Typical employment-based nonimmigrant visas include H-1B and L-1. Of these, the L-1 visa is a visa status specifically designed to allow foreign companies with branches, subsidiaries, or affiliates in the United States to send their employees to the United States to be employed by companies in the United States. Therefore, petitioners are limited to multinational corporations, and the visa applicant must be an executive or managerial level manager at the U.S. company to which he or she will be assigned, or have specialized knowledge or skills.
L-1A : Officers and managerial level Managers
This is the visa category for executives and managers. If you’re an executive, you’ll need to demonstrate that you have authority over important company decisions and that you can make decisions about policy formulation and execution. Manager-level managers must demonstrate that they can oversee the management of tasks, manage and supervise employees, and more.
You must also be able to show that the employee to be assigned has worked continuously for the parent company in an executive or managerial capacity for at least one year out of the last three years, and that he or she supervised employees at a high level with broad discretion in decision-making while receiving only general supervision from the company’s senior management. The L-1A is initially authorized for three years and can be extended for two two-year periods, for a maximum of seven years.
L-1B : Specialized Expertise
This is a visa category for temporary workers with specialized knowledge or skills. For this category, a detailed job description of the person is essential, and you must demonstrate that they actually have the specialized knowledge or skills for the job. You must also demonstrate that it is essential to hire labor from the parent company or another affiliate on a temporary basis rather than hire within the United States for this labor.
Specialized expertise, as defined by USCIS, means special knowledge, advanced level of knowledge, or expertise possessed by an individual in the products, services, research, equipment, technology, management, and application in the international marketplace of the petitioning entity (U.S. company).
The L-1A must show that the employee to be assigned to the U.S. branch, subsidiary, or affiliate in a similar role has performed similar duties for the parent company on a continuous basis for at least one of the last three years. The L-1B is initially approved for three years, with one two-year extension, for a maximum of five years.
L-1Aand L-1B‘s advantages and disadvantages
L-1A‘s advantages and disadvantages
Extensions are available for up to seven years. If you wish to obtain a green card, you can apply for a green card through the EB-1C category. Unlike other employment-based green cards, the EB-1C may be exempt from labor certification and is similar to the L-1A in its application requirements.
However, the L-1A has been under increased scrutiny in recent years, and because it is a non-immigrant visa, the status has an expiration date. It also allows for a maximum of 7 years, including extensions, so after 7 years you will need to obtain another visa status.
L-1B advantages and disadvantages
The L1B is often used as a backup plan for employers who are unable to secure H-1B visas for employees in the United States. Employers that fit the multinational definition for L-1 visas may be able to secure individuals not selected for H-1Bs on L-1 visas. Because the definition of specialized knowledge can be applied broadly, most employees with sufficient experience at a particular company can argue that they are eligible to be granted L-1B status.
Unlike the L-1A, which is 7 years, you are only allowed a maximum of 5 years of status. We are also seeing an increase in L-1B visa petitions being denied due to scrutiny of the definition of specialized knowledge.
Blanket L
The Blanket L visa program is a streamlined process for companies to apply for visas for employees who have already been pre-approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and will subsequently be assigned to a subsidiary, affiliate, or branch of the company. This allows you to effectively send multiple employees to the US. Because the company has already been pre-approved, applicants who qualify for an L visa can simply submit their visa application to the U.S. Embassy for processing. However, even with the simplified process, you must still meet the personal qualifications required by the L-1. It is generally used by large Korean companies with one or more branches, subsidiaries, or affiliates in the US as a way to send employees to the US.
If you have any questions about the L-1 visa or need assistance with your visa application, please contact mail@songlawfirm.com.