H-1B

The H-1B visa program provides exciting opportunities for individuals seeking employment in specialty occupations. To qualify for an H-1B visa, the job must meet specific criteria, including:

1. Minimum Entry Requirement: The position typically requires a bachelor’s degree or higher, or an equivalent level of education.
2. Industry or Complexity: The job either aligns with common degree requirements in the industry or is uniquely complex, demanding specialized expertise that can only be fulfilled by individuals with a degree.
3. Employer Requirement: The employer usually mandates a degree or its equivalent for the position, recognizing the value of specialized knowledge.
4. Specialized Duties: The specific duties of the job are highly specialized and intricate, necessitating knowledge usually associated with the attainment of a bachelor’s or higher degree.

To qualify and accept a job offer in a specialty occupation, you must meet one of the following criteria:

1. U.S. Bachelor’s Degree: Hold a U.S. bachelor’s or higher degree from an accredited college or university that is required for the specific specialty occupation.
2. Equivalent Foreign Degree: Possess a foreign degree that is equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s or higher degree in the specialty occupation.
3. State License, Registration, or Certification: Hold an unrestricted state license, registration, or certification that authorizes you to fully practice the specialty occupation in the intended state of employment.
4. Equivalent Education and Experience: Have a combination of education, training, or progressively responsible experience that is equivalent to the completion of a degree in the specialty. Additionally, you should have recognition of expertise in the field through progressively responsible positions directly related to the specialty.

Unlock your potential and seize opportunities in specialty occupations with the H-1B visa. Our experienced team is here to guide you through the application process, ensuring your qualifications align with the requirements and increasing your chances of success.

L-1A

The L-1A nonimmigrant classification is designed to enable U.S. employers to seamlessly transfer executives or managers from their affiliated foreign offices to their offices in the United States. It also allows foreign companies without a U.S. presence to send executives or managers to establish a new office in the United States.

Qualifications for Employers and Employees

To qualify for L-1 classification in this category, the employer must:

• Have a qualifying relationship with a foreign company, such as a parent company, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate.
• Currently be, or will be, engaged in business as an employer in the United States and at least one other country, directly or through a qualifying organization, throughout the beneficiary’s stay in the United States as an L-1. While the business must be viable, engaging in international trade is not mandatory.

To qualify, the named employee must also:

• Have worked for a qualifying organization abroad for one continuous year within the three years preceding their admission to the United States.
• Intend to enter the United States to provide services in an executive or managerial capacity for the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations.

Executive capacity typically refers to the employee’s ability to make significant decisions independently, with minimal oversight.

Managerial capacity generally refers to the employee’s ability to supervise and control the work of professional employees, manage the organization or a department, subdivision, function, or component of the organization. It may also include managing an essential function of the organization at a high level without direct supervision of others.

New Offices

For foreign employers establishing a new office and sending an executive or manager to the United States, additional requirements must be met, including:

• Securing adequate physical premises for the new office.
• Employing the executive or manager in an executive or managerial role for one continuous year in the three years preceding the petition filing.
• Demonstrating that the intended U.S. office will support an executive or managerial position within one year of petition approval.

Period of Stay

Executives and managers entering the United States to establish a new office are granted an initial stay of up to one year. Other qualified employees are allowed an initial stay of up to three years. Extensions of stay may be granted in increments of up to two years until the maximum limit of seven years is reached.

Family of L-1 Workers

Spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age may accompany or follow the transferring employee. They can seek admission in L-2 nonimmigrant classification and generally receive the same period of stay as the employee. Spouses of L-1 workers can apply for work authorization by filing Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, with no specific restrictions on where they may work.

Experience hassle-free intracompany transfers with the L-1A visa. Contact us today to explore your options and simplify the process of relocating key executives or managers to the United States.. 

L-1B

 L-1B Intracompany Transferee Specialized Knowledge Employeees

The L-1B nonimmigrant classification enables a U.S. employer to transfer a professional employee with specialized knowledge relating to the organization’s interests from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the United States.  This classification also enables a foreign company which does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office to send a specialized knowledge employee to the United States to help establish one.

To qualify for L-1 classification in this category, the employer must:

• Have a qualifying relationship with a foreign company (parent company, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate, collectively referred to as qualifying organizations); and
• Currently be, or will be, doing business as an employer in the United States and in at least one other country directly or through a qualifying organization for the duration of the beneficiary’s stay in the United States as an L-1.  While the business must be viable, there is no requirement that it be engaged in international trade. 

Doing business means the regular, systematic, and continuous provision of goods and/or services by a qualifying organization and does not include the mere presence of an agent or office of the qualifying organization in the United States and abroad.To qualify, the named employee must also:

• Generally have been working for a qualifying organization abroad for one continuous year within the three years immediately preceding his or her admission to the United States; and
• Be seeking to enter the United States to provide services in a specialized knowledge capacity to a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations.

Specialized knowledge

Specialized knowledge means either special knowledge possessed by an individual of the petitioning organization’s product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management, or other interests and its application in international markets, or an advanced level of knowledge or expertise in the organization’s processes and procedures.

Period of Stay

Qualified employees entering the United States to establish a new office will be allowed a maximum initial stay of one year.  All other qualified employees will be allowed a maximum initial stay of three years.  For all L-1B employees, requests for extension of stay may be granted in increments of up to an additional two years, until the employee has reached the maximum limit of five years.

Family of L-1B 

The transferring employee may be accompanied or followed by his or her spouse and unmarried children who are under 21 years of age.  Such family members may seek admission in L-2 nonimmigrant classification and, if approved, generally will be granted the same period of stay as the employee.   

 Spouses of L-1 workers may apply for work authorization.  If approved, there is no specific restriction as to where the L-2 spouse may work.