What Is an L-1 Visa and How Does It Differ From Other Employment-Based Categories?

An L-1 visa enables a multinational company to transfer an executive, manager, or specialized worker to their branch or affiliated company in the U.S. It is an employment-based visa available only to top staff of multinational companies.

It is easier for qualified individuals to obtain an L-1 visa than other employment-based visa categories. However, it has several limitations and only grants temporary residency, as it is a nonimmigrant visa. In other words, L-1 employees cannot get lawful permanent resident status or U.S. citizenship through an L-1 visa.

The limitations of the L-1 visa make it an unideal pathway for foreign nationals looking to achieve long-term residence in the U.S.

In this article, we’ll discuss the L-1 visa, its requirements and limitations, how the EB-5 visa can eliminate those limitations, and how an L-1 visa holder can obtain permanent residency through the EB-5 route.

What Is the L-1 Visa?

The L-1 intracompany transferee visa is a nonimmigrant visa category that allows for the intracompany transfer of executives, managers, or specialized workers of multinational corporations from a foreign office to a branch or affiliate in the U.S. It is an employment-based visa, meaning the company has to petition the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on behalf of the foreign employee.

The L-1 visa is subdivided into L-1A and L-1B visas.

• L-1A: Managers and executives of multinational companies being transferred to a U.S. branch, subsidiary, affiliate, or parent company of their overseas employer.
• L-1B: Employees of multinational companies with specialized knowledge or expertise (of the company operations and products) being transferred to the company’s U.S. office.

To qualify for an L-1 visa, the employee and the petitioning employer must meet specific requirements. They include:

• The employee must have continuously worked for the petitioning organization for at least one year within the three years preceding the application date.
• They must be coming to work in an executive, managerial, or specialized role in a subsidiary or affiliate of the same company.
• The U.S. employer must have a qualifying relationship (as a branch, subsidiary, affiliate, or parent company) with the applicant’s foreign employer.
• The employer must be currently doing business in the U.S. and at least one other country (directly or indirectly). It must also have an established office where the L-1 employee will work. If the company has no existing U.S. office, the employee must be coming to establish a U.S. office for the company.

How an L-1 Visa Differs From Other Employment-Based Categories

Like most employment-based visas, the L-1 visa has stringent requirements that limit its availability to select individuals. While it has no minimum educational requirement, an applicant must occupy an executive, managerial, or specialized position to qualify. In essence, only persons who have attained a certain height in their careers can be eligible for an L-1 visa.

However, the L-1 visa differs from other employment-based categories in several ways. These differences include the following:

• No Quotas: Unlike the EB-2, EB-3, and H-1B visas, there’s no visa quota in the L-1 category. This means there’s no limit to the number of L-1 visas USCIS can approve in a year, and you can file a petition at any time.
• No Labor Certification Requirement: In most employment-based categories, the sponsoring employer must obtain a labor certification from the Department of State (DOS) specifying that they cannot find a qualified U.S. worker to fill the position. This requirement does not exist for the L-1 category. U.S. employers do not need a labor certification to petition for their overseas employee transfer.
• No Preliminary Wage Determination Requirement: Unlike the H-1B visa, the U.S. employer is not required to get a preliminary wage determination for an L-1 worker. However, they must pay the employee a reasonable salary in accordance with state and federal laws.

Limitations of the L-1 Visa

Despite fewer requirements, the L-1 visa has several limitations for foreign nationals who want to make the U.S. their long-term or permanent home. We’ll look at these limitations in the following sections.

Employment Limitation

With an L-1 visa, you cannot switch employers in the U.S. Your visa depends on your continuing employment with your sponsoring organization. Hence, if you lose your job, you’ll likely lose the ability to remain in the U.S. and must leave.

Because of the mandatory one-year employment requirement, another company cannot file an L-1 petition on your behalf if you’re let go from your current role. Specifically, you must have worked for the filing company for up to one year within the last three years to qualify for L-1 sponsorship.

This can limit your career advancement prospects. It also creates uncertainty for you and your family if you want to make the U.S. your home, as you will likely have to leave the country if anything happens to your job.

Limited Stay

The L-1 visa is a nonimmigrant visa and only grants a total stay of seven years for managers and executives and five years for specialized workers. The initial L-1 visa is issued for three years and can be renewed in two-year increments until you reach the limit, depending on your position.

Once you reach this limit, you can’t work in the U.S. for this company via the L-1 or H-1B routes. Before reaching this limit, you must switch to an employment-based Green Card, or you’ll have to return to your home country.

