- USCIS approved a two-year L-1A Executive extension for an Indonesian national, owner of a web-based last mile delivery service company.
- L-1A classification requires a qualifying corporate relationship and prior managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge employment abroad for at least one continuous year.
- Executive cases face heightened scrutiny, especially for small or owner-operated companies, to prove true executive duties rather than day-to-day operations.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has approved an L-1A Executive petition filed on behalf of a Scott Legal, P.C. client. The applicant, an Indonesian national, was granted a two-year extension of stay.
As an Executive and owner of the business, the applicant will continue running his web-based last mile delivery service company.
The L-1A visa is the intracompany transferee category for managers and executives. It allows a U.S. company to bring in a qualifying employee from a related office abroad, provided the two entities share a qualifying corporate relationship and the employee worked in a managerial, executive or specialized knowledge role abroad for at least one continuous year out of the previous three.
Time in the category is finite. A regular L-1A petition is normally approved for three years, and extensions are granted in increments of up to two years, to a maximum of seven years in L-1A status.
Executive cases carry their own burden. USCIS looks past the job title and asks whether the applicant meets the L-1A executive requirements: directing the management of the organization, setting its goals and policies, and exercising wide discretion under only general supervision. Where the applicant also owns the company, that analysis gets harder, because the petition has to show an organization with enough structure that the executive is not the person handling day-to-day operations.
Company size matters too. Smaller companies tend to draw closer scrutiny, and the petition has to explain clearly how the business works and who performs which functions.
Every L-1A extension turns on the facts of the specific company and the specific role. If you are an executive or a business owner weighing an extension or a first L-1A petition, schedule a consultation with our team.
