US Visa Application

L-1 Filed by Sole Proprietorships

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) affirmed on October 20 via their Policy Alert (PA-2023-29), that a sole proprietorship cannot file an L-1 visa petition on behalf of its owner because the sole proprietorship does not exist as a distinct legal entity, separate from the owner. A sole proprietorship is a business in which an individual owns all the assets, owes all the liabilities, and operates the business in the individual’s personal capacity.

The L-1 intracompany transferee visa is a popular visa category utilized for the transfer of certain managerial, executive and specialized knowledge personnel from a foreign business to a related US business.

Existing USCIS policy provides that a sole proprietorship may not file an L-1 petition on behalf of its owner because there must be a separation between the employing entity and the beneficiary; a petition where the sole-proprietor owner and beneficiary are the same would be considered an impermissible self-petition. However, an L-1 can be filed by a sole proprietorship on behalf an eligible employee. For instance, an individual may be the sole proprietor of an entity abroad and also of one in the United States, and may transfer an eligible employee under the L-1A or L-1B classification to the US.

The Policy Alert further affirms the difference between a sole proprietorship and a self-incorporated petitioner (i.e., a corporation or a limited liability company with a single owner) in that the corporation or the single-member LLC is a separate and distinct legal entity from its owner, stockholder or member (unlike a sole preceptorship) and can therefore file an L-1 for that owner.


This article has been written by Zeenat Phophalia, Esq. Of Counsel, Davies & Associates, India Office.

Zeenat Phophalia is qualified to practice law in New York, United Kingdom and India. She practices in the area of U.S. immigration law with a focus on business immigration, and has represented corporate clients including large and medium sized companies and startups across sectors such as IT, consulting, consumer goods, manufacturing and telecommunications.

Looking for an US immigration lawyer? Request free consultation at Davies & Associates or find our closest location around the world.


E-2 Visa approved for a Singaporean national during COVID-19

Blanket L1 Visa Petition Explained: Unlocking Business Opportunities

How does the L 1 Blanket Visa Petition work?

An L-1 blanket petition enables certain overseas companies to transfer multiple employees to the United States on an L-1 visa, a nonimmigrant visa, under a single petition, without having to file individual L-1 petitions for each qualified employee.  All foreign entities that the US petitioning company seeks to include are listed in the blanket petition, backed by documentary evidence of the qualifying relationship with each such entity.  An approved blanket petition confirms that a qualifying relationship exists between the US entity and the foreign company seeking to transfer the employee. The L-1 blanket simplifies and streamlines the process for multinational companies who frequently seek to transfer their managers, executives or specialized knowledge workers to the US.  The Blanket L petition similarly does not guarantee that the employees will get the visa, nor the L1 Visa validity.

An L1 Blanket petition is filed with the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) using Form I-129.  Once it is approved, the eligible employee can apply for an L-1A or L-1B visa by scheduling and attending the visa interview at a US consulate.  Among the documents the employee will have to carry to the interview are L-1 Blanket petition approval, I-29S Form, Letter of Support detailing the transfer and nature of the US role and evidence of employment abroad. L-1 Blanket petitions will have an initial validity period of up to three years once approved.

Employer Eligibility Criteria – Commercial trade?

There are requirements that a petitioner and the qualifying foreign entities must meet to be eligible and qualified for an L1 blanket petition:

  • The petitioner and each of the entities included are engaged in commercial trade or services;
  • The petitioner has an office in the United States that has been doing business for 1 year or more;
  • The petitioner has three or more domestic and foreign branches, subsidiaries, or affiliates; and
  • The petitioner and the other qualifying organizations have obtained approval of petitions for at least 10 “L” managers, executives, or specialized knowledge workers during the previous 12 months; or have U.S. subsidiaries or affiliates with combined annual sales of at least $25 million, or have a U.S. workforce of at least 1,000 employees.

Employee Eligibility Criteria

Whether the foreign professional employees are applying for an individual visa or under a blanket petition, they must still meet all the employee-related requirements individually.  The foreign national employees applying under an approved blanket petition must establish that he or she was employed abroad for 1 of the 3 years (prior to applying to the consulate) in either a managerial, executive or specialized knowledge category and will be employed in the US in either of these three categories.

