L-1A Visa for Your Own Company 2026: New Office, Costs and the EB-1C Green Card

Can I transfer myself to the US from my own company?

Yes. An owner can be the L-1A transferee of their own company, provided two conditions are met. First, the company abroad and the US company must have a qualifying relationship: parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate. Second, you must have worked for the company abroad for one continuous year, full time, within the three years before you are admitted to the US, in an executive or managerial role. Ownership is allowed, but not a shortcut.

The regulations at 8 CFR 214.2(l) define the relationship precisely. A subsidiary is generally a company the parent owns and controls, directly or indirectly, by more than half, or by half with control. An affiliate can be one of two companies owned and controlled by the same individual. For a German GmbH, an Austrian GmbH or a Swiss AG owned by one founder, this matters: a US company owned by the same person, or by the company itself, can meet the requirements.

What does an owner have to prove in addition?

Three points apply specifically to owners. If you are an owner or major stockholder, the petition must include evidence that your services in the US are for a temporary period and that you will be transferred to an assignment abroad when that period ends. The consular guidance in 9 FAM 402.12 adds that neither a job title nor ownership of the business is, by itself, proof of managerial or executive capacity. The same guidance accepts that a small or medium-sized business can qualify, and that even a sole employee can qualify if their primary function is to plan, organise, direct and control major functions through other people.

The company abroad must also keep doing business for the whole of your stay. "Doing business" means the regular, systematic and continuous provision of goods or services, not the mere presence of an agent or an office. An owner who closes or sells the home company after moving loses the basis of the L-1A.

What counts as executive or managerial?

An executive primarily directs the management of the organisation or a major function, sets goals and policies, exercises wide discretion and receives only general supervision from a board or shareholders. A manager primarily manages the organisation, a department or an essential function, supervises other supervisory, professional or managerial staff, or manages an essential function, and has authority over hiring and day-to-day operations. A first-line supervisor of non-professional staff is not a manager for L-1A purposes.

For readers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland who search for "L1 Visum Voraussetzungen", these are the requirements: the corporate relationship, the year abroad, and a genuine executive or managerial role on both sides of the Atlantic. Nationality plays no part, because L-1A has no treaty requirement.

What is a new-office L-1A?

A new-office L-1A is the L-1A route for transferring an executive or manager to open a US office, or to work in one that has been doing business for less than one year. It is the route most Mittelstand owners use: the company at home sets up a US subsidiary, branch or affiliate, and the owner or a senior manager moves to build it.

Under 8 CFR 214.2(l)(3)(v), the petition for a new office must show three things:

• Premises. Sufficient physical premises to house the new office have been secured. A lease is the usual evidence.
• Your year abroad. You were employed for one continuous year in the three years before the petition is filed, in an executive or managerial capacity.
• A viable plan. Within one year of approval, the US operation will support an executive or managerial position. This is shown through the proposed nature and organisational structure of the office, the size of the US investment, the financial ability of the company abroad to pay you and to start doing business, and the organisational structure of the company abroad.

Is there a minimum investment for a new office?

No. L-1A has no minimum investment. The size of the US investment is assessed only as evidence that the new office can start business and support your role within the first year. The amount should therefore follow the business plan: premises, first hires, equipment and working capital. Funds placed in a new US office are business capital and can be lost if the venture does not succeed.

How long is the first new-office approval?

The first approval for a new office allows an initial stay of a maximum of one year. An L-1A transfer to an established US office, by contrast, allows an initial stay of up to three years. In both cases, extensions are granted in increments of up to two years, up to a maximum of seven years in L-1A status in total. The official summary is on the USCIS L-1A page.

What happens at the end of the first year?

To extend a new-office L-1A, the US company files a new petition. It must show that the US and foreign companies still meet the requirements, that the US company has been doing business for the previous year, what your duties have been and will be, how the new operation is staffed, with the number of employees, their positions and evidence of wages paid, and the financial status of the US operation. In practice, the office must by then have a structure in which you manage rather than do the day-to-day work yourself.

What happens after seven years?

After seven years in L status as a manager or executive, a person may not be readmitted in L or H status until they have resided and been physically present outside the US for the immediately preceding year. L-1A is therefore temporary by design. If permanence is the goal, the green-card step should be planned early.

How much does a new-office L-1A cost?

As of 13 October 2026, a typical owner-led company with 25 or fewer full-time-equivalent US employees, including affiliates and subsidiaries, counts as a small employer. For such a company, the government fees for the initial petition are USD 695 for the I-129, USD 300 Asylum Program Fee and USD 500 Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee, a total of USD 1,495, plus USD 205 per person for the visa at the consulate and any reciprocity fee for your nationality. Premium processing adds USD 2,965 if you want USCIS to act on the petition within 15 business days. All figures come from the official USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055.

A further fee of USD 4,500 under Public Law 114-113 applies only to employers with 50 or more US employees of whom more than half hold H-1B or L status. It does not apply to a typical owner-led company opening a US office. The fees of the independent US immigration attorney and Mirabello's advisory fee come on top of the government fees, and the largest cost is always the business itself: premises, staff and working capital.

