EB-1(c) Multinational Manager or Executive Visa

The EB-1(c) visa is an immigrant visa allowing corporations to transfer overseas managerial or executive employees to the United States as permanent residents.  The EB-1(c) visa is similar to the L-1(a) visa for intracompany transferee executives and managers, but there is a key difference between them; while the L-1(a) visa is a non-immigrant visa allowing for a stay in the U.S. of 7 years at the longest, the EB-1(c) visa enables the beneficiary to obtain a green card and remain in the U.S. permanently.  Because of the similarity of the two visa categories, it is not uncommon for an alien to come to the U.S. on an L-1(a) visa and to then adjust his or her status to EB-1(c) in order to stay in the country permanently.  It is, however, entirely possible for an alien to obtain EB-1(c) status without ever having held an L-1(a) visa.

While the EB-1(c) visa does not require a labor certification, it does require a permanent job offer from a U.S. employer.  The U.S. employer must file the application on behalf of the alien, making the employer the “petitioner” on the application and the alien the “beneficiary” of the application.  The petitioner must show that all of the following requirements are met:

1. The U.S. employer has a qualifying relationship (such as a parent-child, branch, subsidiary or affiliate relationship) with a foreign company.

2. The U.S. employer conducts business as an employer in the United States and in at least oneother country directly or through a qualifying organization in the regular, systematic, and continuous provision of goods or services.

3.  The U.S. employer has been in existence in the United States for at least one year.

4.  The EB-1(c) employee has been employed for at least one year within the past three years by the overseas affiliate, parent, subsidiary or branch of the U.S. employer.

5.  The EB-1(c) employee will work in the United States in an executive or managerial capacity.