If you are applying for an L1A Visa, you must prove managerial or executive position in the company. The specialized knowledge employee can stay in the USA for up to five years. He/she should be ready to enter the United States in an executive or managerial capacity involving specialized knowledge. To prove managerial or executive capacity, the petitioning employer must meet the following requirements in the blanket petitions

  1. The beneficiary employee was employed for at least one year out of the previous 3 years

On the other hand, the L1B Visa is a Specialized Knowledge Professional. The employees that have worked in a position requiring specialized knowledge will qualify for this visa. However, the future position of this employee must also be one in the Specialized Knowledge Professionals. The employer has to prove the employees possess specialized knowledge, and that the employee’s ability will be sufficient to contribute significantly in the role.

We discuss these criteria in L1 Visa USA page here at Davies & Associates.

Blanket Petition Advantages

There are several advantages of having an L-1 blanket petition: It saves you time as it streamlines the L-1 Visa application process, so you can transfer multiple employees quickly and efficiently;

  • It saves you money in the long run compared to filing individual applications;
  • It gives you flexibility in transferring several foreign employees to the U.S. office, allowing you ease in meeting and accomplishing other business needs and goals;
  • It gives you the chance to plan future transfers without the uncertainty that comes with individual visa applications for each transferring employee.

L-1 Blanket Validity

The L-1 blanket approval is valid initially for 3 years It can be extended indefinitely, but if the company doesn’t apply for an extension or if a renewal application is denied, the company must wait 3 years to apply for a new blanket petition.

Take note that a blanket petition approval does not guarantee that the employee will be granted an L-1A or L-1B visa as the employee will still have to prove his or her eligibility under the L regulations.

Professional employees may also transfer between related foreign entities that are denoted on the Blanket L Approval notice. They may transfer employees with explicit approval notice provided the transferred employee will have the same job duties.

Denial of L-1 Blanket Visa

Like L-1 visas under individual petitions, L-1 blanket visas can be denied due to various factors such as inadequate documentation, failure to prove managerial, executive or specialized knowledge duties, etc.  While a USCIS denial of an individual L-1 visa petition may be appealed, denials of an L-1 visa blanket applications by the consulate are not reviewable.   

L1 Individual Petition vs. Blanket Petition Approval notice

With an L-1 Transfer Visa, the company must file a petition every time they want to transfer an employee with the USCIS. On the other hand, with an L-1 blanket visa, the company can transfer multiple employees under just one petition. The blanket visa makes the process easier and less expensive by eliminating the need to file multiple petitions for each qualified employee. It is considered a rather flexible way to transfer employees to the USA.

FAQs

Is the definition for managerial, executive, and specialized knowledge employees the same for L-1 blanket visa petitions and individual petitions?

Yes, the definitions are still the same regardless if you’re applying under a blanket petition or an individual petition.

Can I bring my dependents with me to the U.S. on my L-1 visa?

Yes, the visa issued to your spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 is the L-2 visa. Their period of stay would be for the same duration as yours. Moreover, your spouse can work in the U.S. without applying separately for an Employee Authorization Document (EAD) work authorization

Can I change or transfer jobs on an L-1 Visa?

You can change or transfer jobs on an L-1 Visa but only to a location with the same company or to a qualifying/related company in the U.S. The USCIS must be notified of any significant changes to your employment, which is usually done by way of an L-1 amended petition

Are there benefits to an L-1 blanket visa petition?

An L-1 blanket visa petition streamlines the transfer of employees from several months to a matter of days and weeks. It also eliminates the need to file individual petitions for each transferring employee.

What privileges can I enjoy on my L-1 Visa?

On your L-1 visa, you can work legally in the U.S. or stay until your visa expires, and travel freely in and out of the country. You can also avail of dependent visas for your spouse and unmarried children, or potentially apply for a green card through employment


Looking for an US immigration lawyer? Request free consultation at Davies & Associates or find our closest location around the world.


Investor Visa Application Price Increase

When is an L-1 Amendment Needed?

The L-1 visa is utilized for the intracompany transfer of qualified managerial and executive personnel and specialized knowledge workers from an overseas company to a related company in the United States. The key criteria of an L-1 are: (1) existence of a qualifying relationship between the foreign and US entity (the US entity should be a parent, subsidiary, affiliate or a branch of the foreign company); (2) the prospective L-1 employee should have worked in a managerial, executive or specialized knowledge capacity for the foreign employer for one continuous year in the three years preceding the L-1 petition filing; and (3) the transfer of the employee to the US should be for a similar managerial, executive or specialized knowledge position.

