L-1 Blanket Petitions

Certain organizations may establish the required intracompany relationship in advance of filing individual L-1 petitions by filing a blanket petition. In order to establish eligibility for blanket L certification, the employer must prove the following:

  • Each qualifying organization of the company must be engaged in commercial trade or services
  • The company must already have an office in the United States that has been operating for at least one year
  • The company must have at least three domestic/foreign branches, affiliates or subsidiaries
  • In addition, the company must meet one of the following:
    • The company must have obtained a minimum of 10 L-1 approvals in the 12 month period prior to filing a blanket petition
    • The company and its U.S. subsidiary and affiliates must have combined annual sales of at least $25 million dollars.
    • The company has a workforce in the United States of at least 1,000 employees.

Please note, approval of a blanket L petition does not guarantee that an employee will be automatically granted L-1A classification.  It does, however, provide the employer with the flexibility to transfer eligible employees to the United States quickly and with short notice without having to file an individual petition with USCIS.  In most cases, once the blanket petition has been approved, the employer only needs to complete Form I-129S and send it abroad to the employee along with a copy of the blanket petition approval notice and other required evidence so that he or she may present it to a consular officer.

For more information on L visa, please refer to the following links: