Non-Immigrant Visas

Intracompany Transferee Visas

The Immigration and Nationality Act provides several categories of nonimmigrant visas for a person who wishes to work temporarily in the United States. The L nonimmigrant classification was created to permit international companies to temporarily transfer qualified employees to the United States for the purpose of improving management effectiveness, expanding U.S. exports, and enhancing competitiveness in markets abroad.

What Are the Requirements For Getting an "L" Visa?

The Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services has the primary responsibility for evaluating an L visa petition and determining if an individual is qualified. Petitions must be filed by the prospective employer in the U.S. When a petition is approved, the applicant will receive an I-797 Notice of Action form.

For a number of multinational companies, DHS has approved what are known as “Blanket L” petitions, which grant those companies the right to transfer qualified non-American staff to the United States for temporary periods without submitting a separate petition for each employee.

The requirements for L visa applicants include:

1. The Visa applicant must be moving to a U.S. parent, branch, affiliate or subsidiary of the company they are employed with overseas at the time of their visa application;
   
2. The visa applicant must be a manager, executive, or person having specialized knowledge who will be going into to a managerial or executive position or a position requiring specialized knowledge in the United States;
   
3. The petitioner and beneficiary have a employer-employee relationship, defined as the right of the employer to order and control the employee in the performance of his or her work;
   
4. The petitioner will continue to do business in the United States and at least one other country;
   
5. The visa applicant must, within the three years preceding the time of his or her application for admission into the United States, have been employed abroad continuously for one year (six months for blanket L petitioners) by a parent, branch, affiliate, or subsidiary of the same firm, corporation, or other legal entity s/he is intending to work for in the United States.

At a visa interview, all L visa applicants must establish that they do in fact possess the skills and experience required for the job they are planning to join in the United States.

What Documents Should I Submit?

In addition to the Standard Non-Immigrant Visa Application Documents you will need the following:

Applicants who are beneficiaries of individual L petitions (not blanket petitions) will need to present their ORIGINAL Notice of Action (Form I-797) from the Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Applicants who are beneficiaries of Blanket L petitions (not individual petitions) will need to present a copy of the company’s Blanket L Notice of Action (Form I-797), and three copies of Form I-129S, Nonimmigrant Petition Based on Blanket L Petition.

Most applicants also supply a packet of information from their employer describing the position, the sponsoring company, the employee’s qualifications, the salary to be paid and the prevailing wage for similar positions in that region.

Issuance Fees For L Intracompany Transferee Visas

L-1 Blanket Petition Fraud Prevention And Detection Fee (US$500)

From March 8th, 2005, a US$500 surcharge will be levied for all applicants for L-1 visas who are applying under a blanket petition. This is a new fraud prevention and detection fee provided for in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005, and is in addition to any issuance fees listed above. This fee does not apply to the spouse/children of the applicant.

This fee may be paid at the Embassy at the time of visa approval (cash only, US or Singapore dollars), or through the travel agency which has submitted the visa application.

Issuance fees for L-1 and L-2 visas can be quite hefty for some nationalities. In most cases, the applicant’s company pays the fees directly.  Refer to the following table for some nearby countries as well as some countries farther away that we encounter frequently (all figures are in US$, but the Embassy will accept Singapore dollars at that day’s prevailing exchange rate):

 

Country	L-1 Fee	L-2 Fee
Australia	$105	$105
Canada	None	None
China	$120	$120
Indonesia	None	None
Malaysia	$9	$9
New Zealand	None	None
Philippines	None	None
Sri Lanka	$95	$95
United Kingdom	None	$105

For other nationalities and additional details, see here.  Please note that the issuance fee, as well as the maximum validity (or expiration date) of the visa, is determined by "reciprocity" – or what another country gives to U.S. citizens for the same type of visa.

My Family Member Plans to Accompany or Join Me While I Am Working in the United States.  Is He or She Eligible and What Visa Does He or She Need?

Only spouses and children of L visa holders are eligible for derivative (L2) visas. Parents and other family members are NOT eligible for L2 visas. They may visit a worker for a temporary period of time if they apply for and receive a tourist visa.

Spouses and children, whether accompanying or following to join the principal applicant, should submit a visa application and recent photograph for each person. Spouses and children must present a copy of their marriage certificate or birth certificate, respectively. Dependents joining an L-1 holder already in the United States must produce the principal applicant’s Form I-797 or an I-797 of their own.

PLEASE NOTE: Spouses and children of L visa applicants who are not Singaporean are strongly encouraged to apply for their visas at the same time as the principal applicant, regardless of whether they have firm plans to travel to the United States. If the L visa holder is not present for the application of their non-Singaporean spouse and children, the applicants may be asked to apply in their home country, where their marriage and birth documents can be properly verified.

If you plan for a parent (or any other relative besides your spouse and dependent children) to stay with you on a long-term basis while you are working in the United States, please be advised that there is no special visa available for this purpose. Your parent cannot qualfiy for an L-2 visa even if he or she is your dependent. He or she can apply for a B-2 Tourist visa to accompany you and can be granted a stay of up to one year with the possibility of extensions afterward; however, this is by no means guaranteed. Our experience has been that problems with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service tend to ensue once the period of stay exceeds one year. While a USCIS officer will most likely have no personal issue with your taking care of an older family member, the reality is that U.S. immigration law is not currently set up to accomodate this situation.

Where Can I Get More Information?

For information about non-immigrant visas, please see the non-immigrant visa section of the U.S. Department of State’s Consular affairs website. If you have a specific question about your case, please e-mail the Singapore consular section.