service in the last 3 years at a company that is located outside the United States.

How long is the L-1 visa valid?

L-1 visa is issued for a period of one to three years and can be extended up to seven years. The L1 visa allows you to enter the US an unlimited number of times during the entire period of validity.

The main benefits of the L-1 visa:

• no quotas for issuing L-1 visas;
• no restrictions on the number of visas for one company;
• the opportunity to obtain a Green card through EB-1c, and then US citizenship;
• minor children and spouses are automatically eligible for L-2 visas.

Visa for family members L-2

The L-2 visa is issued to the spouse and children (unmarried minor children under the age of 21) of the L-1 visa holder to stay in the United States.

The L-2 visa allows the spouse to obtain permission to work in the United States. Minor children after obtaining an L-2 visa are eligible to study at an American school.