L-1 Visa – The Intra-Company Transfer Visa for USA

L1 Visa process does not require any investment according to the program guidelines. You can invest any amount in setting up your branch or subsidiary for your overseas business. However, you need to purchase the office space for the branch and perform staffing and business management operations.

L1 visa USA program does not directly lead to the immigrant visa (Green Card). However, you can avail yourself of the alternative option to switch your L1 visa to the EB1C employment-based immigrant visa. You can easily qualify for EB1C employment-based immigrant visa by running the business in the USA for a minimum of one year. Furthermore, there is no Labor Certification requirement as well.

The L-1A visas for managers or executives are initially valid for three years, which can be extended to 2-year increments up to a maximum of seven years. And, for L-1B visas for specialized knowledge workers is granted for three years which can be extended for two years to a maximum of five years under the USA Business Visa.

Unlike EB 5 green card, the applicant does not need to invest heftily in the business. They need to employ themselves in the USA branch or subsidiary of the overseas company. The applicants must possess a minimum of one year of experience in the last three years for the transferring business as a manager or executive, or specialized knowledge worker.