L1 Visa Types, Requirements, and Application Steps

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The L1 Visa is a Intra Company Transferee visa that allows you to transfer from a company in your foreign country into its US branch, subsidiary, affiliate, or parent company.

L1 Visa Requirements

To be eligible for the L1 Visa, the person applying has to fulfill the following requirements:

Take an executive or managerial position which requires specialized knowledge.
Have employment in another country for at least one year in the past three years.
Have a transfer offer to a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge position in the US company.
Be registered as a full-time employee; however, the applicant can work part-time in the US and use the rest of the time to work in their home.
The company where the applicant works must have a subsidiary, branch, affiliate, or parent company in the US.

What Are the Types of L1 Visas?

There are two types of L1 Visas:

L1A Visa for Managers and Executives

To qualify for a L1A visa, you need to perform the duties of a manager or an executive within the company.

Who qualifies as a manager?

A manager is considered someone who:

Has the authority to hire and fire employees accordingly if there is no other supervisor of that function. If there is a human resource supervisor, the manager has the authority to recommend people for hiring or for firing them.
Is in charge of the whole company or a division of it.
Has control over the supervisors and lower level employees of the organization or the division which the manager heads.

A supervisor who sees day to day operations and has another supervisor to whom he or she reports to, cannot state that they are a manager. This person would be considered as staff of the company, since they have no decision making power and must ask for approval from their superior.

Who qualifies as an executive?

As for an executive, these duties fall under that job position:

Is supervised only by stakeholders or a board of directors and no others.
Makes policy rules and regulations for the company.
Has the ultimate decision making power regarding the company, besides the stakeholders and the board of directors.

If the person must report and is supervised directly by another person, with the exception of stakeholders and the board of directors, then they do not meet the criteria of being an executive. An executive must be monitored at a very low degree.

L1B Visa for Specialized Knowledge staff

The L1B visa is given to people whose company can prove that they are indispensable to company functions. They possess extraordinary and inimitable knowledge over the company’s products or services. This knowledge is difficult to transfer to another person and would take time as well as resources.

The industries that can claim specialized knowledge personnel to be eligible for L1B visa transfers, are:

Surgeons and physicians in hospitals.
Engineers.
Lawyers.
Teachers.
Professors.

Supporting Documents for an L1 Visa Application

To apply for an L1 Visa, you must submit the following documents:

A valid passport for an additional 6 months after your visa ends.
A photograph meeting the US visa Photography Requirements
The DS-160 confirmation page and code.
The receipts that you have paid all L1 visa fees.
The L1 visa interview appointment letter.
For individual petitions:
- Form I-129 and one copy.
- Form I-797.
For blanket petitions:
- Form I-129S and two copies.
- Three copies of Form I-797.
Letter from employer confirming your transfer and your job description.
Proof that you have worked with the employer for at least 1 year in the past 3 years.
Letters from previous employers and contact information for your supervisors.
Contact information from 2 coworkers from your current and previous job positions.
Photographs of the inside and outside of your place of work.
Your CV or resume.

How to Apply for the L1 Visa?

To apply for the L1 visa, you will need to go through the following steps:

Step 1: Get a Transfer Offer

Your employer must offer an intracompany transfer position in the US in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge role. Once you have this offer, you can begin the application process.

Step 2: Filing Form I-129

There are two ways to file Form I-129:

Individual Petitions

Your employer files Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, and the L Supplement with USCIS for a single employee transfer. Approval from USCIS is necessary before the employee can apply at the US Embassy. Once approved, the employer receives Form I-797.

Blanket Petitions

For larger companies, a blanket petition allows for the transfer of multiple employees with one USCIS approval. To qualify, the company must:

Engage in commercial trade or service.
Maintain a US office for over a year.
Obtain 10 L1 approvals in the past 12 months.
Have combined annual sales of $25 million or 1,000 US employees.

The employer files Form I-129S, and upon USCIS approval, receives Form I-797 for all employees under the petition. Blanket petitions are valid for three years and can be extended, but cannot be refiled within three years if expired.

Step 3: File Form DS-160

Form DS-160 must be completed online for most visa applications, including the L1 visa. It requires your personal and travel details. Once submitted, retain the confirmation page and number.

Step 4: Pay the Application Fee

The L1 visa application fee is $205. Additional fees may apply based on your home country. Ensure you keep receipts of all payments for your application file.

Step 5: Schedule the Interview

Book an interview as early as possible to avoid delays due to high embassy workloads. You will receive a confirmation letter after booking.

Step 5: Submit the Documents

Prepare a document file including your Form DS-160 confirmation, payment receipts, and any additional required documentation for your application.

Step 6: Attend Your Interview

During your interview at the US Embassy, officials will assess your intentions and job transfer. Successful interviews lead to visa processing and stamping. Questions will focus on verifying if your job qualifies as managerial or executive, as required for the L1A visa, or your specialized knowledge, your work, and its significance to the company for the L1B visa.

What is the L1 Visa Processing Time?

