Last reviewed October 7, 2026 · By the NYBACS advisory team
Short answer
An L-1 visa lets a company with operations abroad temporarily transfer an employee to a related US parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate. The employee must have worked full-time for the related foreign company for one continuous year within the three years before the petition, and must come to the US as a manager or executive (L-1A) or as a specialized knowledge employee (L-1B). The US employer files Form I-129 with USCIS.
Key takeaways
- L-1 is an employer-sponsored classification: the US employer files Form I-129, and the employee cannot apply for it on their own.
- Both companies must share a qualifying relationship — parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate — and both must keep doing business for the whole L-1 stay.
- L-1A covers managers and executives up to a 7-year maximum stay; L-1B covers specialized knowledge employees up to a 5-year maximum.
- There is no annual lottery or numerical cap for L-1, and no requirement that the employee's country have a treaty with the US.
- A company opening its first US office can use L-1, but the first approval is limited to one year and the extension must show the US business actually got going.
The four conditions every L-1 case rests on
The L-1 classification was created so international organizations could move key people into their US operations without hiring them from scratch. Stripped down, every L-1 case has to satisfy four conditions:
- A qualifying organization on both sides. The US employer and the foreign employer must be the same company (a branch) or related as parent and subsidiary or as affiliates under common ownership and control.
- One continuous year abroad. The employee must have worked full-time for the related foreign company, outside the US, for at least one continuous year in the three years before the petition is filed.
- A qualifying role abroad. That year must have been in a managerial, executive or specialized knowledge capacity.
- A qualifying role in the US. The US position must also be managerial, executive or specialized knowledge — although not necessarily the same type as the job abroad.
On top of these, both companies must be "doing business": regularly and continuously providing goods or services. A registered company with no activity, or a dormant holding company abroad, does not meet that test.
Who typically uses the L-1
The L-1 is not only for large multinationals. In practice we see three groups of users:
- Established groups moving staff — an Indian IT company, a UK manufacturer or a GCC trading house transferring a country manager, finance head or senior engineer to its existing US subsidiary.
- Companies expanding into the US for the first time — a profitable foreign business forming a US entity and sending a senior manager or founder to build it (the "new office" route).
- Founder-led SMEs — owner-managers who run an operating company abroad and want to lead its US expansion personally. Owning the company does not disqualify the employee, but USCIS looks closely at whether the person is genuinely an employee performing a qualifying role.
The L-1 is usually a poor fit for someone who has just joined the foreign company, for freelancers paid as outside contractors, and for businesses whose "foreign operation" is only a shell set up to support a visa.
How long an L-1 lasts
| Situation | Initial approval | Extensions | Maximum total stay |
|---|---|---|---|
| L-1A, existing US operation | Up to 3 years | Up to 2 years at a time | 7 years |
| L-1B, existing US operation | Up to 3 years | Up to 2 years at a time | 5 years |
| New US office (L-1A or L-1B) | Up to 1 year | Up to 2 years, once the office is shown to be operating | 7 or 5 years, as above |
Time spent in the US in H-1B or other H status counts toward the same 5- or 7-year limit. Once the maximum is reached, the person generally must live outside the US for a full year before a new L or H petition can be approved, with narrow exceptions for seasonal, intermittent or commuting work.
From petition to arrival: the usual sequence
- Structure check — confirm the corporate relationship, the employee's foreign employment history and the US role.
- US entity readiness — formation documents, EIN, share issuance or membership records, bank account, office premises and, for new offices, a business plan.
- Petition — the US employer, through its immigration attorney, files Form I-129 with USCIS with supporting evidence and fees.
- Approval and visa — after USCIS approval (Form I-797), most employees apply for the L-1 visa at a US consulate abroad. Canadian citizens can generally present an individual L petition at a designated port of entry or pre-clearance station instead.
- Admission and family — a spouse and unmarried children under 21 can accompany the employee in L-2 status. L-2 spouses are employment-authorized incident to status; L-2 children may study but not work.
Large groups that meet USCIS's blanket L criteria can skip the individual USCIS petition for each employee and apply directly at a consulate using Form I-129S.
Where business records decide the case
Most L-1 evidence is business evidence: share registers, board minutes, tax returns, payroll, bank statements, organization charts, leases and financial statements. Eligibility analysis, petition strategy and the I-129 itself are legal work for a licensed US immigration attorney. But an attorney can only argue what the records support. If the US company's ownership is undocumented, the capital was never wired, or the foreign payroll does not show the employee, the case is weakened before the attorney writes a word. That is why L-1 planning should start with the corporate and accounting file, not with the visa form.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Assuming any overseas employer can transfer staff to any US company, without checking that ownership and control actually create a parent, subsidiary, affiliate or branch relationship.
- Counting time the employee spent working in the US toward the one-year foreign employment requirement.
- Treating the US company's state registration as proof it is "doing business" when it has no customers, contracts or activity.
- Letting the foreign company wind down after the transfer, even though a related foreign entity must keep operating for the whole L-1 stay.
- Paying the employee abroad as an outside consultant, which makes the qualifying "employment" harder to prove.
- Expecting a new-office L-1 to run three years on the first approval rather than one.
NYBACS 360° support
How NYBACS helps
- Maps your group structure and flags whether the US and foreign entities are likely to present a clean parent, subsidiary, affiliate or branch relationship for your attorney to assess.
- Forms the US entity and prepares the share or membership records, EIN, registered agent and corporate minutes that L-1 evidence draws on.
- Prepares bookkeeping, financial statements and capitalization records that show both companies are actively doing business.
- Organizes the business-side evidence your immigration attorney requests and keeps it consistent across banking, tax and immigration files.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an employee apply for an L-1 without the company?
No. The L-1 is employer-petitioned: the US employer (or, for blanket cases, the group under its blanket approval) must sponsor the employee. The employee's role in the process is mainly to provide personal and employment evidence and, later, to apply for the visa.
Is there an annual cap or lottery for L-1 visas?
No. Unlike H-1B, the L-1 classification has no annual numerical cap and no registration lottery. Each petition is decided on its own evidence, so preparation quality matters more than timing.
Can the employee's family work in the US?
An L-2 spouse is employment-authorized incident to status and does not need a separate work permit to start working, although a spouse may still apply for an EAD as proof. L-2 children may attend school but may not work.
Does the US salary have to be paid by the US company?
Not necessarily. USCIS generally treats the source of salary as not controlling for L-1 eligibility. Payroll, tax withholding and cost recharges between the companies still need to be set up correctly, which is an accounting and tax question to plan in advance.
Is the L-1 a path to permanent residence?
It can be part of one. L-1 holders may pursue a green card without breaching their status, and L-1A managers and executives often look at the EB-1C multinational manager category. Whether that route fits is a question for immigration counsel.
