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The Visa Guide · Work
L-1 Intracompany
Transfer Visa
Move your best people.
The visa that moves executives, managers, and specialized-knowledge employees from a company abroad to a related U.S. entity, including brand-new U.S. offices. Here’s the whole journey, in plain English.
Who Qualifies
One company. Two countries.
L-1 cases are won on structure: the year abroad, the role, and the corporate relationship between the two companies.
One year abroad
One continuous year of employment abroad within the last three, at a parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate of the U.S. company.
L-1A: executives and managers
The leadership track, with up to 7 years of total L-1 time.
L-1B: specialized knowledge
Employees with specialized knowledge of the company’s products or processes, up to 5 years.
A qualifying corporate relationship
Proven with ownership and control documents linking the two entities.
New offices qualify too
Brand-new U.S. offices qualify with premises, a business plan, and funding, approved 1 year initially.
Two Tracks
Leadership. Or know-how.
Every L-1 runs on one of two tracks. The classification decides how long you can stay and where the case can go next.
Executives & Managers
The leadership track: up to 7 years total, and a natural bridge to the EB-1C multinational-executive green card without PERM.
Up to 7 yearsSpecialized Knowledge
For employees with specialized knowledge of the company’s products or processes, up to 5 years total.
Up to 5 yearsThe Process
Five steps. One transfer.
The corporate record
Assemble ownership charts, financials, org charts, and detailed duty descriptions. These cases live or die on documentation.
The petition
File Form I-129 with the L supplement. Large multinationals may use an approved blanket L petition and process directly at consulates.
The visa
Consular visa stamping (DS-160) for workers abroad; change of status for those already in the U.S.
The extensions
Extensions run in 2-year increments up to the 7/5-year limits. New-office petitions must prove real operations at the first renewal.
The green card bridge
L-1A → EB-1C: executives and managers track naturally to the multinational-executive green card, without PERM.
Forms & Fees
Know the paperwork.
The L-1 petition, filed with the L supplement and the full corporate record
For large multinationals: one approved petition, processed directly at consulates
Consular visa application for visa stamping abroad
Opening a brand-new U.S. office?
New office cases qualify with premises, a business plan, and funding, and are approved for 1 year initially. The first renewal must prove real operations, so build that record from day one.
Live processing times & fees
Government numbers change monthly. These official tools are always current:
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The Rules
What you can and cannot do.
- Stay on the foreign payroll or move to the U.S. one; the corporate relationship controls, not the paycheck
- Bring your spouse and children under 21 on L-2; spouses can work without applying for a separate permit
- Pursue a green card openly; L-1 is dual intent, so an EB-1C or PERM case does not undermine the visa
- Recapture days spent outside the U.S.; time abroad does not count against the 7- or 5-year clock
- Work for anyone outside the corporate family that transferred you, including side work
- Keep L-1 status if the company abroad stops operating; a qualifying entity must stay active overseas
- Restart the clock after the limit without another full year of employment abroad
- Assume approval because the transfer is internal; USCIS tests the duties, not the job title
Costs
What it costs in 2026.
L-1 costs split into two buckets: petition fees the employer pays to USCIS, several of which depend on company size and workforce mix, and consular fees the transferring worker pays to put the visa in the passport, including the new integrity fee created by the 2025 budget law. Here is the stack as of August 2026.
| Item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Petition fee (Form I-129) | $1,385 | $695 for small employers and nonprofits |
| Fraud prevention fee | $500 | First L-1 petitions |
| Asylum Program Fee | $600 | $300 for small employers; $0 for nonprofits |
| Public Law 114-113 fee | $4,500 | Employers with 50+ U.S. employees where more than half hold H-1B or L-1 status |
| Premium processing (optional) | $2,965 | Raised from $2,805 on March 1, 2026 |
| Visa application (DS-160 / MRV) | $205 per person | Paid to the consulate; L-2 family members each pay it too |
| Visa integrity fee | $250 per person | At issuance; phasing in since Oct 2025; the refund provision is not yet operational; adjusts with inflation |
Fee amounts reflect published government figures as of August 2026 and change over time; the live links above are always current. Petition fees apply per filing and belong to the employer; consular fees apply per person, including family members.
FAQ
Questions we hear every week.
Can I transfer myself to open my own U.S. company?
Owners and founders can be transferred when the structure is real and the U.S. role is genuinely executive, managerial, or specialized. Expect the government to probe who controls the company and whether it can support the role from day one; that record is built before filing, not after.
Why L-1 instead of H-1B?
No lottery, no annual cap, no specific degree requirement, and no prevailing wage filing. The trade is flexibility: you are tied to the corporate family that transferred you, and the year limits are firmer. For many multinationals it is the faster, cleaner tool.
Why do L-1B cases get so much pushback?
Because specialized knowledge is an elastic phrase, and officers press on it. Winning cases show knowledge genuinely tied to the company’s products, processes, or methods and not easily found in the U.S. market: internal systems, proprietary tools, training records, and concrete examples beat adjectives every time.
Does remote work for the U.S. company count as my year abroad?
The qualifying year must be employment with a related company while physically outside the U.S. Time spent working inside the U.S. does not count toward it, even for the same corporate family, though brief business trips do not break the year’s continuity.
How fast can a blanket L transfer move?
Fast. With an approved blanket, the employee files Form I-129S and interviews directly at the consulate, often within weeks, skipping the individual USCIS petition entirely. When the blanket is in place, it is one of the quickest work-visa routes there is.
Can the case be refused even though my company approved the move?
Yes. The company’s decision starts the process; the government’s decision ends it. USCIS and consular officers test the corporate relationship, the role, and the year abroad on their own evidence, and a thin filing invites refusal even for a genuine transfer. Documentation is the whole game.