Applying for the L-1: petition, consulate and interview, step by step

With the L-1, you don't apply alone. First your employer files the petition with USCIS, then you apply for the visa at the consulate, and at the border CBP decides on your entry. Know the order, and you won't lose months.

If you know the E-2, you'd expect the same process with the L-1: gather your documents, book a consulate appointment, done. The L-1 works differently. Here your employer first asks the immigration agency USCIS to classify you as an intracompany transferee. Only with that approval do you go to the consulate, and only with the visa do you go to the border. Three agencies, three reviews, and an order you can't shortcut.

This article from our guide to the L-1 visa walks you through every stage: who files the petition, what goes into it and what it costs, how the consulate reviews it, what matters in the interview and what happens when you enter. Whether you meet the requirements in the first place is covered in the article on L-1 requirements.

1Who applies for what with the L-1

The party filing the petition is called the petitioner. That's not the employee but the company. Under the Instructions for Form I-129, the petition may be filed by the US company or by the foreign employer, which must then have a legally existing entity in the USA. For business owners from Europe, this means in practice: your US subsidiary files the petition for you, even if you are the managing director of the parent company yourself.

You are the beneficiary. Your role begins after approval, when you apply for the visa. Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 apply for their L-2 together with you; what they may do in the USA is covered in the article on the L-2 visa. The table shows who acts at each stage.

2Before the petition is written

Two dates set the timeline. The first is your year abroad. You need one continuous year of full-time employment with an affiliated company outside the USA within the three years before the petition. Under the Foreign Affairs Manual, that year is measured on the day the first petition is received. If your employer files a week too early, you're a week short, and the petition can't be approved.

The second date is your planned start date in the USA. Under the Instructions, a petition on Form I-129 can generally be filed no more than six months before that day. If you want to start in September, you file in March at the earliest. Together this gives you a window: no earlier than six months before your start, and not before your year abroad is complete.

Whether it's the L-1A for managers and executives or the L-1B for specialists determines what goes into the file. If the US company still has to be formed, the additional rules for a new office apply, and the company and the visa belong in one joint plan.

3The petition: Form I-129 and the evidence

The petition consists of Form I-129 with the L Classification Supplement and the supporting evidence. 8 CFR 214.2(l)(3) lists four required items of evidence for every individual petition:

• that the two companies have one of the qualifying relationships: parent and subsidiary, sister companies or branch office;
• that your US position is managerial, executive or involves specialized knowledge, with a detailed description of the duties;
• that you have worked full-time abroad for at least one continuous year within the three years before filing;
• that this work was itself managerial, executive or involved specialized knowledge and qualifies you for the new role. You don't have to do the same job in the USA as at home.

As examples of evidence for the relationship between the companies, the Instructions list annual financial statements, articles of association, financial reports and proof of ownership; for the year abroad, a letter from the foreign employer with dates, duties and qualifications. If you own the company or are its principal shareholder, the regulation also requires evidence that your US assignment is temporary and that you will be transferred abroad afterward. The petition must also state whether a petition has ever been filed for you before.

3.1Where to file and what it costs

You file with the USCIS Service Center responsible for the place of your future employment. The employer pays the fees; the table gives an overview. Most small and mid-sized businesses from Europe pay the base fee, the Asylum Program Fee and, on a first petition, the Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee. The additional $4,500 fee only applies to employers whose US workforce is more than half H-1B and L employees. The details, including for your family, are in the article on L-1 costs.

4USCIS decides

The law sets USCIS a target of 30 days for L petitions from receipt of a complete petition. With Premium Processing, the agency commits to act within 15 business days: approve, deny or ask questions. What slows processing down in practice and how to plan backward is covered in the article on processing time.

If USCIS is missing evidence, you get a Request for Evidence. In most cases your response decides the outcome; how to build it and which deadlines apply is explained in the article L-1 denied or RFE. If USCIS approves, your employer receives Form I-797 with your name, the category and the validity period. An individual petition is valid for the period you're needed, up to three years. For a new office, it's valid for up to one year.

