In This Issue - March 2010

INTRACOMPANY TRANSFEREE VISAS (L-1 VISAS)

ANDREA JACOBS RECEIVES PRO BONO ACKNOWLEDGMENT


INTRACOMPANY TRANSFEREE VISAS (L-1 VISAS)

One area of immigration law that has remained basically the same for the past 5 years is that of the intracompany transferee visa. This is visa that is limited to corporations that have a U.S. presence with an affiliated foreign entity. The corporate relationships can be either parent/subsidiary, affiliated entities, joint ventures, etc.. If the relationship has existed for more than one year, there are also permanent residency options available to the foreign national. This visa allows the foreign national to work for the U.S. entity for up to 7 years in the nonimmigrant, L visa category.

The basic requirements for the visa are as follows:

1. There must be a U.S. entity which has a corporate relationship to a foreign entity;

2. The transferee must have been employed either in an executive or specialized knowledge capacity for at least one of the past 3 years;

3. The transferee must be coming to the U.S. to work in a similar capacity for the U.S. entity;

4. If the transferee is coming to work in a managerial or executive capacity, they must be managing other supervisors or a function of the business.

The advantages of the visa are as follows:

1. There is no minimum investment for the corporate set up in the U.S. as with an investor visa.

2. If the job is executive or managerial in nature, residency is fairly simple to obtain as no labor certification is necessary.

3. If a spouse is accompanying the employee, they are eligible for an employment authorization document to work in the U.S..

4. The INS can premium process this petition within 15 days.

If you are interested in obtaining more information with regard to the L-1 visa, please contact us at info@arjlaw.com



Andrea Jacobs Receives Pro Bono Acknowledgment from Florida Supreme Court