🇺🇸 L-1A Visa: Intracompany Transfer for Executives and Managers
The L-1A nonimmigrant visa allows a U.S. company to transfer an executive or manager from one of its affiliated foreign offices to a U.S. office. It also permits a foreign company to send an executive or manager to the U.S. to establish a new office.
✅ Basic Employer Requirements
To qualify for L-1A sponsorship, the employer must:
- Have a qualifying relationship with the foreign company (parent, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate)
- Be doing business in the U.S. and at least one other country (directly or through a qualifying entity) during the employee’s stay
💡 Note: The business must be viable but does not need to engage in international trade.
✅ Employee Eligibility Criteria
The employee being transferred must:
- Have worked for a qualifying foreign entity for at least one continuous year within the last three years before entering the U.S.
- Be entering the U.S. to serve in an executive or managerial role with the same employer or a related entity
📌 Definitions of Executive and Managerial Capacity
- Executive Capacity:
The authority to make wide-ranging decisions with minimal oversight - Managerial Capacity:
The ability to: - Supervise and control professional staff
- Manage the organization (or a department, function, or subdivision)
- Oversee an essential function at a senior level without direct supervision
🏢 For Companies Establishing a New U.S. Office
Additional requirements apply when sending an executive or manager to open a new office in the U.S.:
- The company must have secured physical office space for the new location
- The employee must have worked as an executive or manager abroad for at least one continuous year in the last three years
- The new U.S. office must be able to support an executive or managerial role within one year of the petition’s approval
⏳ Duration of Stay
- New Office L-1A: Initial stay of 1 year
- All Other L-1A Cases: Initial stay of 3 years
- Extensions: In 2-year increments, up to a maximum of 7 years
📞 Need help preparing an L-1A petition or launching a new U.S. office?
Contact our office for strategic guidance tailored to your business goals.
Last Revision: March 2025.