Working in the U.S. as an Intracompany Transferee
If you work for a company abroad that also maintains offices in the Unites States, it may be possible to obtain a non-immigrant working visa or lawful permanent residence as an “intra-company transferee.”
What is an “intra-company transferee,” you might ask? This simply means an employee working for a company who is being transferred to work for a related company abroad.
The L-1 Visa
Under the L-1 nonimmigrant visa category, foreign nationals who are working for a company abroad are eligible to work for a related company in the United States. There are two categories of L-1 visas: the L-1A, for individuals entering the U.S. to work in a managerial or executive capacity, and the L-1B, for individuals who will work in the U.S. in a “specialized knowledge” capacity.
To qualify under either visa, the applicant must have been employed full-time by the company abroad for a period of at least one continuous year in the last three years prior to submitting the L-1 visa petition to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Moreover, there must be a qualifying relationship between the company abroad and the company in the United States, in that the domestic company must be either a parent, branch, affiliate, or subsidiary of the foreign entity. A parent company is defined as a firm or corporation that has one or more subsidiaries, meaning a company that is at least 50% owned by a parent and controlled by the parent. If the parent company owns less than 50%, a parent-subsidiary relationship may still exist if the parent in fact controls the owned entity. A branch office simply means an operating division or office of the same company, but located in another site. An affiliate is defined as one of two subsidiaries, both of which are owned and controlled by the same parent company, individual, or group of individuals. If the same group of individuals owns the affiliates, then each individual must own and control approximately the same share or proportion of each entity.
Finally, the foreign national must be entering the U.S. to perform services in a managerial or executive capacity (L-1A), or in a specialized knowledge capacity (L-1B).
Can any foreign national who has worked as a manager or executive abroad qualify for the L-1A visa? Not necessarily. To obtain an L-1A visa as a manager, the foreign national must be managing the U.S. organization, or a department, subdivision, or function thereof. The individual must supervise and control the work of other supervisory, professional, or managerial employees. The manager must also have the authority to hire and fire and make personnel decisions such as promotions, as well as exercise discretion over the day-to-day operations of the company. To obtain an L-1A visa as an executive, the foreign national must direct the management of the organization (or a major component or function thereof). He or she must also be responsible for establishing the company’s goals and policies; exercise wide latitude in decision-making; and receive only general supervision or direction from higher-level executives.
As for the L-1B visa, “specialized knowledge” refers to knowledge of a company’s products, services, research, equipment, techniques, management, or other interests and its application in international markets, or an advanced level of knowledge or expertise in the organization's processes and procedures.
Interestingly, the parent company and subsidiaries do not have to be engaged in the same business in order to qualify for the L-1 visa.
Individuals who are granted an L-1A visa are allowed to work for their company for a maximum of seven years, while those given L-1B visas are permitted to work for a total of five years.
Can I obtain an L-1A to set up a new office in the U.S.?
If you work for a company abroad and your employer would like you to open and manage a new office in the U.S., it is possible to obtain an L-1A visa for this purpose. However, you will need to provide evidence that physical premise for the office has been secured (i.e. by providing a lease), and that the U.S. office will support a managerial or executive position within one year. In addition, the U.S.C.I.S. will only approve the L-1A visa for one year. Afterwards, the L-1A visa can be extended upon presentation of proof that the business is active and ongoing.
One substantial benefit to obtaining classification as an L-1A manager or executive is that the procedure for obtaining permanent residence in the U.S. is much faster than the usual route. Typically, if an employer in the U.S. wishes to sponsor an employee for permanent residence, that employer is required to obtain a labor certification from the Department of Labor. This is a complicated and time-consuming process that could take several years alone to obtain. However, instead of filing and obtaining approval of a labor certification application, employers of L-1A managers or executives bypass this requirement and simply file an I-140 immigrant visa petition for alien worker.