Intra-Company Transfer Visa (L visa)

 Description

This visa is intended for the employment of multinational managers or specialized employees of foreign companies intending to employ salaried personnel for work with their subsidiaries in the United States.

 Eligibility Requirements

• The employee must have been employed full time for 1 continuous year during the past 3 years preceding the visa request and hold a supervisory, managerial or specialist position.

• The American subsidiary may have already been created, or in the process of being created when this visa application is made.

• The parent company located in the country of origin must remain operational after this visa has been approved.

 Period of Validity

• 1 year, renewable if the American subsidiary is created when the visa request is initiated.

• 2 years, renewable if the American subsidiary has already been operational for at least 2 years and employs US workers when the L visa request is initiated.
  

 Status of dependents

• The spouse of an L visa holder is authorized to work. The request for work authorization is made once the spouse arrives in the US with the L-2 status. The procedure takes 90 days and requires the application of a separate form.

• The children can be associated with the L visa holder and can attend school in the United States without having to request a student visa (F visa).

 Particulars

• The American subsidiary can operate in a different industry or line of business than the parent company.

• The L visa is the one that leads the most easily to a Green Card.