L1A vs L1BEverything You Need to Know

The L1A and L1B Visa

The L1A and L1B visas are great options to work in the United States. In this guide, I will compare the L1A and the L1B.

The L1 visa category, created by Congress in 1970, is specifically intended for individuals customarily employed abroad by a company with a qualifying relationship to the U.S. company wishing to obtain the L1 visa for employees.

The L1 visa is limited exclusively to employees of multinational companies, and may not be used unless the following conditions apply:

1. The U.S. company wishing to acquire the L1 visa must have anaffiliated relationship with the foreign company currentlyemploying the candidate in question;

2. The foreign company employing the candidate must be activelydoing business, as evidenced by regular, systematic, andcontinuous provision of goods and services;

3. The U.S. company wishing to employ the candidate must beactively doing business, as evidenced by regular, systematic, andcontinuous provision of goods and services;

4. The candidate in question must have had one year of continuousemployment with the foreign company in an executive,managerial, or specialized knowledge capacity, and must becoming to the U.S. to perform in a similar role.

On this fourth point, we come to the two sub-types within the L1 family:L1A, intended for employees that will be employed in an executive ormanagerial capacity, and L1B, intended for specialized knowledgeemployees.

The L1A visa, for executive or managerial level employees, has itsadvantages, provided of course that the foreign candidate in questionmeets the requirements. To qualify for an L1A visa or a grant of L1Astatus, as discussed, the foreign candidate must have been employed byan affiliated entity of the U.S. petitioning employer in an executive ormanagerial capacity.

The key to establishing that the position in question is MANAGERIAL liesin the word itself: MANAGEMENT. The foreign candidate must be able toshow that he or she supervised employees at a high level, with widediscretion for decision-making, with only general supervision from higherups in the company.

The USCIS has taken to challenging evidence of managerial level positions, andfor this reason when submitting an L1A petition, employers must carefullydocument evidence of a managerial level position. Such evidence can includeorganizational charts, performance reviews, copies of emails showing theforeign candidate operating at the managerial level, and any other applicableevidence.

Another tremendously important facet of both the L1A and the L1B categoriesis the job description of the role, both for the intended role in the U.S. and therole of the candidate with the foreign affiliate employer. This job descriptionbecomes even more crucial for the L1B category, which is for specializedknowledge level employees.

Specialized knowledge, as defined by USCIS, means either special knowledgepossessed by an individual of the petitioning organization’s product, service,research, equipment, techniques, management, or other interests and itsapplication in international markets, or an advanced level of knowledge orexpertise in the organization’s processes and procedures. In plain English, then,specialized knowledge is an individual with a deeper understanding of themultinational company’s products, services, and methods of operation.

As USCIS has taken to challenging the L1A managerial position, so toohave they challenged employer’s claims of the vitality of specializedknowledge employees, even though for many companies it is much moreefficient to internally transfer higher level employees with deeperunderstandings of the company’s working than to train new employees.

Consequently, the need for a detailed job description, describing atlength the level of the L1B candidate’s specialized knowledge, is crucial.Employers should carefully evaluate their potential L1B candidates toassess whether the level of specialized knowledge held by thatemployee is truly specialized in that it would be more efficient totransfer the employee than to hire a U.S. worker.

Other evidence can include a detailed resume for the candidate,showing their qualifying professional experience in the industry and withthe company, and although not required, copies of the foreigncandidate’s educational documentation, showing how he/she hasapplied skills from higher education to the practice of the job.

As discussed, USCIS has increased scrutiny of both L1A and L1B visas under the Trump administration. It is unclear how

USCIS will process L-1s under the new administration. If considering the L1 for a prospective foreign candidate who

meets the basic requirements for the L1 in terms of qualifying employment and corporate relationship,

employers should consider the following pros and cons of the two subcategories:

Allows for seven years of immigration status, granted in incrementsof up to three years. A significant advantage of the L1A category isthat it allows for easy transition to permanent residencesponsorship through the EB-1C category, allowing the employer towaive the typical labor certification process associated withemployment based green cards. The EB-1C application relies uponthe international managerial/executive status of the employee, andthe application process closely resembles that of the L1A.

L1A Advantages

Heightened scrutiny of evidence by USCIS, temporary nature of the status.

L1A Disadvantages

The L1B is often used as a back-up plan for employers who areunable to secure H-1B visas for employees in the U.S. As long as theemployer fits the multinational definition for L1 purposes, theemployer may transfer an individual not selected for the H-1Blottery (subject to immigration policies of the foreign entity’scountry of domicile) for the customary one year period, which thenallows the employer to transfer the employee back in L1B status. Asthe definition of specialized knowledge may be applied broadly, anyemployee with sufficient experience at any given company may beargued to qualify for a grant of L1B status.

L1B Advantages

L1B disadvantages: Only allows FIVE years of immigration status,granted in one increment of three years and a second increment oftwo. Heavy scrutinization of the definition of specialized knowledgeresults in increased denial of L1B visa petitions. Finally, anyemployer who secures an L1B visa for an employee must considertraditional green card sponsorship for the employee, and mustfollow the standard process of testing the labor market to obtain aLabor Certification, prior to moving to the immigrant petition stageof the process.

L1B Disadvantages

Overall L1 Advantages

Lack of educational requirement as opposed to the H-1Bprogram allows for increased applicability to qualifiedcandidates. L1 status permits dependents of L1 visaholders (L2) to apply for work authorization, which uponreceipt, permits spouses to work for any employer withoutrestriction. For certain qualified employing entities,Blanket L status is available, allowing the employer toobtain recognition from the USCIS as a qualifyingemployer, thereby allowing the employer to transferemployees through consular application, bypassing theusual USCIS petition needed for regular L1 visa candidates.

Overall L1 Disadvantages

Temporary nature of the visa (maximum of sevenyears), and increased scrutinization have resultedin higher denial rates of L1 petitions.

If you have any questions about the L1 visa, or if you need help applying for an L1 visa, feel free to call us at +1-818-741-1117.

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