On July 22, the Administrative Appeals Office, or AAO, of the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services issued an unpublished decision that restricts eligibility for the L-1B nonimmigrant classification. In these tough economic times, this action severely limits use of the L-1B visa and has the potential to adversely impact employers, trade, investment and job creation in the United States. It is now more critical than ever that the applications of multinational organizations transferring their L-1B employees to the United States be well-documented in order to meet the USCIS’ burden of proof.

The L-1B classification is available to companies that seek to transfer employees with specialized knowledge of their operations to the United States. The L-1 category was created by Congress in 1970 to facilitate international business by permitting the transfer of non-U.S. managers and executives (L-1A) or foreign nationals in a specialized knowledge capacity (L-1B) to the United States by companies with operations in the United States and abroad. The manager, executive or foreign national with specialized knowledge being transferred must have been employed abroad continuously for one year within three years of applying for admission to the United States. Additionally, the foreign employer must be a parent, subsidiary, branch or affiliate of the U.S. company to which the employee is being transferred. Finally, the employee must intend to work in a managerial, executive or specialized knowledge capacity for the related U.S. entity.

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