US visas for Business,  Leisure or Residential purposes

US Visas Ltd.

L-1 Visas (Inter Company Transfers)

 

Qualifying Criteria for L-1Visa Category

 

 

A) The Employee must have worked abroad (in this case the UK) for the overseas company for a continuous period for a period of one year in the preceding 3 years;

B) The overseas company must be related to the US company in a specific manner.

C) The employee to be transferred must have been employed abroad in an "executive" or "managerial position or a position involving "specialized" knowledge.

D) The employee must be coming to the US company to work in an executive, managerial or specialized knowledge capacity;

E) The employee must qualify by virtue of his or her prior education and experience.

 

 

The L non-immigrant visa category is one of the most popular visas available to small, mid sized and large multinational companies wishing to transfer their foreign employees to the United States. Foreign Nationals meeting the criteria for the L-Visa category are considered “priority workers” in the first preference, which has 40,000 annual immigrant visas allotted to it.  Foreign nationals may be admitted to the United States in L-1 status as either an L-1A (manager and executives) or L-1B (specialized knowledge). L-1A visa holders may be admitted to the United States for a maximum of 7 years. They also have a fast track route to permanent residency as a Labor Certification Application is not required for these visa holders. L-1B visa holders may stay in the United States up to a maximum of 5 years. The initial period for applicants under the L- Visa Category is 3 years.

 

How to apply for an L- Visa

 

The US Employer (The Petitioner) must file a petition with the Immigration Service in order to obtain permission to transfer a foreign national for a temporary period.  After obtaining the approval notice from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ‘USCIS’ the employer can then give it to the employee to take with him or her to a U.S. consulate abroad to obtain a visa to enter the United States. Unless the employee is a Canadian citizen or a landed immigrant of Canada from a British Commonwealth country, he or she must  obtain a visa prior to entering the United States after receiving approval for their L- Visa. The approval notice is NOT enough to get the employee into the United States by itself.