The L-1 visa lets a company transfer an employee from a foreign office to a US office, but it splits into 2 distinct categories with different requirements: L-1A for executives and managers, and L-1B for employees with specialized knowledge. This tool checks your foreign employment history and role against both categories to see which one, if either, fits.
L-1 petitions are heavily scrutinized, especially for new US offices and specialized knowledge claims. An immigration attorney reviews your role and the company relationship to build the strongest possible petition.
The L-1 visa allows a multinational company to transfer an employee from a qualifying foreign office to a related US office, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate. Unlike most work visas, there's no annual numerical cap on L-1s, and the employer doesn't need to prove a shortage of qualified US workers. The tradeoff is a strict requirement: the employee must have worked for the foreign entity for at least 1 continuous year within the 3 years before filing, in a qualifying executive, managerial, or specialized knowledge role.
If your transfer doesn't quite fit the L-1's foreign-employment requirement, it's worth checking whether an employment-based green card category or a different temporary work visa fits better. Some applicants also qualify for both an L-1 and an O-1 extraordinary ability visa depending on their career achievements, and comparing both before filing can reveal a stronger option.
L-1A covers executives and managers, defined by the authority to direct the organization or a major function, supervise other managers or professional staff, and make wide-ranging decisions with limited oversight. L-1B covers employees with specialized knowledge, meaning a depth of expertise in the company's products, processes, or procedures that isn't commonly found in the labor market. L-1A has a meaningful advantage: it supports a faster path to a green card through the EB-1C multinational manager category, while L-1B does not have an equivalent fast-track green card option.
USCIS requires at least 1 continuous year of qualifying employment abroad within the 3 years immediately before the petition is filed. Time spent in the US on certain other visa types doesn't count toward this requirement and can actually extend the lookback period. This is one of the most commonly misunderstood L-1 rules, and getting the math wrong on qualifying employment dates is a frequent cause of denial.
If the US entity is a newly established office rather than an existing branch, USCIS requires additional evidence that the new office will support an executive or managerial position within 1 year, including a viable business plan, physical premises, and financial capacity. New office L-1 petitions are approved for an initial period of only 1 year rather than the standard 3, with extension requiring proof the office is operating as projected.