US Immigration Lawyer

D&A Obtains Three L-1 Visa Client Petition Approvals in Single Day

The approvals are the culmination of hard work from our L-1 Visa team throughout the pandemic.

Davies & Associates received the great news that three of our L-1 visa petitions were approved today. The L-1 Visa allows a manager, executive, or specialized-knowledge employee to transfer to the existing or newly established US office of a related company they work for overseas.

Two of the petitions were for employees in the same UK company, operating in the renewables and hydrocarbon space. When the client came to us, they were starting to feel hopeless because everyone that they have spoken to told them getting an L-1 petition approved for their team is not possible. We took the case and perservered, and now one manager and one executive have received and approval for their L-1A visa.

The L-1A Visa, which is specifically for managers & executives, is renewable for up to a maximum of seven years. The L-1B Visa, which is for specialized-knowledge employees, is renewable upto a maximum of five years.  

The company owns and operates five of the world’s most advanced and capable self-propelled jack-up vessels that have been built specifically to perform in the harsh environment of the North Sea and provide safe and efficient offshore solutions all over the world.  The vessels are designed to comply with the stringent regulations required to work in the international oil and gas sector. With a track record of over 500 wind turbine installations, the vessels have proven that they provide an effective solution to the installation and maintenance of offshore wind turbines and foundations. Likewise, the vessels have brought a new dimension to maintenance, modification, construction and decommissioning of oil & gas wells and platforms in the North Sea. 

The petitioning US company has a cooperation agreement with one of the biggest energy companies in the US. The US company provides consultancy and engineering services designed to ensure the successful construction of, as well as operation and maintenance of wind turbine Installation vessels specifically designed for the installation of offshore wind turbines. It will support the design and construction of self-propelled vessels that will ensure safe operation in various weather conditions and more hostile sea conditions.  

The unique nature of the industry and the unconventional business operations of the group of companies proved to be challenging, but in the end, we are glad to share that the two petitions have been approved. We are looking to file 3 more L-1 petitions for specialized employees for the client soon.

Kudos to our great team for tremendous effort on these two petitions. We had to work on the Request for Evidence (RFEs) and get the responses filed during the holidays.

The third approval is for a client who came to us with a Request for Evidence. The Indian and US companies operate playground/entertainment centers for children. The L-1A petition was prepared by another attorney. The petition had a lot of inconsistencies and discrepancies in the forms and the cover letter. There was also a serious discrepancy in the DS-160 pertaining to the beneficiary’s executive experience. On top of that, the duties and responsibilities were generic and poorly prepared. Thankfully, our response convinced USCIS to approve the petition. 

The L-1 Visa allows for the intracompany transfer of a qualifying employee to the United States. The related US business can be an existing business or a newly established one. The L-1 visa therefore provides a great opportunity to expand your business and move to the US to oversee the establishment and growth of the enterprise.

Contact us to discuss your interest in the L-1 Visa


This article is published for clients, friends and other interested visitors for information purposes only. The contents of the article do not constitute legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Davies & Associates or any of its attorneys, staff or clients. External links are not an endorsement of the content.


L-1 Visa Reopend for US

L-1 Visa Reopens as Trump Ban Expires

The L-1 USA visa route to the United States has reopened after President Trump’s temporary ban came to an end last night. President Biden chose not to renew the ban, which Trump had introduced as part of Covid restrictions last summer. 

L-1A Visa allows international managers and executives to move to the American office of their company for up to seven (7) years. The L-1B Visa allows an employee with specialized knowledge to relocate for up to five (5) years. Spouses of L-1 visa holders can apply for a work permit.  

Trump temporarily banned the L-1 Visa together with the H-1B visa on the grounds that he wished to protect American jobs amid the economic uncertainty of the Coronavirus pandemic. He extended the ban until March 31 shortly before leaving office. Biden opted to let the ban elapse naturally rather than explicitly rescind it.

Ongoing delays

Applicants still have to contend with a reduced number of consular appointments worldwide as well as travel bans affecting people from Europe, the UK, Ireland, and elsewhere. Davies & Associates has successfully made the case for L-1 (and E-2) Visa clients to be granted a National Interest Exception to be allowed to travel to the United States from countries subject to a travel ban. We even managed to secure some L-1 approvals despite the ban.

Many of our clients took the opportunity of the last few months to prepare their applications for when the L-1 route reopened. The release of this pent up demand, coupled with the reduction to consular operations, mean that new applicants could face a backlog and ongoing disruption until things are ironed out.

New Office L-1 Visas

The L-1 Visa is an intracompany transfer visa. It is regularly used by large multinationals to move staff from an overseas office to one of their US offices. It can also be used to support the growth of a new US operation. New-Office L-1 Visas allow entrepreneurs and business owners to send qualifying senior-level employees to the United States to set-up the new business.

Benefits of L-1 Visa

There are many benefits to the L-1 Visa, notably the fact that an accompanying spouse could apply for a US work permit. There are also no annual quotas based upon country of origin, which means there are no wait lists based upon supply and demand. The L-1 Visa is a temporary work visa, but applicants could subsequently decide to transition to a Green Card. The usual route from the L-1 visa to a Green Card is through the EB-1(c) visa. The EB-1(c) visa offers permanent residency for international managers and executives.

L-1 Visa for Indians

Indians are one of the largest recipient groups for the L-1 Visa with over 40,000 issued the year before the pandemic. Indians are not directly eligible for the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa, so L-1 visa for USA from India is viewed as a popular alternative for Indian business owners and entrepreneurs. However, a small but growing number of Indians are first obtaining Grenadian citizenship in the West Indies and then obtaining an E-2 Visa by virtue of their Grenadian citizenship.

Other countries with large number of applications are L-1 Visa from Mexico, L-1 Visa from Japan, L-1 Visa from the United Kingdom, L-1 Visa from China, and L-1 Visas from Brazil. All have around 10,000 L-1 Visa issuances per year.


This article is published for clients, friends and other interested visitors for information purposes only. The contents of the article do not constitute legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Davies & Associates or any of its attorneys, staff or clients. External links are not an endorsement of the content.