Transferring a Intracompany Employee from Overseas to the US

If your com­pany is look­ing to trans­fer an employee to the United States on a tem­po­rary assign­ment, an L visa may be the way to go. Here are the impor­tant pro­vi­sions for obtain­ing an L visa:

1. The worker must have worked abroad for your com­pany for at least one year within the pre­ced­ing three years;
2. The for­eign and the US com­pany must be part of the same “qual­i­fy­ing organization’;
3. The worker must have worked in either a man­age­ment capac­ity, exec­u­tive capac­ity or have spe­cial­ized knowledge;
4. The worker must come to the United States for a tem­po­rary period.

The L cat­e­gory has two parts: L-1 for the employee who wishes to trans­fer and L-2 for the trans­feree.  Be aware that the fam­ily mem­ber accom­pa­ny­ing the employee  can­not get employ­ment autho­riza­tion through an L-2.

Here are the pro­ce­dures for obtain­ing an L-1visa:

1. The US employer must file a peti­tion to clas­sify the employee has a tem­po­rary worker.  The peti­tion requires evi­dence that your com­pany is a “qual­i­fy­ing orga­ni­za­tion” and spe­cific infor­ma­tion about the worker.
2. Addi­tional evi­dence is needed if the worker is needed to open a new office.
3. Be aware that there are spe­cial rules under NAFTA.