The EB1c visa is a green card for multinational U.S. companies to transfer their overseas executives or managers to work in their United States office. Under the EB1c green card petition, the person must have been employed as an executive or manager overseas by the multinational U.S. sponsoring company (i.e., branch of the U.S. company) or its other business entities (i.e., parent, affiliate, or subsidiary) for at least 1 year within the 3 years prior to filing the EB1c green card petition OR within 3 years of entering the United States as a nonimmigrant if already working for the sponsoring employer in the United States. The person has to continue to work for the same employer in a managerial or executive capacity after entering the United States.
Under INA §203(b)(1)(C), 8 USC §1153(b)(1)(C), the EB1c visa is a sub-category of the first preference (priority workers) employment-based immigrant visas and is one of the only few visas that do not require a PERM labor certification.
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A person qualified for an EB1c green card must have worked overseas (outside the U.S.) for at least one year as an executive or manager in the multinational U.S. sponsoring company (i.e., branch of the U.S. company) or its other business entities (i.e., parent, affiliate, or subsidiary). It is possible to aggregate (add up) the employment time overseas for the one-year requirement.
If the person is not in the United States when the EB1c green card petition is filed, then the one year working abroad must be within three years of the EB1c green card petition filing date. For example, a person who started to work as an executive at Microsoft’s Taiwanese office from Jan 1, 2020 is now being transferred to work at Microsoft’s U.S. office by having an EB1c green card petition filed for them on Jan 15, 2021. As shown in the example above, the person satisfies the “1 year within 3 year requirement” because they worked as an executive at Microsoft’s Taiwanese office (i.e., overseas branch) for more than 1 year (i.e., from Jan 1, 2020 to Jan 15, 2021) and that 1 year was within 3 years of the date that the EB1c green card petition was filed (i.e., Jan 15, 2021).
If the person is already in the United States working for the sponsoring employer when the EB1c green card petition is filed, then the one year working abroad experience must be within three years of the date that the person entered the United States as a nonimmigrant (temporary visa status) to work for the U.S. sponsoring employer. In other words, a person who has stayed for more than 3 years in the United States working for the U.S. sponsoring employer may still be able to qualify for an EB1c green card if they worked overseas for the U.S. sponsoring employer for at least 1 year within the 3 years before they came to the United States.
For example, a person who started to work as an executive at Microsoft’s Taiwanese office from Jan 1, 2020 subsequently got transferred to start working at Microsoft’s U.S. headquarters with an L1 nonimmigrant visa (temporary status) on Jan 15, 2021 is now being sponsored for an EB1c green card petition after spending 5 years working at the Microsoft’s U.S. office.
As shown in the example above, the person satisfies the “1 year within 3 year requirement” because they worked as an executive at Microsoft’s Taiwanese office (i.e., overseas branch) for more than 1 year (i.e., from Jan 1, 2020 to Jan 15, 2021) and that 1 year was within 3 years of the date they arrived at the United States to work for the U.S. sponsoring employer (i.e., Jan 15, 2021). Under this scenario, it does not matter that the person has been in the United States for more than 3 years because the 1 year (within 3 years) overseas work experience is tied to the date they entered the United States to work for the U.S. sponsoring employer.
If the person worked for an unrelated company for more than 2 years after entering the United States as a nonimmigrant (temporary work visa status) to work for the U.S. sponsoring employer OR have periods of stay without work authorization that lasted longer than 2 years after entering the United States, then the one year would change into being within three years of the EB1c petition filing date (and not within three years of entering the United States as a nonimmigrant).
In other words, if the person worked for another company that is not related to the U.S. sponsoring employer or became ineligible to legally work in the United States for more than 2 years after entering the United States to work for the U.S. sponsoring employer under a nonimmigrant visa status (i.e., temporary work visa), then their 1 year overseas work experience would be required to be within the 3 years of the date that their EB1c green card petition is filed for them and not within the 3 years of the date that they entered the United States.
For example, a person who started to work as an executive at Microsoft’s Taiwanese office from Jan 1, 2020 subsequently got transferred to start working at Microsoft’s U.S. headquarters with an L1A nonimmigrant visa (temporary status) on Jan 15, 2021 but then left to work for Tesla for 3 years on May 15, 2022. The person has now jumped back to work for Microsoft on May 15, 2025 and Microsoft wants to file an EB1c green card petition for this executive on July 1, 2026, however, the person cannot qualify for the EB1c green card petition unless they leave the United States and work as an executive at a Microsoft’s overseas office for new 1 year period.
