If you are the boss, general manager or manager of the company and want to develop in the United States, you should apply for L 1 visa; If you are a manager of a state-owned, collective, foreign-funded or private enterprise, and have at least one year's business management experience in China in the past three years, Jinqiao Immigrants will help you apply for an L 1 visa. You can apply for an American green card after entering the United States with an L 1 visa. If you have an investment intention long ago, you can calmly inspect the investment projects and complete your investment plan after entering the United States.
L 1 visa is applicable to internal transfer of the company, and there can be a blanket petition of the company. The basic requirements are as follows:
1. Have worked in this company for more than one year in the past three years;
2. The company has business entities in the United States. There are some specific requirements for the company, so I won't elaborate.
Specifically, L 1 visa is divided into L 1A and L 1B: L 1A is suitable for managers and L 1B is suitable for professional and technical personnel. When applying, it should be stated that the job responsibilities and abilities are indispensable to the company, and it is impossible to recruit substitutes in the United States, and the salary is above average. Applicants with L 1 visas can have immigration tendency, and their families can work in the United States with L2 visas. The main difference between these two kinds of visas is that when L 1A applied for a green card, it passed the EB 1C process, so there is no need to wait for several years due to quota restrictions, and it can be up to seven years at the longest. L 1B to apply for a green card, you have to go through ordinary channels, and the visa lasts for up to five years.
L 1A is a work visa for executives or managers of multinational companies. With the extension of EB5 investment immigration processing time and the emergence of the timetable, more and more mainland investors turn to consider ways other than EB5 to work in the United States and apply for green cards. L 1A is the way that Chinese mainland applicants often consider. Many applicants plan to work in the United States in the form of L 1A, and then get a green card through EB 1C at an appropriate time, or even apply for a green card directly through EB1C.
L 1A work visa is considered as a substitute for EB5, which is often misunderstood. Therefore, lawyer Meng Xiaojie is here to talk about what conditions are needed and what conditions are not needed for L 1A application in combination with the requirements of L 1A application and the misunderstandings of many applicants.
L 1A= "transnational"+"executive/manager"
First of all, before discussing "Four Essentials" and "Four Don 'ts" in detail, let's take a look at the positioning of L 1A itself. As mentioned at the beginning, at present, L 1A is familiar to many applicants, and it originated from finding an alternative to EB5. But the L 1A visa itself is not for American investors, but for executives or managers of multinational companies. There are two key words: one is "transnational" and the other is "executive/manager". At first glance, I may not feel anything, but the applicant thinks, yes, I am a legal representative, of course, an executive; When I came to America, it was transnational. However, for these two keywords, the Immigration Bureau has its own strict definition. Most supplements of L 1A even refused to sign because they did not meet these two keywords at the same time. Lawyer Meng Xiaojie set up a special topic in other articles to explain these two keywords. In a word, it can be summarized as "transnational" refers to the transnational of the company, and "senior managers" must manage senior talents. In this article, for the convenience of writing, L 1A executives/managers are collectively referred to as "executives". However, the applicant should pay attention to the difference between the two.
L 1A is a work visa, and it takes effort to apply for a green card. Lawyer Meng Xiaojie is often asked in practice, what is the difference between L 1A and EB5? In fact, this question should be asked in reverse, which may be more correct. What's the difference between L 1A and EB5? Because, L 1A and EB5 are completely different immigration treatment. L 1A is a work visa, not a green card application. EB5 is the way to apply for a green card. Executives of multinational companies need to pass EB 1C to apply for green cards.
. The requirements of EB 1C are similar to those of L 1A, but higher.
L 1A is a work visa, so there is a time limit. The applicant's time in the United States ***L 1A cannot exceed 7 years. The first L 1A application is valid for 1 year or 3 years (depending on the operating time of the American company at the time of application), and the extension application is valid for 2 years.
(1) A qualified transnational affiliated company relationship is required.
This is what the above-mentioned companies want to "transnational". The application of L 1A is not only a matter for American companies. Although the author of the application is an American company, an overseas company must be involved in the L 1A application, and there must be a qualified affiliated company relationship between the overseas company and the American company.
There are two key words here: "Association" and "Company". Lawyer Meng Xiaojie is often asked in practice what kind of American companies meet the requirements of L1A. Many customers are worried that the LLC form of their company does not meet the requirements of L1A. There is no need to worry about this. L 1A has relatively loose formal requirements for American enterprises, allowing companies in the form of INC, companies in the form of LLC, and even partnerships, trusts and funds. LLC enterprises should not only meet the requirements of L 1A, but also meet the requirements of EB1C. Regarding the requirement of "connection", if the applicant's company has a complex corporate structure design, lawyer Meng Xiaojie suggests consulting an experienced immigration lawyer on the specific situation. The "affiliated company" under the definition of L 1A basically includes: parent-subsidiary relationship and sister company relationship. Sister companies include companies controlled by the same parent company, companies controlled by the same person, or companies controlled by a group of individuals in a similar proportion.
(2) One year full-time overseas executive experience.
After finding a qualified overseas company, L 1A applicants should also pay attention to the fact that you must have at least one year's experience as an executive of the overseas company within three years before submitting the application. This year's overseas executive experience must be solid. First of all, it must be a full-time executive experience. This year's time does not include the applicant's time in the United States. This year's overseas experience must meet the requirements of "executives". If the applicant has not held a management position before, but has been promoted in the last year, it may not meet this requirement. Or if the overseas company itself is small, it will be a challenge to prove the overseas executive experience.
(3) Go to the United States to be an executive.
Since it is a multinational executive transfer, the applicant needs to be an executive not only overseas, but also after entering the United States. For the newly established L 1 American company, this is mainly proved by the company's business plan. For L 1 American companies that have been operating for more than1year, experienced immigration lawyers need to carefully examine the company's operation and personnel structure to judge, and there is no universally applicable standard.
(4) American companies should have business premises.
The application of L 1A is not only applicable to American companies that are already operating, but also to newly established American companies. However, for a newly established American company, if you want to submit an application for L 1A for the applicant, you must have a business place when submitting the application. Having business premises does not mean that American companies intend to rent office space, but must have rented or purchased suitable office space. An applicant asked, what should I do if L 1A is not approved? Lawyer Meng Xiaojie reminded L 1A applicants that when signing an office commercial contract, they could consider negotiating with the landlord and adding corresponding clauses to explain how to terminate the contract in advance if the applicant fails to obtain L 1A's approval.
L 1 It is naturally good for applicants to be fluent in English, but even if they don't understand English, it is ok as long as the staffing is reasonable, that is to say, an interpreter can be available when necessary. L 1A executives focus on management, and language is not an obstacle.