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The
L-1 Visa for Executives, Managers, and Specialists
May
15, 2000
In
my previous article, I wrote about H-1B visas, an extremely popular
visa used to import professional guest workers to work in specialty
fields on a short-term basis.
Although
many types of professionals qualify for the H-1B visa, in certain
circumstances another type of visa would be preferable.
One alternative to which many companies turn is the L-1 visa.
The
L-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa targeted to intra-company
transferees - employees being transferred from a foreign firm to a
related firm in the United States.
It is a very good choice for qualified employees who
eventually intend to immigrate, because it provides a
"fast-track" to a green card that many other nonimmigrant
visas do not have.
Requirements
The
first requirement of this visa is that the employee have been
continuously employed abroad for at least one year of the last three
years with a firm that is related (e.g., as a parent, affiliate, or
subsidiary) to the U.S. firm to which the applicant is being
transferred.
The
second requirement is that foreign firm and the U.S. firm have a
"qualifying relationship."
This means that the two firms are sufficiently connected for
the transfer to actually be considered "intra-company."
In general, this requirement is satisfied where the U.S. and
the foreign firm have common majority ownership or control.
Third,
the employee must be coming to work as a "manager,"
"executive," or "specialized knowledge
employee."
A
"manager" is someone who directs the organization, a
department, or a function of the organization (but is not someone
who is merely overseeing the frontline production or service duties
of the organization). A
good rule of thumb is that a "manager" is someone who is
at least two levels up from those who have no management duties.
An
"executive" is someone who directs the organization or a
major sub-part thereof. Examples
include presidents, vice-presidents, chief officers, division
directors, and controllers. An
"executive" should be someone who has a supervisory
function, either over people or functions, and therefore cannot be
someone who provides frontline production or service duties.
A
"specialized knowledge employee" is an employee who has
special knowledge of the employer's products, services, processes,
or procedures.
Both
"managers" and "executives" may stay in the U.S.
for up to seven years. "Specialized
knowledge employees" have up to five years.
Frequently,
the L-1 visa category will be used by an employee to come to the
U.S. to open a new office here (i.e., when the foreign firm does not
already have a U.S. presence).
In such situations, there are special requirements that must
be met. The application
must show proof that the new office will actually be a functioning
business enterprise, and not merely a formality to gain visa
benefits. For example,
successful applications will show that a viable business plan has
been developed, that office space has been acquired, that bank
accounts have been established, that the employee has appropriate
experience with the company, that a sufficient amount of capital has
been or will be invested, etc. The INS will only grant a visa for one year, after which the
employee may extend only by showing that the plans for the new
office have been fulfilled.
Procedure
The
first step in applying will be for the firm to send an application
to one of the four Regional INS Service Centers that has
jurisdiction over the location where the employee will be situated.
After the INS Service Center approves the application, the
employee may apply at a U.S. Consulate for the visa.
Some
firms frequently need to send a large number of employees back and
forth. The INS has
created a procedure for such cases, allowing for blanket approval of
a large number of employees at one time.
To qualify for the blanket approval, however, the firm must
meet certain tests that show that it is fairly large, and has had a
certain amount of L-1 visa usage in the past.
Once
a manager or executive obtains the L-1 visa, he or she may also be
able to apply for a green card and obtain it with not much more
difficulty. This is
because the proof needed to obtain the green card is almost
identical to that required to obtain the manager/executive L-1.
The only additional requirement for the green card is that
the U.S. firm be in existence one year. (Unfortunately,
"specialized knowledge workers" do not benefit from this.)
The
L-1 visa is an excellent choice where the employee meets all the
criteria. The
requirements may be a bit tougher than for other visas such as the
H-1B. However, the
benefits to the right employee looking for an avenue to immigrate
make this visa a far better
option.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact John Byrley at
tel: 410-719-1501.
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