L Category Visas

Visas in the “L” category permit foreign nationals who work for multinational companies to come to the United States to live and work for a limited time in order to provide important support to the business. There are two classes of L Visas, one for managers and owners of the company and another for skilled employees.

With an L-1 Visa, an individual can stay in the United States for up to five years. The family members (spouse and minor children) of an L-1 Visa holder can also join that person on an L-2 Visa, which provides work authorization as well.

Our San Francisco immigration attorney has used the L-1 Visa category to get a Green Card for immigrants who had money to invest but no current employment with a foreign company. If this is your situation, you may be a candidate for an L-1 Visa even if you are not working for a company as described below.

L-1A Visas for Managers, Owners, and Executives

To qualify for this type of visa, you an individual must occupy a management-type position for at least one year out of the three most recent years. Your job must have been with a company that has offices both abroad and in the United States. Beyond that, it is basically a matter of working with a San Francisco immigration lawyer familiar with business visas to demonstrate convincingly that your skills are needed by your company in its U.S. office.

Visa holders in the L-1A category may renew their visa twice, staying in the country for three, then two, and then another two years for a total of seven years in the United States.

L-1B Visas for Skilled Employees

The other category of L-1 Visa is for employees who have special skills or knowledge that their company needs at the time. For instance, an employee from a foreign branch of a company may have developed a technique or software program that only she understands, and the company needs her to spend a few months or years training other employees in using it. Again, the company must have a U.S. presence as well as a foreign operation, and the employee must have worked at the company for at least one year out of the last three.

L-1B Visa aliens may renew their visa once after three years for an additional period of two years, totaling five years of stay.

To find out if the L Category visa is a good option for you, please contact our San Francisco immigration attorney today for a free consultation.