L-1A Visa Lawyer, Boston MA

L-1A visa attorney / L-1B visa attorney, Dayna Lally, assists United States companies in preparing L-1 petitions on behalf of intracompany managers and executives as well as intracompany transferees with specialized knowledge.

L-1 Attorneys

An EB1C/I-129 visa lawyer prepares EB1C and I-129 petitions to request classification of a foreign worker as an intracompany manager or executive or as an intracompany transferee with specialized knowledge.

Common L-1A/L-1B topics of inquiry include:

  • One-year continuous employment abroad;
  • Managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge position abroad;
  • Beneficiary’s prior education, training, and employment abroad;
  • Qualifying organizational relationships between:
    • Parent and subsidiary;
    • Affiliates; and/or
    • Joint ventures
  • Proposed managerial or executive position in the United States;
  • Specialized knowledge; and
  • Ownership and control of qualifying entities.

Overview: What is an L-1 Visa?

​L-1 visas are nonimmigrant visas for foreign nationals who want to come to the United States temporarily to perform services in a managerial or executive capacity for the same employer that employed the foreign national abroad (or the parent, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate of the foreign employer) in a capacity that was managerial or executive in nature for at least one continuous year within the last three years.

Eligibility

A United States employer may obtain L-1 classification for a foreign worker, if the employer:

  • Has a qualifying relationship with a foreign company (parent company, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate); and
  • Currently is, or will be, doing business as an employer in the United States and in at least one other country, directly or through a qualifying organization, for the duration of the foreign worker’s stay in the United States in L-1 status.

A foreign company that does not yet have an affiliated office in the United States may obtain L-1 classification for a foreign worker, if the employer:

  • Has secured sufficient physical premises to house the new office; and
  • Demonstrates that the intended office in the United States will support an executive or managerial position within one year of the approval of the petition.

To qualify for L-1 classification, the foreign worker must:

  • Have been working for a qualifying organization abroad for one continuous year within the three years immediately preceding his or her admission to the United States; and
  • Be seeking to enter the United States to provide service in an executive or managerial capacity for a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations.

What constitutes a qualifying organization is a complex subject. Contact Lally Immigration Services, LLC to inquire further.

Required Documents

L-1 visa petitions must include:

  1. Existence of the qualifying relationship between the U.S. and foreign employer based on ownership and control;
  2. That the foreign worker’s employment abroad for one year was in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity; and
  3. A description of the proposed job duties and qualifications; and
  4. Evidence showing that the proposed employment is in an executive, managerial, or specialized knowledge capacity.

L-1 workers coming to the United States to open, or to be employed in, a new office in the United States, must submit additional documentation.

L-1 petitions may be rejected or denied for failure to submit required evidence or supporting documents. All required evidence should be submitted with the initial petition.

Petition Process

Employer files Form I-129 along with the following:

  1. Existence of the qualifying relationship between the U.S. and foreign employer based on ownership and control;
  2. That the foreign worker’s employment abroad for one year was in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity; and
  3. A description of the proposed job duties and qualifications; and
  4. Evidence showing that the proposed employment is in an executive, managerial, or specialized knowledge capacity.

L-1 workers coming to the United States to open, or to be employed in, a new office in the United States, must submit additional documentation.

Costs

L-1 visa costs vary depending on size of the petitioning employer as well as the employer’s dependency on foreign workers.

L-1 visa costs may include:

  1. $460 – Form I-129 Filing Fee;
  2. $500 – Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee;
  3. $4,500 – Pub. L. 114-113 Fee;
  4. $2,500 – Form I-907 Premium Processing Filing Fee; and/or
  5. $190 – Form DS-160, Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application Fee.

Processing Time

L-1 visas are processed at varying speeds depending on a variety of circumstances. Visit the USCIS Processing Times website for the most up-to-date information.

Premium Processing

Available. See USCIS website for details.

Validity Period

L-1 petitions may be approved for up to three years, unless it is a “new office,” in which case the initial stay is limited to one year.  

The maximum period of stay in the United States in L-1A status is seven years. The maximum period of stay in the United States in L-1B status is five years.

Time spent outside of the United States during the five-/seven-year period does not count toward the five-/seven-year maximum and can be added back/recaptured.

L-2 dependents are also subject to the five-/seven-year maximum in L-2 status.

Extensions

L-1 status may be extended in increments of up to an additional two years, until the employee has reached the maximum limit of five or seven years.

L-1 workers who remain in the United States longer than authorized may be barred from returning and/or may be removed (deported) from the United States.

Family Members

Spouses and children accompanying L-1 intracompany workers are eligible for admission in L-2 status.

L2 dependent spouses may apply for work authorization by filing a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, with fee. 

Requests for Evidence

L-1 requests for evidence (“RFE”) are becoming increasingly more common.

L-1 RFEs typically revolve around the following topics:

  • Qualifying Relationship;
  • Ownership and Control of the Foreign Employer;
  • Ownership and Control of the U.S. Entity;
  • “Doing Business”;
  • Beneficiary Requirements;
  • One-Year Employment Abroad;
  • Managerial, Executive, or Specialized Knowledge Position Abroad;
  • Foreign Position Primarily Managerial;
  • Foreign Position Primarily Executive;
  • Evidence of Specialized Knowledge Position in the United States;
  • Off-Site Work with an Unaffiliated Employer; and/or
  • Control and Supervision.

Last Reviewed/Updated: 05/21/2021

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