For many businesses, it makes more financial sense to transfer internal employees when a position opens up. Whether you are taking an employee with years of experience and promoting them to a new position or having that person move into a similar position in a new location, it can be much easier then training someone new.
It is also more cost-effective, as you will not have to spend weeks or months familiarizing somebody with your company’s standard practices.
For international companies, it often makes sense to move an employee who works at an international facility to a domestic one. If this is a move your company is considering making, you will probably need help filling out the L-1A visa if that person is an executive or manager or an L-1B visa if that person is an employee with specialized knowledge.
How to know if your company qualifies
Not all businesses have the right to obtain L-1A or L-1B visas. Your company must have a qualifying relationship with a foreign company. The kinds of relationships that qualify your company for these visas could include parent companies, branches, subsidiaries and affiliates. You must also either currently do business in the United States as an employer or intend to do business in the United States in the near future.
If your company meets these requirements, you may have the ability to seek an L-1A visa or an L-1B visa to transfer an existing employee to a location in the United States. Whether you are expanding your operation to new offices or need to transfer someone into a recently vacated position, these visas can help you move your existing talent into a domestic role in your company.
How to know if the employee in question qualifies for a visa
There are also requirements for the employee whom you hope to transfer to work in the United States. For example, they typically need to have worked for your company for at least one continuous year in the last three years. They will also need to have the skills to fill a management or executive role in the case of L-1A visas or have specialized knowledge for the L-1B visa.
They will also need to pass a comprehensive background check and be a citizen of a country that is not part of a travel ban. Both of these visas allow workers to stay for one year in the case of new offices or three years in the event of existing offices. It is possible to extend the stay in two-year increments for up to seven years for L1-A visas or five years for L-1B visas.
Ensuring eligibility and properly executing all documents are important concerns when seeking transfer visas for international workers. Your company would likely benefit from professional assistance with this complicated process.