In the event that after the approval of an L-1 petition, there are significant changes pertaining to the qualifying relationship of the entities or the nature of the employee’s role in the US, an L-1 amended petition is required. The L-1 regulations mandate an amendment filing with the USCIS to reflect changes in approved relationships, additional qualifying organizations under a blanket petition or change in capacity of employment (i.e., from a specialized knowledge position to a managerial position). Also, any information which would affect the employee’s eligibility is likely to be considered material, warranting an amendment.

Some changes can be clearly considered as material. For example, if an L-1B employed as an Equipment Engineer, who primarily works on sophisticated and complex machinery is promoted to the position of a Senior Director where his main duties involve managing professional staff, such change would require an amendment. Similarly, changes in the ownership and control of the US petitioner after adjudication would typically require an amendment as these changes may constitute a material change in circumstances or represent new information.

More often than the above scenarios, situations come up where the L-1 employee would have to work primarily out of a different geographic location from what was listed on the petition. There is no clear-cut answer or specific guidance on this. Generally, a temporary change in work location with all other terms of employment remaining unchanged, is not considered material, requiring an amendment. But for example, if the change is long term and let’s say from one state to another, the safe approach would be to file an amendment. Employers should take into account the increased instances of unannounced site visits by USCIS officers in the recent years and the weigh the risk of a failed site inspection and a possible petition revocation.


This article has been written by Zeenat Phophalia, Esq. Of Counsel, Davies & Associates, India Office.

Zeenat Phophalia is qualified to practice law in New York, United Kingdom and India. She practices in the area of U.S. immigration law with a focus on business immigration, and has represented corporate clients including large and medium sized companies and startups across sectors such as IT, consulting, consumer goods, manufacturing and telecommunications.

Looking for an US immigration lawyer? Request free consultation at Davies & Associates or find our closest location around the world.


L1 Visa

L1 Study Cases

L-1A status for an Executive extended for another two years

Getting a new office L1-A Visa petition approved for an executive or manager does not automatically mean that he or she will get an extension of another two years. It is not a matter of right to get your status extended and it is certainly not a ministerial act on the part of USCIS to approve the petition. At the time of filing, the petitioner must prove that it can clearly elevate the beneficiary to a managerial or executive position. This means that USCIS will look into whether the petitioner has hired the right people to relieve the beneficiary from performing non-qualifying duties. This is why personnel planning in the business plan for new office L-1 Visa petitions is critical. Aside from this, both the foreign entity and the petitioning US entity must continue to meet all other requirements. 

 APPROVAL OF ANOTHER L-1A PETITION AN EXECUTIVE FROM INDIA

 
We filed an extension of L-1A Visa status petition on behalf of an executive from India. We worked with the Petitioner in getting the new office petition approved and now we have successfully obtained approval of the extension of status petition for an additional period of two years.

The beneficiary is an executive of a digital outdoor marketing agency, specializing in advertising via digital screens set in high traffic public areas, such as retail stores. The Company outsources the content creation and focuses primarily on digital screen setup and sales activities. 

As a multinational executive or manager, you can be transferred to the U.S. for a maximum period of 7 years. If the U.S. company has not been operational for more than a year, the company is eligible to file a new office petition for the transfer of the executive or manager for one year. Extensions can be granted in increments of 2 years until the maximum period of 7 years has been reached. Within the 7 year period, it is possible for the beneficiary to transition to become a permanent resident of the U.S. through the EB-1C Visa petition for a multinational executive or manager. 

L-1 PETITION APPROVALS – L-1A EXECUTIVE FROM INDIA AND L-1B SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE EMPLOYEE FROM ARMENIA


The first approval is for a specialized knowledge employee from Armenia. His petition for intracompany transfer as a Cloud Architect has been approved for 3 years. He is the third beneficiary under the L-1 Visa program to be transferred to the US company. We had previously secured approvals for two executives of the same company.

The second approval is for an executive from India, a VP for Engineering for an organization that provides cloud governance platform that empowers enterprises to increase top-line revenues, improve bottom-line efficiencies, and gain a competitive edge through AI-powered real-time cloud governance on autopilot. The beneficiary has been given three years as well. We had also obtained prior L and H-1B approvals for the U.S. company. 


