The L-1 visa: transferring managers and specialists to the U.S.

What is an L-1 visa?

The L-1 is built for companies with operations both abroad and in the United States. It lets them move experienced people into a U.S. parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate, or send someone to open a new U.S. office. Unlike the H-1B, there is no annual cap, no lottery and no degree requirement. The trade-off is that the worker must already have worked for the company group abroad.

L-1 visa requirements

• Qualifying relationship. The U.S. and foreign employers must be the same company or related as parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate, generally through common ownership and control.
• Doing business. The company must be, or will be, actively doing business in the United States and at least one other country throughout the worker's stay. A mere office or agent is not enough.
• One year abroad. The worker must have worked full time for a qualifying organization outside the United States for one continuous year within the three years before the petition (or before admission, for blanket cases). Brief trips to the U.S. do not break the year but do not count toward it.
• Qualifying role. The worker must be coming to work as a manager or executive (L-1A) or in a specialized-knowledge role (L-1B).

L-1A: managers and executives

A manager primarily manages the organization, a department or an essential function, supervises professional staff or manages a function at a senior level, and has authority over personnel actions or the function. An executive primarily directs the organization or a major component, sets goals and policies, and has wide discretion. USCIS looks at the actual duties and the organization chart, not titles. L-1A is granted initially for up to three years (one year for a new office), with extensions in two-year increments up to seven years total.

L-1B: specialized knowledge

Specialized knowledge means either special knowledge of the company's products, services, research, equipment, techniques or management, or an advanced level of knowledge of its processes and procedures. It must be distinct from what is common in the industry. L-1B is granted initially for up to three years, with extensions up to five years total. L-1B workers generally may not be placed mainly at a client's site unless the work is controlled by the employer and requires their specialized knowledge.

Blanket L petitions

Large, established multinationals can get a blanket L approval that covers the whole group. Individual employees then apply for an L-1 visa directly at a U.S. consulate with Form I-129S, without a separate USCIS petition each time. To qualify, the U.S. operation must have been doing business for at least one year, the group must have at least three domestic and foreign branches, subsidiaries or affiliates, and it must meet one size test: at least 10 L-1 approvals in the previous 12 months, U.S. annual sales of at least $25 million, or a U.S. workforce of at least 1,000. Blanket L-1B is limited to specialized knowledge professionals. Consular officers can still send complex cases back to USCIS as individual petitions.

Opening a new U.S. office

A company that has not yet been doing business in the U.S. for a year can still use the L-1 to send someone to set up operations. The petition must show that the company has secured physical premises, and for L-1A, that the new office will support a genuine managerial or executive role within one year. Evidence usually includes the lease, a business plan, the funding and the planned staffing. The first approval is limited to one year. The extension is often the hardest step: USCIS looks for real business activity, staffing and payroll that relieve the transferee from doing day-to-day tasks.

How the process works

How much does an L-1 visa cost? (October 2026)

Fees are from the USCIS fee regulations at 8 CFR 106 as of October 28, 2026. Always confirm against Form G-1055 before filing, or estimate a case with our sponsorship cost calculator. The ACWIA fee and the $100,000 H-1B proclamation payment do not apply to L-1 petitions.

L-2 family members

Spouses and unmarried children under 21 receive L-2 status. Since January 2022, L-2 spouses are treated as authorized to work incident to status; their I-94 marked L-2S serves as evidence of employment authorization.

From L-1A to a green card: EB-1C

The EB-1C category gives green cards to multinational managers and executives without a PERM labor certification. Generally, the worker must have been employed abroad for at least one year in the three years before entering the U.S. in a managerial or executive role, and the U.S. employer must have been doing business for at least one year and offer a managerial or executive job. EB-1C is a separate assessment from L-1A, and USCIS reviews it closely. Waiting times depend on the Visa Bulletin for your country of birth. See our EB-1 guide and the comparison in EB-5 vs E-2 vs L-1.

Common problems

• Organization charts that show the manager mainly doing the work rather than managing it.
• Specialized knowledge claims that describe skills common in the industry.
• New-office extensions without enough staff or revenue.
• Corporate restructurings that break the qualifying relationship.

Timing

Individual L-1 petitions can be filed at any time of year. With premium processing, USCIS must take action within 15 business days, and a request for evidence restarts the clock. Without premium processing, timing varies by service center; check the USCIS processing times page. Blanket L applicants go straight to the consulate, so the main delay is the visa appointment wait in their country. Canadian citizens can present an individual L-1 petition at certain U.S. ports of entry and preclearance locations, which can shorten the process.

L-1 vs. H-1B: key differences

Because L-1 status is tied to the company group, a worker who leaves the group generally needs a different status. Our H-1B guide covers the other route.

What to ask an attorney

• Does our ownership structure create a qualifying relationship?
• Is L-1A or L-1B the better fit, and how does that affect a green card plan?
• For a new office, what will the one-year extension need to show?

Want help applying this to your situation? Email us to be connected with a participating immigration attorney, or see free and low-cost legal help.