Transfer Top Talent to the U.S. via the L-1 Visa

U.S. companies seeking to transfer top talent to the U.S. typically do so through the L-1 visa program. A key benefit of the L-1 visa is that it is a “dual intent” visa, meaning that an employee can simultaneously pursue permanent residency in the U.S. without having the intent to return to his or her home country.

There are two categories of L-1 visa: L-1A Manager/Executive and L-1B Specialized Knowledge. To qualify for either category, you must have been employed by a non-U.S. company for at least one continuous year out of the past three years. The U.S. company where you will be working must be either the parent company, branch, subsidiary, affiliate or joint venture partner of the non-U.S. company.

L-1A Visa Qualifications

To qualify as an executive, you must:

• Direct the management of the company or a major division of the company;
• Determine the policies and goals of the company or a major division of the company;
• Have broad discretionary decision-making authority;
• Be supervised only by executives at a higher level, a Board of Directors or shareholders.

To qualify as a manager, you must:

• Manage the entire company or a subdivision, department or function of the company;
• Supervise and control the work of other supervisors or professionals, or manage a department, function or subdivision;
• Have decision-making authority over hiring and firing employees;
• Have decision-making authority over the daily operations of a department, subdivision or function.

Documents supporting the petition should include organizational charts and detailed job descriptions for the U.S. and foreign positions as well as background information on subordinates to show there is sufficient staff to support the executive/manager.

L-1B Visa Qualifications

To qualify as an employee with specialized knowledge, you must:

• Possess an in-depth understanding of the company and its products, services, processes and procedures that is not readily available in the U.S.;
• Possess truly specialized knowledge that is not widely held in the company’s industry.

Documents supporting the L-1B petition should include documentation on how the applicant gained the specialized knowledge (education and training records, certificates, etc.), detailed job descriptions for the U.S. and foreign positions, letters from senior management on the importance of having this knowledge in the U.S. and the impact to the business if the applicant is not allowed to fill the U.S. role.

The North Miami attorneys at Jurado & Farshchian, P.L. are experienced professionals who can assist with your business immigration or residency issues. Please contact us at (305) 921-0440, or email us at [email protected].