No labor condition application requirement – An LCA is a certification from the U.S. Department of Labor specifying the shortage of qualified U.S. personnel to fulfill the responsibilities required for a position. Employers petitioning L-1 visas for employee transfers are not required to obtain an LCA. The company normally has to remain in business as a U.S. employer and a foreign employer in at least one other country throughout the L-1A visa holder’s stay in the U.S. The foreign national must collect and present clear and convincing evidence to establish eligibility for this exemption. Time spent physically outside the U.S. does not count as time spent in L status.
Similar as EB-1C, L1B visa holders who apply for a green card based on EB-2 or EB-3 cannot file I-485 application until an immigrant visa number is available to them. Filing Form I-140 is just the first step for their green card applications. In order to eventually obtain a green card, L-1A visa holders should file Form I-485 with the USCIS. If an immigrant visa number indicated in the visa bulletin is current, they can concurrently file Form I-485 with Form I-140. Otherwise, they must wait until an immigrant visa number is available to file their I-485 form.
After this one year period, the petitioner must show that the company is actively doing business (i.e. showing growth in the number of employees, increase in revenues and increase in the volume of goods sold or services provided). If the U.S. company is not a new office, then the initial period of stay will be 3 years. The L1 Visa is a US temporary work visa that allows you to transfer from a company in your foreign country into its US branch, subsidiary, affiliate, or parent company. You will have to take an executive or managerial position which requires specialized knowledge to get the L1 visa.
Not having to apply for Labor Certification can save years on the application process for permanent residency in the U.S. The L-1A visa closely resembles the EB-1 Multinational Executive and Manager category in the employment-based green card application. Once a company is certain that it is eligible and its employee is eligible, it’s time to file the forms. l1b vs h1b must be filed by the company on the employee’s behalf.
This is imperative in a small startup company where the capital is limited and the extent of the work may not require a full time or part time employee to perform certain functions. Clearly the USCIS frowns upon such “mundane” involvement by the manager or executive. The manager or executive should not, under the AAO’s reasoning, get his or her hands dirty by “day-to-day” sales, marketing, or any other non-managerial functions. Citizenship & Immigration Services was a relatively straightforward process. For L-1A renewals/extensions, it was normal practice to just mostly recycle the initial L-1A filing sometimes supplementing it with more recent financial/tax documentation. As long as the underlying facts had not changed, USICS rarely gave much scrutiny to L-1A renewal petitions.
For new office L-1A applications, the company must show it has secured sufficient office space to house operations during year one. What is considered sufficient will depend on the type of company and the number of employees. Ideally the office space should be large enough to accommodate all employees that currently work for the company or will be hired by the company during year 1 of operations. Companies that engage in manufacturing or hold inventory should also obtain warehouse or factory space. We are happy to offer our L-1 visa guide that describes the L-1 visa requirements, and other advise to assist with your L-1 visa application. Keeps up to date on the issues related to the practice areas we specialize in.
Employees from companies already established in the US will be granted the visa for a maximum period of three years. Following the expiration of either the one or three year L1 visa, employees may apply for an extension in increments of two years, up to a total of seven years. A manager supervises other professional employees while managing the company, a department, subdivision, function or component of the business. This may also include the employee managing an essential function of the business with very little supervision. The employee being transferred must be going to work in an executive, managerial, or specialized knowledge role. The employee must work in the US in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge work position.
Either, they must submit a regular L-1 visa petition and have their case judged on its individual merit, or they can submit a blanket L-1 visa petition. Blanket petitions are granted to companies who have met certain qualifications regarding L-1 visas. In such an instance, the worker would simply file a copy of an approved blanket petition. Business owners or investors can file for an E1 visa petition or an E2 visa petition . 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.