U.S. L-1A and L-1B Visas for Transfer Employees - Work Visa Lawyers
Our founder, Otto Swanson, began accumulating knowledge of immigration law as an employee of the Immigration Service in 1954. We are Swanson & Swanson, a Los Angeles, California immigration law firm, and since 1972 our attorneys have devoted themselves exclusively to immigration law.
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To speak to a knowledgeable immigration attorney about obtaining an L-1A or L-1B work visa for transfer employees, or to discuss your particular immigration situation, call 310-694-5914.
L-1A and L-1B Visas for Transfer Employees
L-1A and L-1B employment authorization is available to employees of businesses with offices in the United States and abroad; provided the employees have been employed abroad in an appropriate capacity at least one out of the three years proceeding the date the benefit is sought.
L-1A authorization is available to managers and executives. L-1B authorization is available to employees with "specialized knowledge". The purpose of the authorization is to permit the employee to carry out the same or a similar function at a United States "branch office".
A branch office may be a subsidiary or an affiliated organization. The businesses may be corporate, joint ventures, or sole proprietorships.
As for the character of business conducted at the branch office and the foreign location the activities do not have to be the same nor does the United States branch office have to have existed for any length of time; in fact, the employee who is being transferred may be coming to the United States to setup the branch office.
Petitions for L-1A or L-1B authorization require documentation of:
- The existence of a foreign based operation of at least one year in duration,
- The existence of a United States branch office or at least the intent to start up a branch office;
- The appropriate ownership and control of both operations one to another;
- The employee's employment abroad in the appropriate capacity one out of the past three years (see below); and
- The intention to employ that employee in a similar capacity at the United States branch office.
Employment in the past three years encompasses employment which occurred in one out of the three years from either the date the petition for L-1A or L-1B classification is to be filed or from the date the employee last came to the United States branch office to work as a nonimmigrant H-1B, E-1, E-2.
Employees who are qualified for the L-1A benefit may also be qualified for immigrant classification and acquire United States resident status. Once the United States branch office has been in operation for a year, L-1A employees may thereafter be entitled to Multinational Immigrant classification.
To discuss your L-1A or L-1B work visa for transfer employees, or other immigration visa matters, with an experienced attorney, please contact us. We have helped generations of families, and we want to help you.
