The L-1A nonimmigrant classification enables a U.S. employer to transfer an executive or manager from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the United States. This classification also enables a foreign company that does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office to send an executive or manager to the United States with the purpose of establishing one. The employer must file a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, with fee, on behalf of the employee.
The following information describes some of the features and requirements of the L-1 nonimmigrant visa program.
General Qualifications of the Employer and Employee
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 service in an executive or managerial capacity for a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations.
Executive capacity generally refers to the employee's ability to make decisions of wide latitude without much oversight.
Managerial capacity generally refers to the ability of the employee to supervise and control the work of professional employees and to manage the organization, or a department, subdivision, function, or component of the organization. It may also refer to the employee's ability to manage an essential function of the organization at a high level, without direct supervision of others. See section 101(a)(44) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, and 8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii) for complete definitions.
New Offices
For foreign employers seeking to send an employee to the United States as an executive or manager to establish a new office, the employer must also show that:
The employer has secured sufficient physical premises to house the new office;
The employee has been employed as an executive or manager for one continuous year in the three years preceding the filing of the petition; and
The intended U.S. office will support an executive or managerial position within one year of the approval of the petition.
See 8 CFR 214.2(l)(3)(v) for details.
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-1A 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 seven years.
Family of L-1 Workers
The transferring employee may be accompanied or followed by their spouse and unmarried children who are under 21 years of age. Spouses and children may seek admission in the L-2 nonimmigrant classification and, if approved, generally will be granted the same period of stay as the employee.
If these family members are already in the United States and seeking changes of status to or extension of stay in L-2 classification, they may apply collectively, with fee, on an Form I-539, Application to Change/Extend Nonimmigrant Status.
Spouses of L-1 workers in valid L-2S nonimmigrant status are considered employment authorized incident to status. DHS-issued evidence of such employment authorization that is acceptable for completion of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, include:
Present an unexpired Form I-94 with a notation reflecting L-2S nonimmigrant status. As of Jan. 30, 2022, USCIS and CBP began issuing Form I-94 with a new admission code for spouses of L-1 workers: L-2S. An unexpired Form I-94 reflecting this new code is acceptable as evidence of employment authorization for L spouses under List C of Form I-9.
Present an unexpired Form I-94 with a notation reflecting L-2 nonimmigrant status, together with a notice from USCIS regarding the new admission code.USCIS will send L spouses with a Form I-94 issued by USCIS before Jan. 30, 2022, that was notated with L-2 nonimmigrant status, a notice regarding the new admission code that, together with an unexpired Form I-94 reflecting L-2 nonimmigrant status, serves as evidence of employment authorization for such spouses under List C of Form I-9. For more information, see this web alert.
Present an unexpired Employment Authorization Document (EAD). L spouses are not required to request employment authorization by filing Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, but may still file Form I-765, with fee, in order to obtain an Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766 EAD). A Form I-766 EAD can be presented to employers as evidence of both identity and employment authorization acceptable under List A of Form I-9.
Present an expired EAD with additional documentation to show the EAD is automatically extended (as discussed below).
Certain L spouses qualify for the automatic extension of their existing Form I-766 EADs if they meet the following conditions:
They timely filed a renewal Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, based on the same L nonimmigrant status; and
They have an unexpired Form I-94 showing their status as an L-2 or L-2S nonimmigrant.
Normally, DHS regulations provide for an automatic extension period of up to 180 days from the expiration date stated on the EAD. However, DHS has published a temporary final rule increasing the automatic extension period. Effective May 4, 2022, DHS is temporarily increasing the automatic extension period and providing up to 360 days of additional automatic extension time, for a total of up to 540 days, to eligible renewal applicants. The automatic EAD extension will therefore continue until whichever comes first:
The end date on the dependent spouse's Form I-94 showing valid L-2 or L-2S nonimmigrant status, as applicable;
The date we approve or deny their application to renew the previous EAD; or
540 days from the “Card Expires” date on the front of the previous EAD.
Additional information on the temporary increase of the automatic extension period is available on the Automatic Employment Authorization Document (EAD) Extension page.
Eligible L spouses may present the following evidence of the automatic EAD extension to employers for Form I-9 purposes:
Form I-94 indicating the unexpired L-2 or L-2S nonimmigrant status;
Form I-797C for a timely-filed EAD renewal application (Form I-765) stating “Class requested” as “(a)(18)”; and
The expired EAD issued under the same category, Category A18.
