The L1A visa checklist below provides a general idea of what is usually needed for managers or executives who are transferring from an overseas office to a U.S. office or are coming to the United States to start a new office to obtain their L1A work visa. To have a better understanding of this list, please read the L1A visa overview for the big picture and then please go review L1A visa requirements and documents to get the details of what is usually included or not included as evidence for L1A visa petitions.
Please click to download the L1A visa checklist for executives or managers of multinational companies.
The overall emphasis on the documents and requirements/criteria of an L1A visa petition is that the job duties must show the U.S. job position is for a manager or executive and the L1A visa worker must have the required 1-year work experience at a qualified overseas company. The L1A visa is specifically for multinational companies to send their executives or managers to work at an already existing U.S. office or to start a new office in the United States.
The requirements for an L1A visa petition are extensive and while ticking the boxes of requirements sounds simple enough, figuring out what items should be included and strategizing how the petition is presented is not. It is common practice and strongly encouraged to obtain an attorney for employment-based nonimmigrant visa petitions.
Alternatives to the L1A Visa Petition
For people who do not qualify for the L1A work visa petition yet, the closest alternatives would be filing for an L1B visa petition which is for employees who have specialized knowledge of the multinational company (employer), or an H1b visa petition (Australians can file for E-3 visa petitions) or TN visa petition (for Canadian or Mexicans) to work in the United States. Business owners or investors can file for an E1 visa petition (Treaty Trader) or an E2 visa petition (Treaty Investor).
Another possible alternative to filing an L1A visa petition would be to file for a green card petition which is a permanent immigrant visa and not a temporary work visa like the L1A visa. Typically, a person who is qualifiable for an L1A visa would choose to file for an EB1c green card due to the similarities of the standards and requirements between the two visas. For more on green cards gained through work, please read the overview for employment-based green cards.
If you have an L1A work visa (Executives or Managers for Multinational Companies) 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 L1A visa is the appropriate nonimmigrant visa category for the client’s (or the client’s beneficiary’s) professional background and if there are other visa options for the client (or the client’s beneficiary). We will work closely with our client to prepare a convincing case for their (or it’s) L1A visa petition and we will also strategize on how the L1A visa 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 L1A work visa petition due to the complexities in the immigration process and visa requirements.
What does the typical process look like to retain (hire) us?
- Step 1:
- Step 2:
- Step 3:
- Step 4:
- Step 5:
- a.
- b.
- c.
- Step 6:
- Step 7:
- Step 8:
- Fill out the form (with some basic information on what your immigration needs are)
- Sign up and log into the client portal to schedule an appointment online
- Attend scheduled appointment (typically a phone call or zoom meeting)
- 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
- Step 1:
- Step 2:
- Step 3:
- Step 4:
- Step 5:
- a.
- b.
- c.
- Step 6:
- Step 7:
- Step 8:
- Fill out the form (on what your immigration needs are)
- Sign up and log into the client portal to schedule an appointment
- 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
- Step 1:
- Step 2:
- Step 3:
- Step 4:
- Step 5:
- a.
- b.
- c.
- Step 6:
- Step 7:
- Step 8:
- Fill out the form (on what your immigration needs are)
- Sign up and log into the client portal to schedule appointment
- 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
RELATED ARTICLES
- L1A Visa Requirement & Documents
- L1A Visa (Manager / Executive Transferee)
- L Visa Overview (Intra-Company Transferee)
- L1B Visa (Specialized Knowledge Transferee)
- L1B Visa Requirement & Documents
- L1B Visa Checklist (Specialized Knowledge)
- H Visa Overview (Specialty Occupations)
- H1B Visa (Specialty Occupations)