An L1 visa is processed for around 3 to 4 months from the time the application was submitted. Individual petitions however, take a bit longer than blanket petitions, but the reduction in time is very small. In general,

Since there is an option for premium processing, employers who pay it can get the answer to whether their petition is approved or denied in 1 to 3 weeks.

How Long is the L1 Visa Valid?

If you have an L1A visa, you are allowed to work in the US for a maximum of 7 years, while with an L1B visa, you can stay up to 5 years.

When your employer files the Form I-129, they also determine the length of the contract. When your visa is approved, that is the length of time you will be allowed to work in the US. That time is also specified on your Form I-94 that you will receive upon entry to the US.

When this period of time is close to expiration, your employer can file for an extension. If the extension is approved, you will be able to stay in the US for longer.

Can You Get a Green Card From an L1 Visa?

The L1 visa is also of dual intent, which means that applicants do not necessarily have to prove that they will return to their home country once their contracts end. They don’t have to prove any ties to home, and they are allowed to apply for a Green Card.

Since some L1 visa holders have specialized knowledge, they could also apply as priority workers for the Green Card, and could end up obtaining it within 1 year. So, in other words, if a L1 visa applicant states that they have immigration intent to the US, it will not affect or penalize their application.

Can You Bring Dependents?

L1 visa holders are allowed to have their the spouse and unmarried children under 21 years oldaccompany them to the US by applying for an L2 visa.

How Many L1B Visa Employees Can There be in a Company?

It is not specified how many people can be such key employees within a company. The company itself must be able to distinguish between employees who are vital to the company function and those who serve to only produce the products or services. Therefore, the company can claim many employees are key to the company and ask for transfers to the US; however, they must prove that the knowledge that the person has cannot be found in other employees or outside workers.

What is the Difference Between the L Visa and the H1B Visa?

	L1 Visa	H1B Visa
Who can apply?	A Manager or Executive or Specialized Knowledge Professional (such as a Lawyer, Doctor, Engineer, etc).	Individuals in “Specialty Occupations”, such as IT Specialist, Architects, Accountants, Doctors, Lawyers, etc.
Employment requirements	You must be transferring to the US from an overseas branch office (parent or subsidiary) of the US company. This means you can receive your salary either from an overseas company or from the US company.	You have to fill an open position in a US company that could not have been filled by an American citizen, and you must be well qualified for the job. You will receive your salary from a US company.
Previous work qualifications	You must have worked (in one of the qualifying positions) in the overseas branch of the company you are transferring to for at least one year in the last three years.	You do not necessarily need to have previous work experience in the position you are applying for.
Academic qualifications	There are no required academic qualifications to get an L1 Visa.	You must have at least a Bachelor Degree or equivalent or have advanced training or vocational skills to qualify for the H1B Visa.
Approval from the US Department of Labor (Proving there were no American citizens suited for the job)	You do not need approval from the US Department of Labor to get the L1 Visa. In other words, your employer does not need to prove to the DOL that there were no American citizens qualified for the job.	Before you receive the H1B Visa, your employer has to prove that they had an open application and that there were no qualified workers to fill the position in the States. Your employer does this by applying for Approval from the US Department of Labour (DOL). Afterwards, the employer can apply for your H1B Visa to the USCIS.
Change of employer	L1 Visa holders are not allowed to switch employers. You can change to a new visa status, however, such as to an H1B visa.	H1B Visa holders can change employers and transfer companies. The new employer (aka sponsor) has to file a new visa petition to the USCIS.
Family members	With an L1 Visa, you can bring your spouse and unmarried children under 21 years old to live with you in the US while you work. Your family members have to get an L2 visa. They can study and apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) so they are allowed to work.	With an H1B Visa, you can also bring your spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 with you to the US. Your family members have to get an H4 Visa. They can study and live in the US, but if they want to work they have to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD).
Salary requirements	There are no exact salary requirements for the L1 Visa, other than it must not be low.	H1B Visa holders have to receive the same salary as other workers in that profession or the average salary for that position in the US.
Duration of the visa	The Visa is issued in accordance with your work contract.	The H1B visa is initially valid for 3 years but can extend for another 3 years.
Visa extensions	You can extend an L1 Visa for a maximum of 7 years if employed as a Manager or Executive or a maximum of 5 years if working as Specialized Knowledge staff. After the visa expires, you can apply to switch to another immigration route.	You can extend an H1B Visa for a maximum of 6 years. After the Visa expires, you can apply for an Employment-Based Green Card, as long as you have a qualifying job.
Green Card	Yes, with an L1 Visa, you can eventually get a US Green Card, by applying for adjustment of residency status with the USCIS. This means you can ask your employer in the US to sponsor you for a PERM Certificate (Permanent Labor).	With an H1B you can also apply for a Green Card after the visa expires. Your employer has to sponsor you for a PERM Certificate.
Quota (Cap)	There is no annual quota or cap of how many L1 Visas are issued.	There is an annual Quota/Cap of 85,000 H1B Visas. 65,000 of them go to overseas specialized workers, and another 20,000 go to international graduates with advanced degrees from US educational institutions.

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