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Florida Business Immigration Lawyers Facilitating Transfers to the US
When you’re running a multinational business, experienced employees are one of your strongest assets. U.S. immigration law allows certain companies to temporarily transfer qualified executives, managers, and specialized knowledge staff to locations in the United States to help operations expand and thrive.
Brown Immigration Law’s Tampa L-1 visa attorneys work closely with employers in industries such as finance, logistics, business, and technology – sectors that play a major role in the Tampa economy. Whether you’re relocating leadership to your headquarters or bringing in specialized talent to launch a new branch, our team helps ensure your transfer process meets all legal requirements and stays on schedule.
What Is an L-1 Visa?
An L-1 visa allows certain companies to transfer an employee from a foreign office to a related U.S. office. These visas are available only to organizations that have a qualifying relationship – such as a parent, branch, affiliate, or subsidiary – between their U.S. and foreign entities.
There are two main categories of L-1 visas:
- L-1A visa: For executives and managers overseeing significant functions or directing other employees.
- L-1B visa: For employees with specialized knowledge about the company’s products, services, systems, or procedures.
Both categories can be valuable tools for companies expanding into new U.S. markets, including the Tampa area, where industries like defense, logistics, and technology often require skilled leadership and niche expertise from abroad.
Who Qualifies for an L-1 Visa?
To qualify for an L-1A visa in Tampa, an employee must serve in an executive or managerial capacity for a qualifying employer. This can include:
- Supervising and controlling the work of professional employees
- Managing the organization or a significant subdivision or department
- Overseeing an essential function of the business without direct supervision
- Making high-level decisions with minimal or no oversight
Employees applying for an L-1B visa must have specialized knowledge, meaning an advanced understanding of the company’s products, services, research, equipment, techniques, management structure, or processes and procedures. This knowledge should be unique enough that it would be difficult to find in the open labor market, and it must be critical to the company’s operations, especially in international markets.
For either category, the intracompany transferee must have worked for the sponsoring company, parent, subsidiary, or affiliate for at least one continuous year within the three years before filing the petition.
Setting Up a New U.S. Office With an L-1 Visa
An L-1 visa can also be issued for the purpose of establishing a new U.S. office. This option is available when a qualifying company seeks to send an executive, manager, or specialized knowledge employee to open or develop operations in the United States.
To qualify as a new office, the company must generally:
- Have been doing business in the U.S. for less than one year
- Maintain a physical location for the new office
- Demonstrate that the transferred employee’s role will be essential to launching or expanding operations
The initial L-1 visa for a new office is typically granted for one year, with the possibility of extensions if the company meets certain growth and operational benchmarks.
Avoiding Common Mistakes in New Office L-1 Applications
Many denials stem from issues that could have been avoided with careful preparation, such as:
- Submitting incomplete forms or missing required documentation
- Providing insufficient evidence of the company’s qualifying relationship or business activity
- Lacking a clear, documented plan for expansion and staffing in the U.S.
Because new office petitions are subject to heightened scrutiny, working with an experienced Tampa immigration attorney can help ensure your petition is complete, well-supported, and aligned with USCIS requirements.
What Happens After You Enter the U.S. on an L-1 Visa?
Once the worker enters the U.S., they can only work for the sponsoring employer. In other words, an L-1 visa holder does not have work authorization beyond their specific purpose for entering.
The start date of an L-1 visa is the date of entry into the U.S. rather than the date of issuance. Dependents can accompany the worker by obtaining L-2 visas. Spouses on L-2 visas have automatic work authorization and can seek and hold employment while in the U.S.
The L-1 visa is a dual intent visa, allowing the worker to seek a Green Card. Specifically, the worker can petition for adjustment of status to obtain an EB immigrant visa.
How Brown Immigration Law Helps With L-1 Visa Petitions in Tampa
Our attorneys help companies, entrepreneurs, and employees navigate every stage of the L-1 visa process. We prepare documentation, develop tailored strategies, and maintain communication with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to keep cases moving forward. We represent multinational corporations, mid-sized enterprises, and startups opening new U.S. locations.
When you work with a Tampa L-1 visa attorney from our team, services can include:
- Preparing initial petitions, renewals, and extensions
- Drafting and filing a blanket L petition for eligible organizations
- Responding to USCIS Requests for Evidence (RFEs)
- Assisting with change of status petitions for employees already in the U.S.
Blanket L Petitions for High-Volume Transfers
A blanket L petition can streamline the process for companies that transfer multiple employees each year. Once approved, the blanket petition confirms the organization’s eligibility to transfer executives, managers, and specialized knowledge staff. Individual employees can then apply for their visas directly at a U.S. consulate or port of entry without the need for a separate petition for each transfer.
L-1 Visa Denials and Requests for Evidence
USCIS may take one of three actions on a visa petition: approve it, deny it, or issue a Request for Evidence. The third option arises when USCIS needs additional information to process the application, such as:
- Proof of a qualifying relationship between the organization and the U.S. entity
- Evidence of the applicant’s role within the company
- Information about U.S. expansion plans
The USCIS pauses the intracompany transfer visa process until it receives the additional information or the deadline to respond expires. Our L-1 visa lawyers in Tampa can gather the information and prepare the response to keep the visa application on track.
Do You Have an L-1 Visa Attorney Near Me?
Our Tampa office is located at 400 N. Ashley Dr., Suite 1900, inside the Rivergate Tower, just steps from Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park and the Tampa Museum of Art. Paid parking is available in the adjacent Ashley Street Garage, and the Downtowner shuttle and several HART bus stops are within a block. We maintain additional offices in Orlando and in Durham, NC, Columbus, OH, and Cleveland, OH.
Contact an L-1 Visa Lawyer in Tampa Today
Brown Immigration Law solves immigration problems for employers, businesses, and workers throughout the country and internationally. Reach out to us to start the discussion by filling out our contact form.
