The L1A visa is a nonimmigrant (temporary) visa for employees who are executives or managers being transferred from an overseas office to a U.S. office, or for employees who are executives or managers of a foreign company being sent to start a U.S. office if there is not already an office in the United States. The person must have been working continuously as an executive or manager at an overseas office for at least 1-year within the 3-year period prior to filing the L1A visa petition.
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Table of Contents
A qualified person under the L1A visa petition must (1) have been working continuously as an executive or manager (or a specialized knowledge professional) at an overseas company for at least 1 year within the 3-year period immediately prior to filing the L1A visa petition and (2) the person will be employed in a managerial or executive position in the United States. The 1-year employment overseas must be a full-time job and there cannot be any break in employment during that 1-year.
The job position in the United States does not necessarily need to be the same job position held overseas. For example, a person who worked as a professional with specialized knowledge overseas is now transferring to the United States office to work as a manager.
The original statutory wording for qualified persons for L1A visas can be found in 8 CFR 214.2(l).
Executive or Manager Job Position
Executives and managers have similar but different job duties. For example, executives have more senior-level responsibilities and have job duties that are on a broader scale than managers. A manager or executive under an L1A visa petition should not be performing hands-on day-to-day business operational activities such as doing the necessary tasks in producing a product or providing a service, and should instead be managing those types of operational activities. Non-managerial or non-executive tasks can only be incidental to their main job duties. First-line supervisors are usually not qualified under the L1A visa petition unless the employees they supervise are professionals whose occupations require at least a bachelor’s degree.
To determine whether a managerial or executive position is qualified under the L1A visa petition, factors such as the number of subordinates (i.e., employees that are supervised or directed), reasonable business needs, staffing levels, overall size of organization, the purpose of the business, and the business’s stage of development are all to be considered in totality. For example, certain managers that do not oversee any employees but manage an essential function or operation in the organization can still qualify as a manager under the L1A visa petition, whereas an executive in a U.S. company that has only a few employees may not be qualify because it will likely be determined that the executive will not have enough time to primarily engage in executive duties since they will need to perform a lot of day-to-day operational activities.
Executive
The executive under the L1A visa 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
Manager
The manager under the L1A visa 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
Function Manager
The function manager under the L1A visa 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
A qualified U.S. sponsoring employer under the L1A visa must (1) be a parent company, subsidiary, affiliate, or branch of the overseas company, and (2) it must be or will be doing business as an employer in the United States and in at least 1 other country either directly or through a qualifying organization for the duration of the L1A visa.
The U.S. sponsoring employer under the L1A visa petition can include for-profit, non-profit, religious or charitable organizations, accounting or management consulting firms operating under an internationally recognized name, or qualifying worldwide organizational structure. The business does not have to involve international trade.
Both the U.S. company and the overseas company must be actively doing business by providing regular, systematic, and continuous goods or services. The U.S. company can qualify as “doing business” in the United States even when 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. However, a mere presence of an agent or office does not qualify as doing business.
New U.S. Office
Foreign company’s sending executives or managers to the United States to start a new office must additionally show that the physical premise of the new office is already secured and the new U.S. office will be able to support an executive or managerial position within 1 year of the L1A visa petition being approved.
Parent Company
A parent company is a legal entity that has subsidiaries.
Subsidiary Company
A subsidiary company under the L1A visa petition is a legal entity of which a parent company owns directly or indirectly by having:
- (1)
- More than half of the entity and controls the entity
- (2)
- Half of the entity and controls the entity
- (3)
- 50 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
＊Control here means the right and the authority in directing the management and operations of a business entity
Affiliate Company
An affiliate company under the L1A visa petition is a legal entity that is:
- (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)
＊Control here means the right and the authority in directing the management and operations of a business entity
Branch
A branch is an operating office or division of the same organization in different physical locations. A branch is not a separate business entity.
The initial L1A visa grants a period of stay for up to 3 years and renewals (extensions of stay) are granted in increments of 2 years up until the maximum limit of 7 years is reached. Any time spent physically outside the United States can be recaptured for the maximum limit of 7 years of the L1A visa status. After the maximum 7 years of the L1A visa is reached, the person must remain physically overseas (outside the United States) for at least 1 year before filing for a new L1A visa petition.
