L-1 Visa for Intra-company Transferees
The Employer:
√ Must have a qualifying relationship with the foreign company. The relationship can be that of a parent, company, branch, subsidiary or affiliate.
√ Must presently or in the future conduct business in the U.S. and at least one other country directly or through a qualifying organization for the duration of the beneficiary’s stay in the United States as an L-1.
The Employee:
√ Is eligible for transferring to the U.S. entity after working for one year at the entity abroad.
√ Is coming to work as an executive/ manager or a worker with “specialized” knowledge
√ Complete the Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, submit filing fees, and all supporting evidence to USCIS.
√ L-1s entering to open a new office in the U.S. may stay for an initial period of up to one year.
√ All other L-1s may stay and work in the U.S. for an initial period of up to three years with extensions of stay granted for up to two additional years at a time.
√ L-1B specialized knowledge workers may stay up to a maximum of 5 years.
√ L-1A for executives/ managers may stay up to a maximum of 7 years.
√ Spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21 may join the L-1 worker.
√ Dependents will be granted the same period of stay as the L-1 worker.
√ Work authorization is available for spouses.
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