Looking for an US immigration lawyer? Request free consultation at Davies & Associates or find our closest location around the world. 

This article has been written by Verdie J. Atienza, Esq., Senior Immigration Attorney, Head of E-2 and L-1 Visas Practice Team at Davies & Associates, New York Office.

Verdie J. Atienza is a Senior Attorney in charge of the firm’s L-1 and E-2 visa practice. He is a dual qualified lawyer in New York and in the Philippines and is qualified to practice immigration law in any state in the United States. 

 


Vietnam clients of Davies & Associates

L-1A VISA APPLICATION APPROVED FOR AN EXECUTIVE FROM VIETNAM AND L-2 VISA APPLICATIONS APPROVED FOR HIS SPOUSE AND CHILDREN

Did you know that the foreign and US companies do not have to be engaged in the same type of business or industry? It is common for an L-1A executive or manager to be transferred to the US company that is engaged in the same type of business or industry and have the same duties and responsibilities, but it is possible for the two companies to engage in different types of business as well. For this particular beneficiary, the Vietnamese company is engaged in distribution of imported products in the field of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC). On the other hand, the US company ventured into the Food and Beverage industry.

Click here for more information:

https://www.usimmigrationadvisor.com/l1-visas.html


Looking for an US immigration lawyer? Request free consultation at Davies & Associates or find our closest location around the world. 

This article has been written by Verdie J. Atienza, Esq., Senior Immigration Attorney, Head of E-2 and L-1 Visas Practice Team at Davies & Associates, New York Office.

Verdie J. Atienza is a Senior Attorney in charge of the firm’s L-1 and E-2 visa practice. He is a dual qualified lawyer in New York and in the Philippines and is qualified to practice immigration law in any state in the United States. 

 


Serbia L1 Visa

L-1A VISA FOR AN EXECUTIVE FROM SERBIA

The Serbian company recently set up a US affiliate to expand operations in the US. The US affiliate then filed the new office L-1A petition for the executive. With a new office petition, the intracompany transferee gets one year of authorized stay to jumpstart the operations of the US company.

Click here for more information:

https://www.usimmigrationadvisor.com/l1-visas.html


Looking for an US immigration lawyer? Request free consultation at Davies & Associates or find our closest location around the world. 

This article has been written by Verdie J. Atienza, Esq., Senior Immigration Attorney, Head of E-2 and L-1 Visas Practice Team at Davies & Associates, New York Office.

Verdie J. Atienza is a Senior Attorney in charge of the firm’s L-1 and E-2 visa practice. He is a dual qualified lawyer in New York and in the Philippines and is qualified to practice immigration law in any state in the United States. 

 


Technology Visas

L-1A VISA FOR AN EXECUTIVE FROM VIETNAM

Did you know that a US company can file a petition for the transfer an executive, manager or specialized knowledge employee of a qualifying foreign company even if the US company has not been in operations for more than a year? The company is eligible to file a NEW OFFICE L-1 PETITION and the beneficiary will initially be eligible for a period of stay of one year.

Click here for more information:
https://www.usimmigrationadvisor.com/l-1-visa-vietnamese.html

https://www.usimmigrationadvisor.com/l1-visas.html


Looking for an US immigration lawyer? Request free consultation at Davies & Associates or find our closest location around the world. 

This article has been written by Verdie J. Atienza, Esq., Senior Immigration Attorney, Head of E-2 and L-1 Visas Practice Team at Davies & Associates, New York Office.

Verdie J. Atienza is a Senior Attorney in charge of the firm’s L-1 and E-2 visa practice. He is a dual qualified lawyer in New York and in the Philippines and is qualified to practice immigration law in any state in the United States. 

 


L-1A Visa – Benefits You Should Know [Infographic]

Do you dream of working and living in the United States of America? If you own a business, you should consider opening a branch of your company in the United States. You could then transfer yourself or a senior staff member to the USA on an L-1A Visa for the purposes of running that business. The business does not need to be in exactly the same field as your existing business, provided the ownership is the same. Unlike the H1B visa, there is no quota and the visa can be granted for a longer period of time.

 

 

 

 

It is always best to avail the services of a qualified immigration lawyer to determine the best immigration route to suit your particular circumstances. At Davies & Associates LLC, we are a leading immigration law firm having a top team of L-1 Visa lawyers across the United States processing L1 visas every single day, reach out to us now!

 

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