L-1 (Intracompany Transferee) Visas

L-1 visas are for "intra-company transferees." In short, intra-company transferees are defined as people who have worked for a foreign company in an “executive,” “managerial,” or “specialized knowledge” capacity and are being transferred to a parent, subsidiary, or affiliate (of the foreign company) in the United States.

L-1A visas are reserved for employees who are managers and executives, whereas, L-1B visas are reserved for “specialized knowledge” employees. The maximum stay is 7 years for L-1A (managers and executives) and 5 years for L-1B (specialized knowledge) employees.

All L-1 visa applicants must have worked for the company affiliated with the U.S. employer for at least 1 year in the 3 years prior to the transfer.

The Corporate Relationship. The Company abroad for which the visa applicant works must be related to the U.S. based company in one of the following manners:

Both are branches of the same corporation;    

The U.S. company owns 51% of the foreign entity or the applicants' overseas company owns at least 51% of the U.S. company;

Both the U.S. and overseas company are majority-owned by a third company; or

The U.S. company is a joint venture with the foreign entity.

Evidence of the qualifying relationship between the U.S. company and foreign employer can take the form of an annual report, articles of incorporation, financial statement or stock

Qualifications of the Applicant. The applicant must meet certain qualifications in order to be eligible for an L-1 visa, namely:

The applicant must have worked for at least one year in the foreign entity and in an executive or managerial position or in a job requiring specialized knowledge;

The applicant must be coming to the U.S. to assume an executive, managerial, or specialized knowledge position;

The applicant must be qualified for the position being offered him/her in the U.S. by virtue of his or her prior education and experience.

Proof that the alien meets the qualifications can take the form of a letter from the employer overseas detailing dates of employment, job duties, qualifications, and salary of the previous year, a letter from the prospective American employer giving the applicant's salary and job description, and the applicant's academic credentials. Proof that the applicant held a managerial or executive position can take the form of an organization chart, letters from the present employer, company brochures showing the applicant's position and even name cards.

Documents Needed for L-1 Visa. The following documents will be needed in order to establish the existence of the companies and to show that they have the qualifying relationship to each other:

Annual Report

Balance Sheet

Profit/Loss Statement 

Foreign Corporate Income Tax Return 

Consolidated Financial Statements and/or statements from accountants 

Stock ownership records

Evidence in the form of blank transfer records or other documents showing transfer of money from parent company to U.S. subsidiary

Large organizations can usually document their ownership and structure through a statement by a corporate officer or authorized official, supported by an annual report or SEC filing listing subsidiaries. This rule should apply to any publicly-traded company. If not publicly traded, we will have to submit stock ownership records. When both the U.S. company and the overseas company are majority-owned and controlled by a group of individuals, the same group of shareholders must own a controlling interest in each business, and each shareholder is that group must hold approximately the same proportion within the group

Documents needed to show the Qualifications of the Beneficiary:

Copies of all academic credentials and transcripts including college degrees and management training  certificates received or management seminars attended.

Resume detailing previous managerial, executive or specialized knowledge positions held.

Letters from former employers attesting to previous executive or managerial or specialized knowledge duties.

Documents needed to show the Corporate Relationship:

Certified copy of Certificate of Incorporation

Financial Statements 

Annual Report 

Business license 

Bank transfer notices showing money transferred from the U.S. to subsidiary abroad 

U.S. company bank statements showing money available for investment abroad  

Lease agreements for office space abroad 

Receipts showing purchase of office equipment, telephone and computer equipment and any other expenses relating to opening a business abroad

Small organizations can usually document their ownership and structure by stock ownership records, accountant's reports, and corporate papers such as articles, bylaws, charters and board meeting minutes.