- Resides overseas and commutes regularly to the United States for part-time employment
OR
- Did not reside continually in the United States and the employment in the United States was intermittent, seasonal, or was in total six months or less per year
The exceptions cannot be used if the L1A visa worker’s dependent family members resided continuously in the United States under their L2 visa status.
L1A Visa Workers to Start New U.S. Office
For the L1A visa workers who are entering the United States to start a new office, the initial period of stay is up to 1 year and the first renewal (extensions of stay) is granted if the new U.S. office can prove that it is able to employ a manager or executive.
L1A Grace Periods
The L1A visa holder is allowed to enter the United States 10 days before the start date and stay an additional 10 days after the end date. However, the L1A worker cannot work in those additional 20 days. There is also a 60-day grace period of authorized stay in the United States if the L1A worker’s employment is terminated before the visa end date.
The L1A visa has four main requirements that need to be satisfied: evidence must be provided to the USCIS to show that (1) the U.S. sponsoring employer must be a parent company, subsidiary, affiliate, or branch of the overseas company, (2) the U.S. sponsoring employer must be or will be doing business as an employer in the United States and in at least 1 other country either directly or through a qualifying organization for the duration of the L1A visa, (3) the person worked for the overseas company as a manager, executive, or a professional with specialized knowledge for at least 1-year within the 3-year period prior to filing the L1A visa petition, and (4) the person is qualified to work as a manager or executive for the U.S. sponsoring employer.
Documents Required for the L1A Work Visa (Multinational Executives or Managers)
The evidence provided to the USCIS for the L1A visa must show:
The original statutory wording for the evidentiary requirements of the L1A visas can be found in 8 CFR 214.2(l)(3).
The total time an L1A visa takes is consisted of the processing time for the (1) L1A visa petition (Form I-129) with the USCIS and the (2) visa application (DS-160) at a U.S. consulate or embassy overseas if the person is not already in the United States or is ineligible to do a change of status within the United States. The L1 blanket visas (Form I-129S) typically are not filed with the USCIS and are processed during the visa application interview appointment at the U.S. consulate or embassy overseas instead.
Factors that influence the L1A visa petition processing time usually include but are not limited to if there was any Request for Evidence (“RFE”) issued, and the caseload of the USCIS service center and the U.S. consulate or embassy.
Premium Processing for Form I-129 (Expedited Service)
A rough estimate for the Form I-129 petition for the L1A visa is around 6 to 12 months (or 1 month for special blanket L1 visas). However, a 15-day premium processing (Form I-907) is available for the Form I-129 part of the L1A visa petition. Premium processing is an optional expedited service where the USCIS guarantees that the case will be processed within 15 calendar days (not business days). When a notice of intent to deny (NOID) or a request for evidence (RFE) is issued, a new 15 calendar days will start when the USCIS receives a response from the applicant. If the USCIS fails to process within the time frame, a refund of the service fee will be given and the case will continue to be expedited. Please note that USCIS’s guaranteed response may be an approval notice, denial notice, notice of intent to deny (NOID), request for evidence (RFE), or open an investigation for fraud or misrepresentation.
The current premium processing fee for the L1A visa is $2500 USD and it can be requested when the original petition is submitted to the USCIS or an upgrade to premium processing can be done when the case is pending.
After the USCIS approves the L1A visa petition (Form I-129), the person will then need to change into their L1A visa status. There are 2 ways to change into the L1A visa status: change of status (done in the United States) and consular processing (done outside of the United States).
Change of status is usually for a person who is already in the United States with another valid nonimmigrant visa status and has maintained a lawful visa status throughout their time in the United States. On the other hand, consular processing is for a person who lives outside the United States or for a person who is ineligible to change their status in the United States due to noncompliance of U.S. immigration law (e.g., overstayed on their previous visa status, worked when they did not have valid U.S. work authorization, the visa status they used to enter the United States does not allow them to change into another type of visa status, etc.)
＊Canadian citizens have an alternative option to apply for their L1A visa directly with the CBP at the port of entry on the U.S.-Canada boarders or at a U.S. pre-flight or pre-clearance station that is located in Canada instead.
For a person who is residing overseas (outside the United States) or a person who is ineligible for change of status with the L1A visa petition (Form I-129), consular processing must be done to obtain the L1A visa status. Consular processing involves the person attending an in-person interview at the U.S. consulate or embassy usually in the person’s 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) which means that the person would have to physically enter the United States as the final step for the L1A visa status to be activated.