Ambiguous Requirements

Renewing an L-1 visa requires almost the same process as the initial visa application. This means USCIS can deny your renewal application if they feel you no longer meet the requirements for the L-1 visa. And the requirements can be ambiguous at times.

For example, you cannot qualify for an L-1 visa simply because your job title is “manager.” if USCIS reviews your renewal application and discovers that you only supervise lower-level employees and are involved in the business’s day-to-day operations, they may reject your application.

To remain eligible for an L-1A visa, you must enjoy a certain level of autonomy within the organization, be among the top decision-makers, or supervise higher-level workers. This requirement creates uncertainty for L-1 workers, as they must go through the USCIS appraisal process every two years, and if they do not continue to meet these requirements, they can lose their ability to remain in the U.S.

Green Card Options for L-1 Visa Holders

For L-1 employees who want to remain in the U.S., acquiring a Green Card eliminates the uncertainties of the L-1 visa. Thankfully, the L-1 visa is a dual-intent visa that allows holders to pursue permanent U.S. residency.

L-1A visa holders typically pursue U.S. Green Cards through the EB-1C route, which has requirements similar to those of the L-1 visa. While this route does not require labor certification, it still requires employer sponsorship. Like the L-1 visa, the EB-1C has a one-year employment requirement, meaning only your current employer can sponsor your Green Card application.

Aside from employer limitation, the EB-1C may not be a good option for Indian and Chinese L-1 employees, as there are already backlogs for applicants from these countries. According to the DOS’s recent visa bulletin, interested Indian nationals will have to wait for at least two and half years to be able to petition for an EB-1C visa.

For L-1B employees, EB-2 and EB-3 visas are the most popular routes. However, both categories have severe backlogs for applicants of all nationalities. As of today, Indian nationals will have to wait for at least twelve years for a visa to become available in these categories.

These are among the reasons that many L-1 workers are beginning to turn to the EB-5 program for faster Green Card processing.

Why L-1 Employees Are Great Candidates for the EB-5 Program

The EB-5 program offers foreign nationals lawful permanent resident status in exchange for a substantial investment in the U.S. economy that will create jobs for at least 10 U.S. workers. To qualify, applicants must invest a minimum of $1,050,000 in a new commercial enterprise (NCE) or $800,000 if the NCE is in a targeted employment area (TEA)—with projects in rural targeted employment areas also offering faster processing.

Because of their senior positions within their organizations, L-1 workers can often easily accumulate savings and access loans to raise EB-5 investment capital, making them prime candidates for this visa option. The EB-5 program therefore provides a faster route for L-1 workers to obtain a U.S. Green Card and overcome the limitations of the L-1 visa.

Transitioning From an L-1 Visa to an EB-5 Visa

Following the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), EB-5 investors can now concurrently file for adjustment of status alongside their EB-5 petition. This means that L-1 workers can simultaneously apply for the EB-5 visa and permanent resident status.

Notably, L-1 workers who invest in regional center projects do not have to be involved in the daily operations of their NCE. Instead, they can maintain their current employment status while processing their EB-5 Green Card. With the concurrent filing option, they can file for employment authorization, allowing them to change employers if they so desire, even before receiving conditional permanent resident status.

If L-1 visa holders invest in a project located in a TEA, they’ll also benefit from the set-aside visa quota with zero to minimal backlogs. The RIA requires USCIS to prioritize rural TEA investments, and many EB-5 investors have received I-526E approval within 12 months. All things being equal, by transitioning to EB-5, L-1 workers can receive their conditional Green Cards in less than 24 months.

EB5AN Can Help You Transition From an L-1 to an EB-5 Visa

An L-1 visa is a great option if you’re a senior manager or executive of a multinational company and wish to stay in the U.S. for only a certain period of time. If you want to enjoy job flexibility or become a permanent U.S. resident, however, this route won’t help you reach these goals.

The EB-5 program offers an easy way to overcome the limitations of an L-1 visa. It’s your best option if you’re looking for a faster route to obtaining a Green Card.

EB5AN can help you if you’re considering the EB-5 program. In more than 10 years of practice, we’ve helped over 2,300 families from 60+ nationalities obtain lawful permanent residency. We offer our clients first-rate, low-risk EB-5 regional center projects with a 100% USCIS approval rate.

For more information about the EB-5 program and guidance in transitioning from an L-1 to an EB-5 visa, book a one-on-one consultation with our expert team today.