What are the basic requirements for securing an L-1 Visa?
• Answer: Generally, to be eligible for an L-1 Visa, a candidate must have 1 year out of the immediate prior three years working abroad for a subsidiary, parent, affiliate or joint venture of the sponsoring US company, and be coming to work in similar capacity for the US sponsor. The connection between the foreign and US company must be a majority ownership, or in the case of a joint venture, a 50/50 ownership structure, with some element of control by one of the entities. The candidate must be coming to the US as an executive, manager, or as someone with key specialized knowledge. A law passed in January 2002 now allows Blanket L-1’s to be issued for employees who have only 6 months out of the last 3 years with a qualifying entity. However, this 6 month provision may not provide any benefit as it relates to Resident Alien “green card” processing.
