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L-1 Intracompany

Transfer Visa

The l1 intracompany transfer visa 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 l1 visa guide, in plain English.

Free Case Review How It works

1

Continuous year of employment abroad, within the last three, at a related company.

7

Years of total L-1A time for executives and managers. Specialized-knowledge L-1B runs up to 5.

EB-1C

The green card bridge: L-1A executives and managers track to it without PERM.

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. These l-1 requirements and l1 visa qualification standards decide it.

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 Paths

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, and the l1 visa criteria differ for each.

L-1A, 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 YEARS.

Form I-485

Read the AOS guide

L-1B, specialized knowledge

for employees with specialized knowledge of the company's products or processes, up to 5 years total. UP TO 5 YEARS.

Form I-485

Read the AOS guide

The Process

Five steps. One transfer.

The l 1 visa process runs the same five steps for intracompany transferees.

01

the corporate record

Assemble ownership charts, financials, org charts, and detailed duty descriptions. These cases live or die on documentation.

02

the petition

File Form I-129 with the L supplement. Large multinationals may use an approved blanket L petition and process directly at consulates.

03

the visa

Consular visa stamping (DS-160) for workers abroad; change of status for those already in the U.S.

04

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.

05

the green card bridge

L-1A to EB-1C: executives and managers track naturally to the multinational-executive green card, without PERM.

Forms & Fees

Know the paperwork.

I-129

the L-1 petition, filed with the L supplement and the full corporate record.

Blanket L

for large multinationals: one approved petition, processed directly at consulates.

DS-160

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.

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 l1 work 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.

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.

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.

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, which an l-1 visa attorney assembles, beat adjectives every time.

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.

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 l1 work visa routes there is.

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, the core criteria for l1 visa approval, on their own evidence, and a thin filing invites refusal even for a genuine transfer. Documentation is the whole game.

YOUR CAREER
OUR FIGHT.

Every case is different. Tell us your story. The evaluation is free, and our l1 visa lawyer team tells you exactly which path fits.

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