As shown in the example above, the person cannot satisfy the “1 year within 3 year requirement” because they have a more than 2-year gap in employment with Microsoft’s U.S. office (i.e., U.S. sponsoring employer) by working for Tesla for 3 years (May 15, 2022 to May 15, 2025) which makes the “1 year within 3 year” requirement revert back to requiring the 1 year overseas work be within 3 years of the date that their EB1c green card is filed (July 1, 2026) and not within the 3 years that they entered to the United States to work for the Microsoft (Jan 15, 2021).
The original statutory wording for the qualifications of the person under an EB1c green card petition can be found in INA §203(b)(1)(C), 8 USC §1153(b)(1)(C).
The executive under the EB1c green card petition should have the duties and responsibilities of:
- Directing the management of the organization, or a component or function of the organization
- Establishing goals and policies
- Having wide discretion in making decisions
- Only receives general direction or supervision from higher-level executives, board of directors, or stockholders of the organization
The original statutory wording for “executive capacity” in EB1c green card petitions can be found in 8 CFR §204.5(j)(2).
The manager under the EB1c green card petition should have the duties and responsibilities of:
- Managing the organization, department, subdivision, function or component of the organization
- Supervising and controlling the work of other supervisory, professional, or managerial employees
- Having the authority to hire, terminate, or recommend other similar personnel actions (e.g., leave authorization, promotions) for the employees who are directly supervised by the person
- Making discretionary decisions to control the day-to-day operations of the activity or function that the person has authority over
The original statutory wording for “managerial capacity” in EB1c green card petitions can be found in 8 CFR §204.5(j)(2).
The function manager under the EB1c green card petition is a manager that does not have any subordinate employees to supervise and direct, or a manager that manages an “essential function” of the business. The function manager here should have the duties and responsibilities of:
- Managing the organization, department, subdivision, function or component of the organization
- Managing an essential function in the organization, department, or subdivision of the organization
- Functioning at a senior level in the hierarchy of the organization or with respect to the function that is managed
- Making discretionary decisions to control the day-to-day operations of the activity or function that the person has authority over
The original statutory wording for functional managers in EB1c green card petitions can be found in 8 CFR §204.5(j)(2).
There are two employers in the EB1c green card petition that are required to satisfy certain qualifications: (1) the U.S. sponsoring employer that is sponsoring the EB1c green card petition, and (2) the overseas employer that the person worked for at least 1 year as an executive or manager abroad (outside the United States). The paragraphs below provide a summary of what the qualifications are required of the U.S. sponsoring employer and the overseas employer.
The U.S. sponsoring employer must be a multinational company that has been doing business in the United States for at least one year and has also been conducting business in at least one other country other than the United States.
The U.S. sponsoring employer must have been doing business in the United States for at least 1 year. Doing business here means that the company is active in providing regular, systematic, and continuous goods or services. A shelf company or a mere presence of an agent or office is not enough to satisfy the “doing business” requirement.
The U.S. sponsoring employer can still qualify as “doing business” in the United States even if it is only doing business with its affiliates and subsidiaries. For example, the U.S. sponsoring employer can be qualified as doing business where it earns all its revenue from its subsidiary overseas and not from selling products directly to unaffiliated third-party customers.
There is a possibility for the person to be the only employee of the U.S. sponsoring company because there are no specific requirements on the size of the U.S. sponsoring company or its gross business volume, however, it will be highly scrutinized so there must be strong evidence for small and young companies to show that they actually have the capacity to support a managerial or executive employee and that the person will work strictly in a managerial or executive capacity.
The overseas employer that the person worked at least 1 year for as an executive or manager must be the same company as the U.S. sponsoring employer (i.e., branch of the U.S. company) or another business entity of the U.S. sponsoring employer (i.e., parent, affiliate, or subsidiary company).
A qualified relationship between the U.S. sponsoring company and the overseas company that the person worked for as an executive or manager must exist. The qualified relationship can be where (1) the U.S. company is the same company as the overseas company, (2) the U.S. company is the parent company of the overseas company, (3) the U.S. company is the subsidiary of the overseas company, and (4) the U.S. company is the affiliate of the overseas company.
