L-1A visa: USCIS cares about your working day, not your title

The L-1A is the visa for executives and managers whom a company abroad sends to its US entity: the managing director building the subsidiary in Texas, the head of sales taking over the American business, the owner of a mid-sized company opening the first US location in person. It is the faster and simpler of the business visas, and it lets you pursue a green card from day one. The question almost everything hinges on is not the one most people expect. It is not how important you are, but what you actually do all day. This guide shows how USCIS examines that.

1Who counts as a manager or executive

The law recognizes two roles, and both are precisely defined. An executive directs the organization or a major component of it, sets its goals and policies, exercises wide discretion, and receives only general supervision from higher executives, the board of directors or the shareholders. A manager manages the organization, a department or a component, supervises other managers, professionals or supervisors or manages an essential function, has authority over personnel, and makes decisions on the day-to-day operations of their area (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(44); 8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii)(B) and (C)).

Within the manager category, USCIS distinguishes two types. The personnel manager manages people. They must be able to hire and fire, or at least effectively recommend such actions, and the people they manage must themselves be professionals, managers or supervisors. Someone who merely schedules and oversees a team without professional training is a first-line supervisor under the law, not a manager, even if the company calls them a manager.

The function manager manages few or no people, but a function instead: say, a group's North American purchasing, a product's regulatory approval, or treasury. Instead of personnel authority, the law requires that they work at a senior level within the hierarchy or the function. If you rely on this, you must clearly identify the function and show what share of your working day goes into managing it, and that you manage it rather than performing its tasks yourself (9 FAM 402.12-12(B)).

2The title doesn't count, the duties do

The key word is in the statute: a manager or executive must primarily perform managerial duties. So USCIS looks first at your job description and checks whether most of it is management rather than work on the product, the work of another role, or hands-on operational tasks (USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part L, Chapter 3). If you mostly sell, code, assemble or consult yourself, you are not a manager for L-1A purposes, whatever your employment contract says. Pitching in now and then, on the other hand, is fine.

To decide, the agency weighs all the circumstances: the nature and scope of the business, the organizational structure, the number of employees and your position within it, the extent of your authority and, above all, who does the operational and administrative work if not you. That is why an organizational chart with names, positions, qualifications and salaries is the central piece of evidence in almost every L-1A case.

2.1How many employees do you need?

There is no fixed number. The law even expressly prohibits judging someone solely by the number of employees they supervise. If USCIS does consider staffing levels, it must take into account the reasonable needs of the organization in light of its purpose and stage of development (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(44)(C)). Even a company's sole employee can qualify as a manager or executive if their main job is to plan, organize and direct the company's essential functions through other people (9 FAM 402.12-12(B)). Proving that is not easy.

2.2What if you own the company?

You may own all or part of the company abroad or the US entity. But a title such as Director or President without real managerial duties is not enough (USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part L, Chapter 3). If you are the owner or a major shareholder, USCIS also requires evidence that your US assignment is temporary and that you will take up a role abroad afterwards (8 CFR 214.2(l)(3)(vii)). That does not conflict with a later green card; the L-1 allows dual intent. It is a matter of documentation.

3The year abroad

For the L-1A, you must have worked full time for at least one continuous year within the three years before the petition for the company abroad that the US entity is related to (8 CFR 214.2(l)(3)(iii)). That work abroad must have been managerial or executive or have required specialized knowledge, and your education and experience must qualify you for the role in the US. You don't have to do the same job in the US as at home (8 CFR 214.2(l)(3)(iv)). So someone moving from a specialist role at the European plant to managing director of the US subsidiary can get the L-1A. This does not apply to a new office: there, the year abroad must itself have been spent as a manager or executive.

Three details often decide the case. Part-time work doesn't count; several years of part-time work do not add up to a full-time year. Full-time work split across several related companies abroad, however, does count. And time in the US does not break the year, but it doesn't count toward it either: business trips to the US subsidiary do no harm, they just stretch the road to twelve months (9 FAM 402.12-11). If you have already worked for the company in the US, for example on an H-1B or E-2, the three-year window reaches back further by that time.

All employer and employee requirements at a glance are in our guide to the L-1 requirements.

4Parent, subsidiary, affiliate: the qualifying relationship

An L-1A is only available within a corporate group. The company abroad and the US entity must be related as parent and subsidiary, as affiliates, or as a branch. Subsidiary means the parent owns more than half and controls it, owns exactly half and controls it, owns 50 percent of a joint venture with equal control and veto power, or actually controls it despite owning less than half. Affiliates are owned by the same parent or by the same individual or group of individuals in roughly equal shares (8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii)(K) and (L)). For owners, this means: if you own and control both your company at home and the US corporation, they are related, even if your home company holds no stake in the US entity.

