Foreign nationals seeking a nonimmigrant, temporary work visa for the U.S. for a specific time period need to qualify and apply for one of the many categories of temporary and special work visas. L-1A and B visas are for intra-company transfers of U.S. business employees. The L-1A nonimmigrant classification enables a foreign employer with U.S. offices to transfer an executive or manager to a work at an American location.
An L-1A visa is a type of USCIS business immigration program that allows qualified executives, managers, and employees who have special skills to transfer from a foreign company to a U.S. office, subsidiary, or affiliated company to perform temporary services.
USCIS qualifications for an L-1 visa intracompany transfer include:
1. The employer must file a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and pay a fee on behalf of the employee.
2. L-1 visa processing is usually quick. USCIS usually decides L-1 Visa petitions within 30-60 days.
3. Intracompany transfer visas are granted for 1 -3 years, with 2 year with extensions available. The total stay should not exceed 7 years.
4. The spouse of L-1 visa holders and children under 21 are allowed to accompany the visa holder to the U.S. during their assignment.
5. Spouse’s of L-1 visa holders may be authorized to work under an L-2 visa.
6. The applicant must have been employed by the foreign company for at least 12 months during the 3 year period immediately prior to filing the L-1 visa application.
7. The applicant must have been employed in an executive or manager capacity, or as a specialized skill worker for a minimum of 12 months during the 3 years immediately preceding the filing of the L-1 visa petition.
8. The L-1 Visa applicant must be employed as an executive, manager or as a specialized skill worker for the same company, or its U.S. subsidiary or affiliate.
Business immigration law is the practice of immigration law for employment reasons. A business immigration lawyer works with both employers who want to hire skilled foreign workers and foreign nationals who want to come to the United States to work temporarily or permanently.
At Godoy Law Office with locations in Chicago and Oak Brook, Illinois, we work with employers in many fields including health care, technology, startups, sports, business, education and finance to help identify the best way to solve your foreign worker’s needs. We also work directly with foreign nationals who want to live and work in the Chicago area.
If you have a question about immigration employment in Illinois, contact the immigration attorneys at Godoy Law Office at 630-912-0322.
Immigration Attorney Mario Godoy has years of experience guiding clients with immigration issues through the immigration process along with guiding clients through the criminal case. Godoy focuses on family-based immigration law, business immigration law, removal defense, and criminal defense representation of immigrants. A criminal charge or conviction can be devastating to your immigration case. With over a decade of immigration law experience and memories of family members who were deported due to bad legal advice, Godoy is committed to helping other immigrant families receive the legal justice they deserve. As a legal entrepreneur who practices immigration law, criminal law, estate and probate law, and running two successful law firms, Mario Godoy understands the importance of keeping families together and making a home and future in America.