There is no specific requirement on how long the qualifying relationship needs to have existed between the U.S. sponsoring company and the company overseas, however, the U.S. sponsoring company is required to have been doing business for at least 1 year in the United States and the qualifying relationship between the two employers must be maintained before the EB1c green card is issued.
For example, if a company overseas buys the U.S. sponsoring company (that has been doing business for at least 1 year in the United States), the U.S. sponsoring company that was bought can sponsor an EB1c green card petition for an executive or manager from the company overseas immediately after the acquisition based on a qualified relationship being formed with the company overseas that bought it.
The original statutory wording for the qualifications of the employers under the EB1c green card petition can be found in INA §203(b)(1)(C), 8 USC §1153(b)(1)(C).
A subsidiary under the EB1c green card petition is a legal entity of which a parent owns, directly or indirectly:
(1) More than half of the entity and controls the entity
(2) Half of the entity and controls the entity
(3) Fifty percent of a fifty-fifty joint venture and has equal control and veto power over the entity
(4) Less than half of the entity but in fact controls the entity
The original statutory wording for “subsidiary” in EB1c green card petitions can be found in 8 CFR §204.5(j)(2).
Affiliate
An affiliate under the EB1c green card petition is a legal entity that:
(1) One of two subsidiaries both of which are owned and controlled by the same parent or individual
(2) One of two legal entities owned and controlled by the same group of individuals, with each individual owning and controlling approximately the same share or proportion of each entity
(3) Firms that operate under the same internationally recognized corporate name even if they are actually separate entities (For example, an internationally recognized name of an accounting firm used by international management consulting firms or firms marketing accounting services can be considered as affiliates.)
The original statutory wording for “affiliate” in EB1c green card petitions can be found in 8 CFR §204.5(j)(2).
The EB1c green card has four main requirements that need to be satisfied: evidence must be provided to the USCIS to show that (1) the person has a job offer for an executive or managerial position, (2) the job offer must be from a U.S. sponsoring employer that has been doing business for at least 1 year in the United States and also conduct business in at least one other country other than the United States (e.g., multinational corporation), (3) the person must have worked as an executive or manager for at least 1 year within the 3 years prior to filing the EB1c green card petition OR within 3 years of entering the United States as a nonimmigrant if already working for the sponsoring employer in the United States, and (4) the overseas work experience must be at the entity of the U.S. sponsoring employer (i.e., branch of the U.S. company) or its other business entities (i.e., parent, affiliate, subsidiary).
The evidence provided to the USCIS for the EB1c green card petition must show:
The total time an EB1c green card takes is consisted of the processing time for (1) the EB1c green card petition (Form I-140) with the USCIS and (2) the change of status when the person’s priority date becomes current by filing the Form I-485 application if adjusting status within the United States or the DS-260 application if doing consular processing at a U.S. consulate or embassy located outside the United States.
Factors that influence the processing time usually include but are not limited to where the person (or spouse) was born, if there was any Request for Evidence (“RFE”) issued, and the caseload of the USCIS service center and the U.S. consulate or embassy.
A rough estimate for the Form I-140 petition is around 6 to 12 months. Premium processing is not available for EB1c green card petitions.
Priority Date for Status Change
There are two parts in the processing time for a change of status: (1) the time to when the person’s priority date becomes current which can range from no wait time (which is usual) to multiple years (which is rare for EB1c visas) depending on what country the person or their spouse was born in, and (2) the time to process Form I-485 for adjustment of status or DS-260 for consular processing which a rough estimate can range from 4 to 15 months.
After the USCIS approves the EB1c green card petition (Form I-140), the person will then wait for their priority date to become current to apply for a change of status into a green card holder (lawful permanent resident). The priority date for EB1c green card petitions is the date that the USCIS receives their immigration petition (Form I-140). For people from most countries, their EB1c green card petitions will usually have a current priority date at the time of filing. For people from China and India, the wait time for their priority date under an EB1c green card petition to become current is relatively short compared to other green card visa categories.
The reason as to why there are different wait times for a priority date to become current is due to the total limit on how many green cards (immigrant visas) can be given out each year and a separate limit on how many green cards are allotted for each country. For people born in certain countries (based on country of birth and not country of citizenship) such as China or India, there is usually not enough available visas (green cards) each year due to high-volume immigration from those countries so they would have to wait for their visas (green cards) to become available which would be based on when their priority date becomes current in the monthly Visa Bulletin released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS).
