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Work Visas
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L1 Visa
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About L1 visa 
L1 Eligibility
L1 Requirements for Sponsorship
L1 Petition Blanket
New on L1 visa
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About L1 visa
Managers, executives or individuals with "highly-specialized knowledge" who have worked for a company outside of the U.S. for at least one of the immediately preceding 3 years may be transferred to that company's U.S. branch or affiliate for a period of five (L1B, for "specialized knowledge" employees) to seven years (L1A, for executives and managers). Nonimmigrant status may later be converted to a green card.
Companies operating in the US, may apply to the relevant
USCIS service center for an L1 visa to transfer someone
to the US from their overseas operations. Employees in
this category will, initially, be granted an L1 visa for
up to three years.
There are two types of employee who may be sponsored for USA L1 visas:
 Managers/Executives
The legal definition of management and executive roles for these purposes is quite strict, and a detailed description of the duties attached to the position will be required. In particular, the executive or manager should have supervisory responsibility for professional staff and/or for a key function, department or subdivision of the employer. Such personnel are issued an L1A visa, initially for a three year period extendible in 2 year increments to a maximum of 7 years.
Specialized Knowledge Staff
This category covers those with knowledge of the company's products/services, research, systems, proprietary techniques, management, or procedures. Staff in this category are issued an L1B visa, initially for three years extendible to a maximum of five years.
On completing the maximum allowable period in L1 status, the employee must be employed outside the United States for a minimum of one year before a new application is made for L or H status.
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L1 Eligibility
All L1 employees must have been employed by the your company outside of the USA for at least one of the three years preceding the transfer unless the beneficiary of a blanket. It does not matter if the worker was directly employed by the sponsor, or paid through an agency or personal service company, or even on a freelance basis, provided the sponsor had management and control over the worker during the qualifying year.
The employee must have been employed during the qualifying year as an executive, manager, or specialized knowledge worker, though it permissible for a specialized knowledge worker to come to the United States as a Manager or Executive, and for a manager or executive to come as a specialized knowledge worker, provided the US operation has been doing business for at least one year.
As noted previously, the 'standard of proof' for managers and executives is quite strict - they must generally supervise other professional or managerial staff and/or direct and control the day-to-day operations of a significant function, unit or subdivision of the employer. Specialized knowledge workers, however, qualify relatively easily - any employee with familiarity with the employer's specific products, procedures or methods may qualify.
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L1 Requirements for Sponsorship
Any organization which has a business (i.e. has more than simply an agent or representative presence) in the United States can sponsor an L1 visa, provided that the candidate qualifies in either L1A or L1B category, and that the sponsoring organization continues to carries on doing business outside the United States for the duration of the worker's L1 status. There is no restriction on the types of business that can sponsor an L1 visa – corporations, partnerships, government-owned entities and non-profit organizations are all eligible. Nor is it a requirement that the sponsoring organization be United States-owned or incorporated. It is, however, a requirement that there is some equity or ownership link between the transferor organization and the transferee organization in the United States.
In order to sponsor an application for an L1 visa:
A foreign parent must own at least 50% of a US subsidiary, and have veto powers over the subsidiary's actions;
A US parent must own must own at least 50% of the foreign subsidiary, and have veto powers over the subsidiary's actions;
Affiliate US and foreign companies must each be at least 50% owned by the same ultimate parent;
A US organization with a branch office abroad qualifies, as does a foreign organization with a US branch (though this must be more than simply an agent or representative);
A US organization which employs e.g. sales personnel overseas can sponsor such employees for L1's even if there is no non-US office.
The ownership requirements are not as strict in the case of vary large corporations, where a substantial minority shareholding will be a qualifying relationship.
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L1 Petition Blanket
Organizations which have been doing business in the United States for a minimum of one year and:
Are engaged in commercial trade or services (i.e. charities, etc., do not qualify);
Have at least 3 offices in the US and overseas; and
Have either:
 Sponsored at least 10 successful individual L1 petitions in the last 12 months;
US annual sales exceeding $25,000,000; or
A US work force of at least 1000 employees.
can include an unlimited number of qualifying foreign parents, subsidiaries, affiliates or branch offices in a 'blanket' petition. If approved, a blanket petition considerably speeds up subsequent L1 visa applications (from 4-6 weeks to about 10 days), which are processed at the US consulate in the employee's own country rather than by the USCIS in the United States. The transferring employee of a foreign organization covered by the blanket petition merely has to prove his/her own eligibility as an Executive/Manager or a Specialized Knowledge Worker, rather than both this and the relationship between the US and foreign employers. However, note that a 'specialized knowledge worker coming to the US under a blanket L1 approval must be a professional.
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New Law Changes Aspects of the Temporary Work Program
08 Dec 2004 (USCIS Press Release)
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that President Bush has signed the Omnibus Appropriations Act for FY2005, which contains the L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2004. An L1B nonimmigrant is an alien who has been employed outside of the U.S. by a firm with an affiliated entity in the U.S., and who comes to the U.S. to perform services for the international entity that involve specialized knowledge.
The L-1 Reform Act amends previous legislation by addressing the issue of "outsourcing". L1B temporary workers can no longer work primarily at a worksite other than that of their petitioning employer if the work will be controlled and supervised by a different employer or if the offsite arrangement is essentially to provide labor for hire rather than service related to the specialized knowledge of the petitioning employer. This limitation will apply to all L1B petitions filed with USCIS on or after June 6, 2005. This includes extensions and amendments involving individuals currently in L-1 status.
The act also required that all L-1 temporary workers must have worked for a period of no less than one year outside the U.S. for an employer with a qualifying relationship to the petitioning U.S. employer. Previously, participants in the "blanket L-1" program could participate after as little as six months of qualifying employment. This change applies to petitions for initial L-1 classification filed with USCIS on or after June 6, 2005. USCIS will publish guidance and regulations on these changes at a later date.
In addition, the Act creates a new Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee of $500 which must be paid by petitioners seeking a beneficiary's initial grant of H1B or L nonimmigrant classification or those petitioners seeking to change a beneficiary's employer within those classifications. Other than petitions to amend or extend stay filed by an existing H1B or L employer, there are no exemptions from the $500 fee. The new $500 fee applies to petitions filed with USCIS on or after March 8, 2005.
The new $500 fee is in addition to the base processing fee of $185 to file a Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker (Form I-129) and any premium processing fees ($1,000), if applicable.
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