Both sides must actually be doing business throughout your stay, meaning they regularly and continuously provide goods or services. An office or an agent alone is not enough. International trade between the two, on the other hand, is not required (8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii)(G) and (H)). Which legal form best supports this on the US side is covered on our page about the US corporation. How the L-1 differs from the investor visa is shown in our comparison L-1 vs. E-2: the key differences.

5L-1A for a new US subsidiary

The L-1A does not require an existing US entity. A company abroad can send an executive or manager to set up the US operation in the first place. In that case USCIS requires three things. Premises for the business have been secured. You worked for one continuous year within the three-year period as a manager or executive, and you will be put in charge of the new business. And the US entity will support a managerial or executive position within one year of approval. This is shown through the planned scope, organizational structure and financial goals, the size of the US investment, the ability of the company abroad to pay you and commence doing business, and its own organizational structure (8 CFR 214.2(l)(3)(v)).

The State Department says it openly: a manager in a new office will initially be more involved in day-to-day operations. But they must have the authority and the plan to hire staff, and wide latitude to decide on goals and direction (9 FAM 402.12-9(B)). The first approval is valid for one year at most. After that, the subsidiary must show the plan has worked. How to prepare for that year is covered in our guide to the new office.

6Duration: three years, then two at a time, seven at most

The first approval is valid for up to three years, or up to one year for a new office. After that, your employer extends it in increments of up to two years, up to a maximum of seven years (USCIS, L-1A Intracompany Transferee Executive or Manager). Days spent in the US in L and H status count toward the seven years; time abroad extends your balance. How extensions work, which days count and what applies after seven years is covered in our guide to L-1 validity. What the petition, consulate and premium processing cost is set out under L-1 costs.

Your family comes with you on the L-2. Your spouse may work in the US without applying for a separate work permit.

7What the numbers say

There are plenty of horror stories about the L-1A. The USCIS statistics paint a more sober picture: in fiscal year 2025, the agency approved 91.8 percent of the L-1A petitions it decided, and from October 2025 to June 2026 the figure was 91.2 percent. These numbers include initial petitions and extensions together.

The second number matters more. Roughly a quarter of cases received a Request for Evidence. That is where an L-1A is decided in practice, and almost always on the same question: is the work really primarily managerial? If you build the job description, the org chart and the supporting evidence coherently from the start, you give the agency little reason to ask. What a Request for Evidence typically contains and how to respond is explained in the guide L-1 denied or RFE.

8From L-1A to green card

The L-1A is a temporary visa, but not one that forces you to go home. Because the law does not treat L applicants as immigrants in disguise, you can openly pursue a green card without putting your L-1 at risk (8 U.S.C. 1184(b); 8 CFR 214.2(l)(16)).

Executives have their own category for this: the EB-1C for multinational managers and executives. It uses the same definitions of manager and executive as the L-1A and requires, among other things, that in the three years before you entered as a nonimmigrant you worked at least one year in a managerial or executive role for the company abroad, and that the US employer has been doing business for at least one year (8 CFR 204.5(j)). No Labor Certification is needed; the US employer submits a job offer describing the managerial duties. With Premium Processing, USCIS must act on an EB-1C petition within 45 business days (USCIS, How Do I Request Premium Processing).

Because the requirements are so closely related, a well-run L-1A is the best preparation. The details are in the guide From L-1A to EB-1C green card and in the overview From L-1 to green card. If your role is specialized rather than managerial, your route is the L-1B. For the full picture, see the L-1 guide.

In short

• The L-1A brings executives and managers from a company abroad to its affiliated US company, including one that is still being set up.
• What counts is what you primarily do: lead others, set goals, make decisions. Your title, owning the company and headcount alone do not decide it.
• You need one continuous year of full-time work for the company abroad within the three years before the petition; for a new office, in a managerial or executive role.
• The first approval is valid for up to three years, or one year for a new office; seven years in total are possible.
• Around 91 percent of decided L-1A petitions are approved. Through the EB-1C, the L-1A leads to a green card.

How we help you

• Visa RoadmapIn writing: which visa fits you and your family, prepared with the immigration attorney on the firm's team.
• Visa Roadmap for Company FormationFormation and visa in one plan, so the company carries the visa.
• Form a CorporationThe US corporation (Inc) for growth, investors and your visa.
• Tax structureA clean structure between parent company and US subsidiary, or between you and your US company, coordinated with your accountant.
• Visa and Green Card ConsultationWhich route to the USA fits you, settled in one conversation.