If you would like to know whether your company structure already meets the requirements, book a free consultation with Mirabello Consultancy. We review the structure, the year abroad and the business plan with you; an independent licensed US immigration attorney prepares and files the petition.

How do I get from L-1A to a green card?

The usual bridge is EB-1C, the first-preference immigrant category for multinational executives and managers. L-1A is dual intent: under 8 CFR 214.2(l)(16), an L-1 holder may come to the US temporarily and at the same time lawfully seek permanent residence, and filing an immigrant petition is not a basis for refusing the L-1 petition, an extension or admission.

A note on our data: our MCP data service carries EB-1C only as the green-card route within its L-1A record, not as a separate programme record. The description of EB-1C below therefore follows the USCIS EB-1 page, read on 16 October 2026, and the regulations at 8 CFR 204.5(j).

What are the EB-1C requirements?

According to USCIS, the beneficiary must have been employed outside the US for at least one year in the three years before the petition, or, if already working in the US for the petitioning employer, in the three years before the most recent lawful nonimmigrant admission. The petitioner must be a US employer that has been doing business for at least one year, has a qualifying relationship with the foreign employer and intends to employ the beneficiary in a managerial or executive capacity. The US employer files Form I-140, and no labour certification is required. The employer must be able to show a continuing ability to pay the offered wage as of the priority date, for example with an annual report, a federal tax return or audited financial statements.

When can a new office file for EB-1C?

Not before the US company has been doing business for at least one year. A company opened under a new-office L-1A therefore files the EB-1C petition at the earliest after its first year, and usually once it has the staffing and accounts to show a managerial structure and the ability to pay. When the I-140 is approved, the final step is adjustment of status in the US or an immigrant visa at a consulate, once a visa number is available under the State Department Visa Bulletin for your country of birth. Waiting times change monthly and are checked when your case is prepared.

One point needs particular care for owners. The EB-1C regulations do not expressly address a beneficiary who owns the petitioning company, and the owner rule for L-1A asks for evidence of a temporary assignment. How an owner shows the employer relationship and the ability to pay is reviewed by the attorney at the start, not at the end. Other green-card routes may also fit, such as EB-1A for extraordinary ability, EB-2 NIW for advanced-degree professionals or persons of exceptional ability, or the EB-5 investment green card from USD 800,000 in a targeted employment area or infrastructure project, or USD 1,050,000 otherwise.

Can my spouse work and my children study on L-2?

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can accompany you in L-2 status. A spouse in valid L-2S status is employment authorised incident to status, and an I-94 annotated L-2S is accepted as evidence; the spouse may still request a work permit, but it is not required. Children may live and study in the US; whether they may work is not stated on the official page and is confirmed case by case.

What should German, Austrian and Swiss owners plan at home?

Once in the US, an L-1A holder becomes a US tax resident if they meet the IRS Substantial Presence Test: at least 31 days in the current year and 183 weighted days over three years. US tax residents are taxed on their worldwide income, and state income tax may apply as well.

The home side matters as much for an owner as for anyone. As a German rule, § 6 of the German Foreign Tax Act (AStG) treats shares in a company as sold at fair market value when a person who has been fully tax liable in Germany for at least seven of the last twelve years gives up German residence. For a Mittelstand owner who moves to run the US office, this is a planning point to settle before the move. Austria and Switzerland apply their own rules on leaving tax residence. This is general information, not tax advice: take advice from a qualified tax adviser at home and in the US.

Citizenship follows the same principle. If you later naturalise in the US, whether you keep your German, Austrian or Swiss citizenship depends on your home country's nationality law; our guide on how Germans get US citizenship covers this. Other nationalities follow their own law, and some remove the original nationality automatically on naturalisation abroad.

L-1A or E-2 for a Mittelstand owner?

Germany, Austria and Switzerland all have E-2 treaties with the US, so DACH owners usually have both options. The short answer: the L-1A visa suits an owner whose company abroad is established and who wants a green card in the medium term, because L-1A is dual intent and leads to EB-1C. The E-2 Treaty Investor visa suits an owner who wants to invest substantial capital at risk in a US business without the one-year employment requirement, and who values renewable stays without a fixed end date; E-2 is not dual intent and has no direct green-card bridge.

• L-1A: needs a qualifying company abroad and one year of executive or managerial work; no nationality requirement; no minimum investment; up to seven years; bridge to EB-1C.
• E-2: needs treaty nationality and a substantial investment at risk; no time limit on renewals while the business qualifies; no direct green-card route.

Our guide to the E-2 visa for Germans, Austrians and Swiss covers the E-2 side in detail, and the overview of US visa routes for German speakers compares every route. The full map, including the O-1 visa and the E-1 treaty trader visa, is on our USA immigration hub.

Do I need a US immigration attorney for an L-1A?

Yes. The L-1A petition rests on corporate documents, an organisational chart, a business plan and evidence of your year abroad, and USCIS acts on it with discretion. An independent licensed US immigration attorney prepares and files the petition. Mirabello Consultancy advises on the route, coordinates the corporate, business and family side with you, and keeps the timing of tax advice at home in the plan. No adviser can promise an outcome, and approval always rests with the US authorities.