EB 1-1 Visa
Visas for Managers and Executives
The EB 1-1 Visa is perhaps the most advantageous of any immigrant visa that the United States has to offer. Also known as the EB 1-A or Extraordinary Abilities Visa, the EB 1-1 visa is available to any immigrant who can persuasively demonstrate being at the top of his or her field of endeavor and having “extraordinary abilities.” Qualifying immigrants are offered many unique immigration benefits, including the ability to self-petition (without an employment offer), and bypass the burdensome labor certification or PERM process.
Career Diversity
The EB 1-1 visa is available to individuals engaged in a wide variety of professions or careers. The statute specifically provides that the extraordinary abilities visa is available to those in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. Whether you are a master of the culinary arts or an accomplished social scientist, the extraordinary abilities visa is probably available in your field of expertise
For certain overseas or multinational companies, it may be advantageous to have managers or executives work in the United States on either a temporary or a permanent basis. An EB-1C visa is needed for managers and executives who are seeking permanent residence. Those seeking to work for a limited period of time should apply for L-1A status.
Employment-Based Petition
In general, EB-1 is an employment-based petition for permanent residence reserved for those who are among the most able and accomplished in their respective fields within the arts, sciences, education, business, or sports. The specific employment-based immigrant preference category (EB-1C) was created for managers and executives who meet L-1A non-immigrant standards and are interested in becoming lawful permanent residents.
Although L-1A status is not a prerequisite for an EB-1C visa, an immigrant petitioner will have a stronger case for the EB-1C immigrant category if they are currently in L-1A status. The EB-1C visa is a good way for small or start-up overseas companies to expand their business and services to the United States. It is an advantage to smaller companies because it allows for the transfer of highly proficient managers or executive employees who have direct knowledge of the company’s operations, allowing the startup of a new branch that will be in line with the goals and objectives of the company’s main office.
L1-A Temporary Non-Immigrant Visa
L1-A is a temporary non-immigrant visa that is offered to those inter-company executive or managerial transferees that will be coming to the United States on a temporary basis. Therefore, the major difference between L-1A and EB-1C is the permanent nature of the EB-1C visa.
Relocating Foreign-Qualified Employees
The L-1 visa allows companies to relocate foreign qualified employees to its U.S. subsidiary or parent company. The qualified employee must have worked for a subsidiary, parent, affiliate, or branch office of the company for at least one year out of the last three years. The U.S. company must be a parent company, child company, or sister company to the foreign company. The L1 visa may also include non-profit, religious, or charitable organizations.
Primary qualifications for EB-1C or L-1A are as follows:
To qualify as a manager, the immigrant applicant must direct other managers or supervisory-level personnel. A manager directs a company, a department, or a subdivision with the authority to control, direct, hire, and fire other employees. They have discretion over day-to-day operations. Alternatively, they may supervise persons with specialized degrees at the bachelor’s level being required for their jobs. Additionally, managers who manage a function are not required to supervise layers of people.
People within the organization, who manage an essential function like labor relations or finance, qualify as managers. Specifically excluded are first-line supervisors, whose primary responsibility is for production of goods or provision of services. To qualify as an executive, an applicant does not necessarily have to manage a large number, or tiers of employees, but job functions should have included direction of the management of the entire organization or one of its major components. Additionally, the applicant must have had broad discretion in decision making and have been subject to only general supervision by superiors. Employees directly involved in the production of goods or services are not eligible.