5At the consulate: what the consular officer checks

With the approval in hand, you apply for the visa. The US embassies in Vienna and Bern ask applicants to book their appointment in the country where they live or whose citizenship they hold. Beforehand, you complete the online form DS-160; how to do that is covered in the article Completing the DS-160. The visa application fee for L visas is $205 per person, including each family member on an L-2.

For the consular officer, the approved petition is strong evidence that the requirements are met. But the Foreign Affairs Manual says explicitly that the approval does not relieve you of the burden of proving your eligibility. The officer is meant to confirm in the interview that the information in the petition is correct, and may only issue the visa once the approval shows up in the State Department's system.

One hurdle you may know from other visas disappears: the presumption of immigrant intent under INA 214(b) does not apply to the L-1. You don't have to prove you plan to return home, and you can say openly that you're thinking about a green card. More on that in the article From L-1 to green card.

6The interview

The consulate interview is the first point in the whole process where a US government official meets you in person. USCIS has only corresponded with your employer. So the interview centers on the content of the petition: your work abroad, your future role in the USA, the relationship between the companies. If you don't know your own petition, you come across as unsure, even when everything is in order.

• Read the full petition again before your appointment, especially the job description and the org chart.
• Bring your passport, DS-160 confirmation, appointment confirmation, payment receipt and a copy of the I-797, plus a copy of the petition.
• Know your US company's numbers: employees, revenue or budget, premises.
• Keep your answers short and specific. The consular officer is there to verify, not to negotiate.

If the consular officer doubts that you meet the requirements, they refuse under INA 221(g) and send the petition back to USCIS for review. How the interview works and which questions come up most often is covered in our article on the visa interview. Whether you can skip the interview when renewing an L visa is explained under Renewing a visa without an interview.

7Visa, entry and your first days

The consulate can issue the L visa up to 90 days before the start date shown on the I-797. How long the visa is valid depends on the reciprocity agreement with your country and can be longer than the petition. The visa shows your employer's name, the petition number and its expiration date, plus a note that you must present the I-797 at the border.

When you enter, CBP admits you for the validity of the petition, plus up to ten days before and ten days after. You may only work within the validity period, and only for the employer that filed the petition. The date you may stay until is on your electronic I-94, not on the visa. Check it after every entry.

Keep your I-797 safe. Under 8 CFR 214.2(l)(13) you need it every time you re-enter during the petition's validity to return to the same job with the same employer, and to apply for an extension. If your visa expires before the petition ends, you apply for a new visa with the original I-797, and your employer doesn't need to file a new petition. If your role changes significantly, say from specialist to manager, or the relationship between the companies changes, you need an amended petition, with a fee.

The first few weeks are about the practical steps: Social Security number, payroll through the US company, bank account, driver's license. If you're paid through the US subsidiary, it needs working payroll in place before your first paycheck.

8Special routes: Blanket L and change of status in the USA

8.1Blanket L

If your group has an approved blanket petition, no individual petition is needed. Your employer completes Form I-129S and sends it to you with a copy of the blanket approval. You take these straight to the consulate, within six months of the date on the I-129S. The consular officer then decides on your classification. At the consulate you pay the $500 fraud prevention fee on top of the visa fee. Who qualifies is explained in our article on the Blanket L.

8.2Change of status in the USA

If you're already in the USA in another status, your employer can request a change of status in the petition instead of visa processing abroad. Your family's applications on Form I-539 that are filed together with your petition are decided by USCIS along with it; premium processing isn't available for these family applications. When a change inside the US makes sense and when the consulate route is better is explained in our article on Change of Status.

In short

• The L-1 comes together in three stages: the employer's petition with USCIS, the visa at the consulate, and entry through CBP.
• The petition can be filed no earlier than six months before the start date. Your full year abroad must be complete on the day of filing.
• The employer pays the petition fees. At the consulate, the visa application costs $205 per person.
• INA 214(b) does not apply to the L-1. The consular officer still checks that the information in the petition is accurate.
• You enter with your visa and the I-797 approval, for the validity of the petition plus up to ten days before and after.

How we help you

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