The L-1A visa is a key option for multinational companies that wish to move an employee from a qualified foreign company to a U.S. office. A foreign company can also utilize the L-1A when sending a foreign employee to the U.S. to establish a new U.S. office. As opposed to H-1B temporary worker visas, L-1 visas are not subject to a numerical limit each year.

Below are answers to common questions about the L-1A category, including employer eligibility, qualifying relationships, new office cases, maximum stay, family members, and long-term green card options.

Who can use the L-1A category?

The L-1A may be used when:

A U.S. company wants to transfer a foreign manager or executive from a related entity abroad to an existing U.S. office, or
A foreign company wants to send a manager or executive to the U.S. to open and lead a new office.

In all scenarios, there must be a qualifying relationship between the U.S. and foreign entities.

What are the general employer requirements for an L-1A case?

To file an L-1A petition, the U.S. employer must:

Be doing business as an employer in the United States (or intend to do business) and at least one other country (directly or through a qualifying organization) for the duration of the L-1 employee’s stay; and
Have a qualifying relationship with the foreign entity (parent, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate).

The business must be viable, but it does not have to engage in international trade.

What is a “qualifying relationship”?

A qualifying relationship exists when the U.S. entity and foreign entity are connected as:

Parent – A legal entity that owns and controls one or more subsidiaries.
Subsidiary – An entity owned and controlled by a parent (typically at least 51% and control, or joint venture with equal control; in some cases, less than 50% ownership where actual control can be shown).
Branch – An office or division of the same company in a different location; not a separate legal entity.
Affiliate – Companies owned and controlled by the same parent or group of individuals who hold similar ownership percentages in each company.

These corporate relationships must be documented clearly in an L-1A petition. For more details on the qualifying relationship, check out our previous article here.

What are the basic employee eligibility requirements for L-1A?

To qualify as an L-1A intracompany transferee, the employee must:

Have been employed by a qualifying foreign organization for at least one continuous year within the three years immediately preceding admission to the U.S.; and
Be coming to the United States to work in a managerial or executive capacity for the U.S. entity (or other qualifying organization).

The petition must demonstrate through extensive documentation that:

The foreign role was managerial or executive, and
The U.S. role will also be managerial or executive.

How does USCIS define an “executive” for L-1A?

An executive generally:

Directs the management of the organization or a major component or function;
Establishes goals and policies;
Exercises wide decision-making latitude; and
Receives only general supervision from higher-level executives, the board, or shareholders (if any).

How does USCIS define a “manager” for L-1A?

A manager typically:

Supervises and controls the work of other supervisory, managerial, or professional employees, and
Manages the organization or a department, subdivision, function, or component; or
Manages an essential function of the organization at a high level, even if they do not directly supervise other employees.

In many cases, L-1A classification is based on overseeing professional employees, in other words positions that normally require at least a bachelor’s degree in a specific field. This means providing detailed job descriptions for subordinate positions showing a minimum education requirement of at least a bachelor’s degree in a specific related field and evidence that the person working in that position possesses the relevant degree.

What is a “new office” L-1A?

A foreign company may send a manager or executive to the United States to establish and oversee a new office. In a new office L-1A case, the petition must show that the employer has secured sufficient physical premises for the new office and that by the end of the first year the U.S. office will be able to support a managerial or executive position.

How long can an L-1A employee stay in the U.S.?

For new office L-1A cases:
- The initial period of stay is up to one year.
For all other L-1A cases:
- The initial period is generally up to three years.

In both scenarios, extensions may be granted in two-year increments, up to a maximum of seven years total in L-1A status.

Can family members of an L-1A worker come to the United States?

Yes. The spouse and unmarried children under 21 of an L-1A employee may:

Apply for L-2 status to accompany or follow to join the principal L-1A, and
Generally receive the same period of stay as the L-1A worker.

Family members already in the U.S. in another status may request a change of status or extension to L-2.

Importantly, spouses of L-1 workers are authorized to work incident to status and do not need to file a separate application for employment authorization in order to begin working, so long as their status is properly documented.

Is the L-1A a “dual intent” visa?

Yes. The L-1A is a dual intent nonimmigrant category. That means:

An L-1A employee may intend to immigrate (i.e., eventually apply for a green card) without it being a basis for denial of the L-1A petition or admission.
Having a pending immigrant petition (such as an I-140) does not disqualify the person from obtaining or maintaining L-1A status.

This is an important distinction from many other nonimmigrant categories that require proof of nonimmigrant intent.

Can an L-1A lead to a green card?

Yes. L-1A is closely aligned with the EB-1C multinational manager or executive immigrant category. An L-1A visa holder may:

Pursue permanent residence through EB-1C, which has similar requirements to L-1A and does not require PERM labor certification.

Key EB-1C points:

The U.S. employer generally must have been doing business in the United States for at least one year;
The employee must have worked in a qualifying managerial or executive capacity abroad for at least one year in the past three years (or in some cases, three years before becoming a permanent resident), and
The U.S. role must also be managerial or executive.

Many companies use the L-1A → EB-1C route as a relatively efficient path to a green card.

Is the current administration being tougher on L-1A cases?

Yes. We are seeing noticeably increased scrutiny of L-1A petitions under the current administration. For more than seven years, our firm did not receive a single L-1A denial. However, in the past few months, two well-documented cases were denied, one involving a technology company and the other a cybersecurity firm. Both petitions presented strong managerial and executive evidence, and we are currently filing a motion to reopen one case and re-filing the other, as we believe both should ultimately be approved.

At the same time, we recently secured an approval for a flooring company with evidence that was objectively less robust than the two denials, and it was approved without even a Request for Evidence (RFE).

This contrast highlights two important trends:

Certain industries, especially technology-driven fields appear to be facing greater scrutiny, regardless of the strength of the underlying evidence.
Adjudications have become increasingly inconsistent, meaning that similar cases may receive very different outcomes.

For companies considering L-1A filings, these developments make it even more important to present a well-structured petition with clear documentation of the managerial or executive role, organizational hierarchy, and qualifying relationship.

Why is working with experienced counsel important for L-1A?

L-1A petitions are highly fact-specific and document-intensive. Common issues include:

Proving a bona fide qualifying relationship between entities;
Demonstrating that the foreign and U.S. positions are truly managerial or executive, not just senior or technical;
Demonstrating that the employee will manage professional positions;
Supporting new office projections and staffing plans; and
Strategically aligning the L-1A case with a future EB-1C green card strategy.

The attorneys at PSBP Law regularly assist employers and executives with L-1A filings, new office set-ups, and long-term immigration planning. If you are interested in filing an L-1A petition or evaluating whether L-1A is the right option for your organization or leadership team, please contact PSBP Partner Chris Prescott at cprescott@psbplaw.com.