What are the requirements for applying for a US L/KLOC-0 visa?

L 1A is a work visa for executives or managers of multinational companies. With the extension of EB5 investment immigration processing time and the emergence of timetable, more and more mainland investors turn to consider ways other than EB5 to work in the United States. Let's take a look at the requirements for applying for a US L/KLOC-0 visa.

"Four Essentials" of L 1A Application

1) must have a qualified transnational affiliated company relationship.

This is what the above-mentioned companies want to "transnational". The application of L 1A is not only a matter for American companies. Although the author of the application is an American company, an overseas company must be involved in the L 1A application, and there must be a qualified affiliated company relationship between the overseas company and the American company.

Here are two key words: "association" and "company", and they are often asked what kind of American companies meet the requirements of L1A. Many customers are worried that the LLC form of their company does not meet the requirements of L1A. There is no need to worry about this. L 1A has relatively loose formal requirements for American enterprises, allowing companies in the form of INC, companies in the form of LLC, and even partnerships, trusts and funds. LLC enterprises should not only meet the requirements of L 1A, but also meet the requirements of EB1C. Regarding the requirement of "connection", if the applicant's company has a complex corporate structure design, lawyer Meng Xiaojie suggests consulting an experienced immigration lawyer on the specific situation. The "affiliated company" under the definition of L 1A basically includes: parent-subsidiary relationship and sister company relationship. Sister companies include companies controlled by the same parent company, companies controlled by the same person, or companies controlled by a group of individuals in a similar proportion.

2) One year full-time overseas executive experience.

After finding a qualified overseas company, L 1A applicants should also pay attention to the fact that you must have at least one year's experience as an executive of the overseas company within three years before submitting the application. This year's overseas executive experience must be solid. First of all, it must be a full-time executive experience. This year's time does not include the applicant's time in the United States. This year's overseas experience must meet the requirements of "executives". If the applicant has not held a management position before, but has been promoted in the last year, it may not meet this requirement. Or if the overseas company itself is small, it will be a challenge to prove the overseas executive experience.

3) Go to the United States to be an executive.

Since it is a multinational executive transfer, the applicant needs to be an executive not only overseas, but also after entering the United States. For the newly established L 1 American company, this is mainly proved by the company's business plan. For L 1 American companies that have been operating for more than1year, experienced immigration lawyers need to carefully examine the company's operation and personnel structure to judge, and there is no universally applicable standard.

4) American companies should have business premises.

The application of L 1A is not only applicable to American companies that are already operating, but also to newly established American companies. However, for a newly established American company, if you want to submit an application for L 1A for the applicant, you must have a business place when submitting the application. Having business premises does not mean that American companies intend to rent office space, but must have rented or purchased suitable office space. An applicant asked, what should I do if L 1A is not approved? Lawyer Meng Xiaojie reminded L 1A applicants that when signing an office commercial contract, they could consider negotiating with the landlord and adding corresponding clauses to explain how to terminate the contract in advance if the applicant fails to obtain L 1A's approval.

"Four Don 'ts" in L 1A Application

Well, after talking about what L 1A needs, lawyer Meng Xiaojie wants to clarify that many applicants think that L 1A may need something, but they don't need it.

1) The applicant is not required to be the legal representative of an overseas company or a shareholder of any company.

Under the corporate legal system of the United States, there is no concept of "legal representative" and it will not be marked on the business license. As mentioned above, the applicant of L 1A is a senior executive of an overseas company and will hold a senior executive position in an American company, thus meeting the job requirements of L1A.

Similarly, L 1A focuses on "executives" rather than shareholders. The applicant of L 1A does not need to be a shareholder of an overseas company or an American company. Applicants who meet the requirements of L 1A may not hold any shares in the company at all, as long as they meet the requirements of senior management. Applicants who are shareholders of the company do not meet the requirements of L 1A if they cannot prove that they are also senior managers, that is, they hold administrative posts. Of course, if the applicant of L 1A is both a shareholder and an executive, this is also possible.

2) No minimum investment is required.

American companies applying for L 1A have no minimum investment limit. If it is a new L 1, the amount of capital injection depends on the industry. The Immigration Bureau mainly examines whether the initial capital and profit forecast can reasonably support the company's first year of operation. Lawyer Meng Xiaojie suggested that the applicant communicate with an experienced immigration lawyer on this issue.

3) American companies are not required to have the same business areas as overseas companies.

American companies applying for L 1A do not necessarily have to engage in the same business as overseas affiliates. However, Meng Xiaojie saw in practice that many businesses of L 1A American companies are still related to those of overseas companies, especially in the initial stage. This is not a legal requirement, but for many companies applying for L 1A, it is a reasonable business operation method to start from their familiar fields. If the newly established American company applying for L 1A is engaged in a completely different business field from the overseas affiliated company, it will be an important aspect of the application to explain the feasibility and sustainability of this business in the business plan.

4) Applicants do not need to be fluent in English.

L 1 It is naturally good for applicants to be fluent in English, but even if they don't understand English, it is ok as long as the staffing is reasonable, that is to say, an interpreter can be available when necessary. L 1A executives focus on management, and language is not an obstacle.

L 1A and EB 1C, because of the abstractness of some standards, will be mistaken for low cost and easy if they only make sense by looking at the words, but there are actually many implicit requirements. In addition, the conditions for L 1A to set up a new company are relatively relaxed, with the focus on the scheme. However, the extension of L 1A has made a substantial investigation on American companies, and further application for green card through EB 1C also needs the successful operation of American companies. These requirements will be reflected in the past rulings of the Immigration Bureau and form case law. Therefore, I would like to remind all L 1A applicants that in the process of finding immigration lawyers, finding lawyers who have an accurate understanding of the law and are familiar with immigration cases will be able to help applicants more pertinently.