Within the L-1 US business visa types, there are sub-categories targeted towards specific purposes:

• General: If a manager/executive is being transferred to the existing U.S. affiliate office of the company they work for.
• New Offices: If a manager/executive is being sent to the USA to establish a new U.S. affiliate office of the company they work for.
• Blanket Petitions: If multiple employees of a foreign company are being transferred to the U.S. affiliate office of that company.

The L-1A US business visa application is filed by the U.S. employer, not by the visa beneficiary.

General and New Offices

Stage 1: The employer must submit the Form I-129 (Petition for Non-immigrant Worker) and application fee on behalf of the employee.

Stage 2: USCIS will process the application and send a notice of receipt of the petition, as well as a notification of the employee’s biometric appointment date.

Stage 3: Finally, USCIS will issue a decision on the visa outcome.

Blanket Petitions

• Employers who intend to transfer multiple employees to a U.S. affiliate office can file a blanket L petition to establish the intra-company relationship.
• Approval of the petition does not guarantee that the employ will receive an L-1A visa. However, approval allows the employer to transfer qualified employees to USA swiftly on short notice without filing individual petitions for each employee.

Both the employer and the employee must fulfill certain L-1A US business visa requirements.

General

The U.S. employer should be:

• A qualifying organization i.e. an affiliate, branch, parent company or subsidiary of the foreign company.
• Doing business (currently or in the future) in USA and at least one other country – either directly or via a qualifying organization – throughout the employee’s stay in USA as an L-1A visa holder.
• Engaged in a viable business, which need not necessarily be international trade.

Note: ‘Doing business’ implies continuous, systematic and regular supply of services and/or goods by the qualifying organization – not including merely the presence of an agent/office of the qualifying organization in USA and overseas.

The employee must:

• Have at least one year of continuous work experience with a qualifying organization within the three years preceding entry to USA.
• Intend to enter USA for providing services for a U.S. branch or other qualifying organization of the same employer – in a managerial capacity (ability to control and supervise the work of other employees and manage an organizational component, subdivision, department, function or the entire organization OR ability to manage one of the organization’s essential functions without being under direct supervision) or an executive capacity (ability to take decisions of broad impact without too much supervision).

New Offices

• The employer must have secured adequate physical premises for the new office in USA.
• The employee should have at least one year of continuous work experience with a qualifying organization, within the three years preceding entry to USA.
• Within one year of the application being approved, the U.S. office should support a managerial or executive position.

Blanket Petitions

• The petitioner and the qualifying organization(s) should be engaged in commercial trade/services,
• The petitioner must have an office in USA that should have been doing business for at least one year.
• The petitioner should have at least three domestic and overseas affiliates, branches and subsidiaries.
• The petitioner, along with the qualifying organization(s), should meet any one of the following conditions:
• Have secured 10 or more L-1 approvals within the preceding 12 months
• Have affiliates or subsidiaries in USA that register combined annual sales of $25 million or more
• Employ 1,000 or more workers in USA

Along with the petition, the employer must submit some fairly basic documents to prove that they meet the business visa USA requirements:

• L Classification Supplement of Form I-129.
• If applicable, proof that the visa beneficiary (intended employee) has maintained lawful status.
• Proof of an ownership-control relationship between the foreign office and the U.S. employer.
• Job description detailing work duties and qualifications.
• Proof that the proposed employment of the beneficiary will be in a managerial/executive capacity.
• Proof that the beneficiary’s one year of work experience in the foreign country was in a managerial/executive capacity.

New Office petitioners must provide additional evidence of:

• Job description detailing work duties and qualifications.
• Renting, purchasing, leasing, or acquiring physical premises suitable for the nature of work.
• Visa beneficiary’s one year of continuous employment in a managerial/executive capacity, within the three years preceding submission of the petition.
• The beneficiary’s employment involving managerial/executive authority on the new business operation.
• The U.S. office will support a managerial/executive position within one year of the application being approved.

As of May 2020, the minimum processing time for a Form I-129 was two to four months. This duration changes depending on the volume of applications and immigration policies. The petitioner can also opt for premium processing by submitting Form I-907 along with the petition. This will reduce the US business visa processing time to 15 calendar days.

The US business visa cost for the L-1A classification essentially includes the filing fee for Form I-129 ($460) and the biometrics fee ($85).