Dr. William:

I am a H-1B visa holder. Before reaching my 6-years of H-1B time limit, there is a possibility for me to get a good job offer to work for another company in a management position, with is a multinational company with offices in my home country. May I change my visa from H1 to L1, so I can work for this company?

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Answer:

An L1 employee must have been employed by the company outside of the U.S. for at least one of the three years preceding the transfer. It does not matter if the alien worker was directly employed by the employer, or paid through an agency or personal service company, or even on a freelance basis, provided the employer had management and control over the alien worker during the qualifying year.

The employee must have been employed during the qualifying year as an executive or manager (L1A visa), or specialized knowledge worker (L1B visa), though it permissible for a specialized knowledge worker to come to the United States as a Manager or Executive, and for a manager or executive to come as a specialized knowledge worker, provided the US operation has been doing business for at least one year.

The standard of proof for managers and executives is quite strict: they must generally supervise other professional or managerial staff and direct and control the day-to-day operations of a significant function, unit or subdivision of the employer. Specialized knowledge workers, however, qualify relatively easily – any employee with familiarity with the employer's specific products, procedures or methods may qualify.