L-1 Visa for Intracompany Transferees

The L-1 lets a multinational company transfer certain employees from a foreign entity to a related U.S. entity. L-1A covers managers and executives; L-1B covers employees with specialized knowledge of the organization's products, services, research, techniques, or management. The U.S. and foreign entities must have a qualifying relationship as parent, subsidiary, affiliate, or branch, and both must remain doing business during the transfer. The employee must generally have worked for the foreign entity for one continuous year within the three years before the petition. There is no annual cap or lottery. For Brazilian and other foreign companies expanding into California, the L-1A is often the cleanest route for an owner or senior manager to relocate lawfully.

Yes. The new office L-1 is a recognized route for a foreign company establishing a U.S. presence, and it is one of the most common paths we handle for founders. USCIS requires evidence that physical premises have been secured, that the qualifying corporate relationship exists, and, for an L-1A, that the new office will support a managerial or executive position within one year. New office petitions are approved for an initial period of one year rather than three, and the extension is scrutinized against the business plan you filed, so the plan needs to be realistic on hiring, revenue, and operations. Weak or boilerplate business plans are the leading cause of new office denials and failed extensions.

L-1A status is limited to a total of seven years, and L-1B to five years, with initial approvals of up to three years, or one year for a new office, and extensions in increments of up to two years. Time spent physically outside the United States can sometimes be recaptured to extend the maximum period. Because the L-1A time limit is finite, we plan the permanent residence strategy early: an L-1A manager or executive frequently qualifies for the EB-1C multinational manager green card, which does not require PERM labor certification. Waiting until year six to start that process is the mistake we see most often with intracompany transfers.

Yes. Spouses in L-2 status are employment authorized incident to status, meaning they may work for any employer without waiting for a separate work permit, and USCIS now annotates L-2S documentation to evidence that authorization for employers. Many spouses still apply for an Employment Authorization Document for convenience with payroll systems, but it is not a legal prerequisite. Unmarried children under 21 also receive L-2 status and may attend school, though they are not authorized to work. This is one of the L-1's practical advantages over several other work categories. We prepare dependent filings together with the principal petition so a relocating family arrives ready to work and enroll.

The E-2 treaty investor visa is only available to nationals of countries with a qualifying treaty of commerce and navigation with the United States. Brazil is not an E-2 treaty country, so Brazilian nationals generally cannot use it, and the L-1A, EB-5, or O-1 become the realistic alternatives. Where E-2 is available, it can be renewed indefinitely but does not itself lead to a green card. The L-1A is capped at seven years but pairs naturally with the EB-1C green card for managers and executives. Choosing between them depends on nationality, corporate structure, investment size, and whether permanent residence is the goal. We start with that question, not with the visa type.

Expect corporate evidence establishing the qualifying relationship between the foreign and U.S. entities, such as ownership records, share registries, and organizational charts; financial evidence including tax filings, audited statements, and bank records; proof that the foreign entity continues to do business; and detailed evidence of the employee's one year of qualifying employment abroad and the duties of both the foreign and U.S. positions. New office cases add a lease or premises evidence and a substantive business plan with hiring and financial projections. For L-1B, the petition must explain concretely why the knowledge is specialized rather than merely useful. We prepare the record with the eventual extension filing already in view.