L-1A 非移民分类使美国雇主能够将高管或经理从其附属外国办事处之一转移到其在美国的办事处之一。 这种分类还使尚未在美国设有附属办事处的外国公司能够派遣一名高管或经理前往美国建立办事处。 雇主必须代表雇员提交一份 I-129 表格，非移民工人的申请，并支付费用。 以下信息描述了 L-1 非移民签证项目的一些特点和要求。
雇主和雇员的一般资格
要获得此类别的 L-1 分类资格，雇主必须：
与外国公司（母公司、分公司、子公司或附属公司，统称为合格组织）有合格关系； 和
在受益人作为 L-1 签证在美国逗留期间，目前正在或将会作为雇主在美国和至少一个其他国家/地区直接或通过合格组织开展业务。 虽然企业必须是可行的，但并不要求它必须从事国际贸易。
开展业务是指合格组织定期、系统和持续地提供商品和/或服务，不包括合格组织在美国和国外的代理人或办事处。
要获得资格，指定员工还必须：
在他或她进入美国之前的三年内，通常已经在国外的合格组织中连续工作了一年； 和
寻求进入美国，以行政或管理身份为同一雇主的分支机构或其合格组织之一提供服务。
执行能力通常是指员工在没有太多监督的情况下做出广泛决策的能力。
管理能力一般是指员工监督和控制专业员工的工作以及管理组织或组织的部门、分部、职能或组成部分的能力。 它也可以指员工在没有他人直接监督的情况下，在高层管理组织基本职能的能力。 有关完整定义，请参阅修订后的《移民和国籍法》第 101(a)(44) 节和 8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii)。
新办公室
对于寻求将雇员派往美国担任高管或经理以建立新办公室的外国雇主，雇主还必须证明：
雇主已获得足够的实体场所来安置新办公室；
该雇员在提交申请前的三年内连续被聘为高管或经理一年； 和
预期的美国办事处将在申请获得批准后的一年内支持行政或管理职位。
有关详细信息，请参阅 8 CFR 214.2(l)(3)(v)。
在留期间
进入美国建立新办公室的合格员工将被允许最长停留一年。 所有其他符合条件的员工将被允许最长停留三年。 对于所有 L-1A 雇员，延长逗留期限的请求最多可以再增加两年，直到雇员达到七年的最长期限。
L-1 工人的家庭
调动雇员可由其配偶和未满 21 岁的未婚子女陪同或跟随。 配偶和子女可以申请进入 L-2 非移民类别，如果获得批准，通常会获得与雇员相同的居留期限。
如果这些家庭成员已经在美国并寻求改变身份或延长 L-2 类别的逗留时间，他们可以集体申请 I-539 表格，申请更改/延长非移民身份，并支付费用。
具有有效 L-2S 非移民身份的 L-1 工人的配偶被视为就业授权附带身份。 国土安全部签发的可用于完成 I-9 表格“就业资格验证”的就业授权证据包括：
出示未过期的 I-94 表格，并附上反映 L-2S 非移民身份的符号。 自 2022 年 1 月 30 日起，USCIS 和 CBP 开始签发 I-94 表格，其中包含 L-1 工人配偶的新准入代码：L-2S。 反映此新代码的未过期表格 I-94 可以作为表格 I-9 列表 C 下 L 配偶的就业许可证据。
出示未过期的带有 L-2 非移民身份标记的 I-94 表格，以及美国移民局关于新准入代码的通知。美国公民及移民服务局将在 2022 年 1 月 30 日之前向 L 配偶发送美国公民及移民服务局签发的 I-94 表格， 被标注为 L-2 非移民身份，关于新录取代码的通知，连同未过期的反映 L-2 非移民身份的 I-94 表格，作为此类配偶在表格 I 的列表 C 下的就业许可证据- 9. 有关详细信息，请参阅此网络警报。
出示未过期的就业授权文件 (EAD)。 L 配偶不需要通过提交 I-765 表格，就业授权申请表来申请就业授权，但仍可以提交 I-765 表格并支付费用，以获得就业授权文件（I-766 EAD 表格）。 可以向雇主出示表格 I-766 EAD，作为表格 I-9 列表 A 可接受的身份和就业授权的证据。
出示带有附加文件的过期 EAD，以表明 EAD 已自动延期（如下所述）。
如果满足以下条件，某些 L 配偶有资格自动延长其现有的 I-766 表格 EAD：
他们基于相同的 L 非移民身份，及时提交了续签 I-765 表格，就业许可申请； 和
他们有一份未过期的 I-94 表格，显示他们是 L-2 或 L-2S 非移民身份。
通常情况下，国土安全部条例规定从 EAD 上规定的到期日起最多 180 天的自动延期。 但是，国土安全部发布了延长自动延长期限的临时最终规则。 自 2022 年 5 月 4 日起，DHS 将临时延长自动延期期限，并向符合条件的续期申请人提供最多 360 天的额外自动延期时间，总计最多 540 天。 因此，自动 EAD 延期将继续，直到以先到者为准：
受抚养配偶 I-94 表上显示有效 L-2 或 L-2S 非移民身份的结束日期（如适用）；
我们批准或拒绝他们更新之前 EAD 申请的日期； 要么
从上一个 EAD 正面的“卡到期”日期算起 540 天。
有关临时延长自动延长期限的更多信息，请访问自动就业授权文件 (EAD) 延期页面。
符合条件的 L 配偶可以出于 I-9 表格的目的向雇主出示以下 EAD 自动延期证明：
I-94 表格，表明未过期的 L-2 或 L-2S 非移民身份；
用于及时提交 EAD 续签申请的 I-797C 表格（I-765 表格），将“请求的类别”声明为“(a)(18)”； 和
过期的EAD在同一类别A18类别下签发。