For a person who is already in the United States with another valid nonimmigrant visa, there are usually two options available to obtain the L1A visa status:
(1) Change of Status: this is the more commonly chosen option where the person states that they would like to change their status without leaving the United States in their L1A visa petition (Form I-129). If the person is eligible (no violations of U.S. immigration laws), then their nonimmigrant visa status will be changed upon the approved employment start date listed in the L1A visa petition. In cases where the person’s change of status request is denied or the person needs to change it into consular processing, an application for action on an approved application or petition (Form I-824) may be required.
(2) Consular Processing: this must be chosen if a person cannot show that they have maintained lawful visa status in the United States or for any other reasons such as the person needs to travel internationally before the L1A visa petition is approved.
A change in employment for the L1A visa worker usually means that (1) the person will be working for another company under the same employer, (2) the person will be working part-time for other subsidiaries under the same employer, (3) the person’s employment was terminated, or (4) there was a material change in the person’s employment or L1A visa eligibility.
Amended Petition
An amended L1A visa petition would be required if there is a material change in the terms and conditions of the L1A visa worker’s employment or in the L1A visa worker’s visa eligibility. For example, an amended L1A visa petition must be filed if the L1A visa worker will have a new employer due to transferring to another company under the same organization or when there is a significant change in the L1A visa worker’s job duties.
Concurrent Employment
The L1A visa worker can work part-time for multiple subsidiaries of the same company but the subsidiaries must file a separate L1A visa petition to show a qualified relationship.
Early Termination
If the L1A visa worker’s employment ends before their visa status expiration date, the person will have a 60-day grace period (or till their existing expiration date if it comes earlier) to stay in the United States to seek other employment, change their visa status, or take care of affairs before departing the United States. However, the L1A visa worker is not allowed to work during that 60-day grace period.
Dependent family members (spouse and unmarried children under 21 years old) of L1A visa workers are allowed to stay in the United States under the L2 visa status. The L2 spouse (not the L2 child) can legally work in the United States with an employment authorization document (EAD, Form I-765).
Dual intent visas allow the foreign person to have both an intent to temporarily stay in the United States and an intent to permanently stay in the United States. The intention to permanently stay in the United States can be shown when the foreign person has a pending green card petition with the USCIS or an approved PERM labor certification from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The L1A visa is a dual intent visa which means that it is possible for the person to have a green card (permanent residency) petition pending while still being able to maintain and extend (renew) their L1A visa status in the United States. In addition, unlike most nonimmigrant visas, the L1A visa worker is not required to maintain a residence (home address) overseas.
The L1A visas are for companies to transfer managers or executives from their overseas offices to a U.S. office or for companies to send managers or executives to start a new office in the United States. Both types of managers or executives must have worked full-time for the company continuously for at least 1 year within the 3-year period prior to filing to enter the United States.
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.
The main difference between a green card and a temporary work visa (such as an O1 visa, H1B visa, L1 visa, P1 visa, TN visa, E3 visa) is that a green card holder can freely change jobs among different employers without needing additional filings or approvals from the U.S. government. Also, unlike temporary work visas, green cards are permanent so there is no set maximum time on how long a green card holder can stay in the United States.
When the L1A visa workers decide that they would like to live in the United States permanently and do not want to be subject to the time limitations or the constant filing requirements to extend (renew) their temporary work visa, the next step for them is to file a green card petition. The EB1c (Multinational Executives or Managers) green card petitions for persons who are executives or managers of multinational companies overseas are usually filed by L1A visa workers because of the similarity in the requirements of the two visa categories. The EB1c green card petition is one of the fastest ways to obtain an employment-based green card because unlike other employment-based green card categories it does not require a lengthy PERM labor certification and it typically does not encounter visa availability backlog issues.
Furthermore, a person can qualify for an employment-based green card no matter where they are currently residing in the world. There is no pre-requisite as to the person being in some type of nonimmigrant visa status (such as an L1A visa) or having an educational degree from a U.S. school. In other words, a person who does not have a U.S. degree and has never been to the United States can still qualify for an employment-based green card. Thus, even if a person is not in an L1A visa status yet but does have the qualifications for an L1A visa, they can alternatively choose to file for an EB1c green card petition instead.
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?
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- Fill out the form (with some basic information on what your immigration needs are)
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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 Checklist (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)