Cross-Chargeability
Cross-chargeability is often used when the person’s country of birth has a visa backlog problem but the country of birth for the person’s spouse does not. The person born in the country that has a visa availability backlog problem will use the cross-chargeability rule to be charged against (use the quota of) the spouse’s country instead (this usually results in obtaining the green card much earlier). For example, a person born in China (which usually has a visa availability backlog problem) with a spouse born in South Korea (which does not have a visa availability backlog problem): both of them can use the quota of South Korea instead of China when they apply to change into their green card visa status. It does not matter which person is the primary person pursuing the green card petition.
Minor children can be charged to either parent’s country of birth, or in some circumstances the child can be charged to a third country that neither parent was born in or had residence in when the child was born. For example, both parents were born in Japan but their child was born in China during a temporary vacation there: the child can be charged against the quota of Japan. Under most circumstances, derivative beneficiaries (such as the spouse or children of green card visa applicants) cannot be eligible to apply to change into their green card visa status before the principal green card visa applicant.
Please note that parents cannot use their minor children’s country of birth under the cross-chargeability rule. For example, both parents were born in China and their child was born in Japan. The parents cannot use Japan which is their child’s country of birth and would still need to use China which is their own country of birth to wait for their green card.
Changing into the green card visa status (the lawful permanent resident immigrant visa status) is the final step in being able to work freely and live permanently in the United States. There are two ways to obtain the green card visa status: adjustment of status and consular processing.
Adjustment of status is usually for a person who is already in the United States with a valid nonimmigrant visa status and has maintained a lawful visa status throughout their time within the United States. On the other hand, consular processing is for a person living outside the United States or for a person who is ineligible in adjusting their status in the United States.
For a person who is residing overseas (outside the United States) or a person who is ineligible for an adjustment of status with the Form I-485 application, consular processing must be done to obtain the EB1c green card visa status (i.e., lawful permanent resident). Consular processing usually involves the person attending an in-person interview at the U.S. consulate or embassy located in their home country. In certain circumstances, a person can do consular processing in another country as a “Third Country National.”
After the interview approval at the U.S. consulate or embassy, the person would have to be admitted entry into the United States by the CBP officer at the border (usually at the airport). In other words, the person would have to physically enter the United States after their interview approval as the final step for their EB1c green card visa status to be activated.
For a person who is already in the United States with a valid nonimmigrant visa, there are usually two options available to obtain the EB1c green card visa status (Lawful Permanent Resident):
(1) Adjustment of Status: this is the more commonly chosen option where the person would file a Form I-485 application to adjust their status without leaving the United States. The person would attend an in-person interview at a local USCIS office in the United States and the interview approval would serve as the final step for their EB1c green card visa status to be activated.
The adjustment of status application (Form I-485) can be filed when the person’s priority date becomes current in the Visa Bulletin which means that there are no backlogs in visa availability for the person’s country of birth (not country of citizenship). This can happen while the green card petition (Form I-140) is still pending (i.e., before approval) with the USCIS or after the green card petition (Form I-140) is approved by the USCIS. It can also happen in concurrent filings (Form I-140 and Form I-485 sent together) where the person’s priority date is already current at the time of filing the green card petition (Form I-140) to the USCIS.
When the adjustment of status application (Form I-485) is filed, applications for the employment authorization document (Form I-765, commonly known as the “EAD card”) and the travel document (Form I-131, commonly known as “Advance Parole”) can also be filed at the same time.
The EAD card allows unrestricted employment where a person can change their job freely and can legally work for any employer in the United States, unlike a work visa such as an H1B visa which restricts a person to work for a specific employer in the United States.
Advance parole allows a person to travel internationally while their adjustment of status is still pending. If a person has a pending adjustment of status application (Form I-485) with the USCIS but leaves the United States without advance parole and does not have a certain valid nonimmigrant visa status (H1B visa, H4 visa, L1 visa, L2 visa, K3 visa, K4 visa, V visa) that allows international travel, their adjustment of status will be considered abandoned.
(2) Consular Processing: this is usually chosen if a person cannot show that they have maintained their lawful visa status in the United States or when the processing time for consular processing is much faster than the adjustment of status.
