L-1 Visa
What is an L-1 visa?
The L-1 visa lets a company move an employee from one of its offices outside the US into a related US office, whether that's a parent company, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate. It comes in two flavors: L-1A for managers and executives, L-1B for employees with specialized knowledge specific to the company's operations.
Unlike the H-1B, the L-1 visa has no annual cap and no lottery. If your company qualifies and the employee meets the requirements, timing isn't left to chance.
The catch most companies run into
Here's where the L-1 visa stops helping most growing companies: it only works if you already have an existing, related entity in another country, and the employee has to have worked there for a set period, usually at least one year within the prior three, before the transfer.
If you're a company that's never operated in India and wants to bring on an engineer based there, the L-1 visa simply isn't available to you. There's no qualifying foreign office for that employee to transfer from. You'd need to build that foreign presence first, which for most companies means either years of prior operations or a wholly owned subsidiary you don't currently have.
What actually solves this for most companies
If the L-1 visa route is closed because you don't have a qualifying foreign entity, the more direct path is often to skip the visa question entirely. Hire the person in India through an Employer of Record instead of trying to relocate them to the US.
kaam.work handles the employment side compliantly under Indian law, your engineer works from where they already live, and you avoid the entire intracompany transfer requirement that the L-1 visa depends on. For a lot of companies exploring L-1 as their first idea, this ends up being both faster and considerably less complicated.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need a subsidiary in India to use an L-1 visa for an Indian employee?
- Yes. The L-1 visa specifically requires a qualifying relationship between a foreign entity and the US company, so a subsidiary, branch, or affiliate needs to already exist.
- How long does someone need to work abroad before qualifying for an L-1 visa?
- Generally at least one continuous year within the three years immediately before the transfer, though exact rules depend on the specific visa category.
- What's the difference between L-1A and L-1B?
- L-1A covers managers and executives. L-1B covers employees with specialized knowledge tied specifically to the company's products, processes, or procedures.
- If my company has no foreign office, what's the alternative to an L-1 visa?
- Hiring the employee locally through an Employer of Record avoids the visa question entirely, since the person continues working from their home country.