When the EB1c green card petition (Form I-140) is approved, the person’s spouse and dependent children (unmarried and under the age of 21) may be eligible to enter the United States under the E-14 or E-15 immigrant status, respectively.
The EB1c green card is for executives or managers of multinational U.S. companies to be transferred from an overseas office to a U.S. office. The multinational U.S. sponsoring employer must have been doing business for at least 1 year in the United States and does business in at least one other country other than the United States. The person must have worked overseas for the U.S. sponsoring employer (or its other business entities) as an executive or manager for at least 1 year within the 3 years prior to the EB1c green card petition being filed OR within 3 years of entering the United States as a nonimmigrant worker if the person is already in the United States working for the U.S. sponsoring employer.
The EB1c green card petition is one of the fastest ways to become a lawful permanent resident in the United States. This is partly due to the fact that fewer people qualify for an EB1c green card and the people who are approved usually have current priority dates avoiding visa backlogs as they are given first priority when the green cards are issued each year. Another reason as to why the EB1c green card petition is fast is that it does not need to go through a lengthy PERM labor certification that most employment-based green card visa categories require.
The EB1c green card petition requires a sponsoring employer. It cannot be self-sponsored which means the person cannot start and pay for the EB1c green card petition by themselves. The sponsoring employer in an EB1c green card petition can only be a multinational company or its other qualified business entities (i.e., affiliate, parent, subsidiary, or branch of the U.S. company).
The EB1c green card is best suited for a person who has experience as an executive or manager at a company that does business in more than one country. The emphasis in this EB1c visa category is on whether the person did indeed work for the U.S. sponsoring employer (or a qualified business entity) overseas as an executive or manager for at least 1 year within the 3 years prior to the EB1c green card petition being filed OR within 3 years of the person entering the United States under a nonimmigrant visa status to work for the U.S. sponsoring employer.
Usually, people who have nonimmigrant visas in the L1a visa (that temporary work visas for multinational executives or managers) are good candidates for the EB1c green card petition because of the similarities in the visa requirements.
For people who qualify for the EB1c green card petition (Multinational Executive or Manager), it is possible that the person can also qualify for an EB1a green card petition (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) which is less restrictive as it can be self-sponsored (where the person can pay and start the green card petition by themselves) and it does not require a specific U.S. employer just proof that the person will continue to work in their field of expertise.
For people who do not qualify for the EB1c green card petition yet, the closest alternative would be filing a National Interest Waiver (NIW) with an EB2 green card petition. The EB2 National Interest Waiver green card petition would require the person to have at least a master’s degree (or its equivalent) or have exceptional ability (lower standard than the extraordinary ability in the EB1a green card petition) in the sciences, arts, or business, and the person would also need to show that their work will be able to benefit the United States significantly.
Other alternatives would be the more commonly used employment-based green card petitions such as the regular EB2 green card petitions (Advanced Degree) and the EB3 green card petitions (Professional, Skilled, Other Workers). These types of employment-based green card petitions usually require a sponsoring U.S. employer and a PERM Labor Certification.
If you have an EB1c green card (Multinational Executive or Manager) immigration question, please fill out our contact us form or send us an email with some basic information about your background and your immigration needs. We will do our best to respond within 48 hours.
How we can help?
Kylie Huang Law’s immigration attorney will help identify whether the EB1c green card is the appropriate immigrant visa category for the client’s professional background. We will work closely with our client to prepare a convincing case for their EB1c green card petition and we will also strategize on how the EB1c green card petition should be presented to achieve the best chances of approval. It is strongly advised and common practice to retain an immigration attorney for an EB1c green card petition due to the complexities in the immigration process and visa requirements.
What does the typical process look like to retain (hire) us?
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- Retainment (signing a contract to hire us)
- Start processing case
- Gathering required documents
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- Filing the case
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- Attend scheduled appointment (typically a phone call or zoom)
- Retainment (signing a contract to hire us)
- Start processing case
- Gathering required documents
- Preparing paperwork
- Confirming contents of documents that will be submitted
- Filing the case
- Following up on the status of the case
- Close the case when a final determination is issued
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- Fill out the form (on what your immigration needs are)
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- Attend scheduled appointment (typically a phone call or zoom)
- Retainment (hire us)
- Start processing case
- Gathering required documents
- Preparing paperwork
- Confirming content of documents that will be submitted
- Filing the case
- Following up on the case status
- Close the case when a final determination is issued