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The L-blanket visa is a regular US work visa that allows employees to work in the USA for a limited period of time. This must be an internal transfer from the foreign location to the US location. In addition to a classic assignment, this category can also be used by business travelers with a high frequency of entries or assemblers, for example.
Internationally operating companies or corporate group with a high rate of employee transfers to the United States can, under certain conditions, apply for a so-called L-Blanket Petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Once approved, this registration allows all business units or locations worldwide listed in the blanket to use a simplified procedure to apply for L visas for their employees.
Unlike the regular L visa application (where the application submission must always be made in advance through USCIS), the L blanket application can be submitted by employees directly at the local US consulate, e.g., in Germany, during a consular interview appointment.
This eliminates
In addition, the simplified procedure allows employees to be deployed at shorter notice, since the time-consuming advance application phase via US immigration authority USCIS is no longer required.
First of all, it is mandatory to have a so-called L Blanket registration for the group of companies (granted by the USCIS).
In addition, the following access requirements must be met:
Freelancers or consultants, for example, do not qualify for the L category.
With an L Blanket registration, you can apply for a visa at the US consulate in your home country instead of having to file a petition with USCIS first, like you do with a regular L visa application.
This has two major advantages: Firstly, employees can be sent or deployed to the United States more quickly and, secondly, more cost-effectively, as the time-consuming initial application phase in the United States is not necessary. As mentioned above, L-blanket visa applications can be submitted directly through the consulate in the home country based on an L-blanket registration, which eliminates the high USCIS fees and additional costs for translations and extensive company documents.
An L-Blanket petition can be submitted to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the United States for the entire group of companies. This allows all business units listed in the blanket petition to use the simplified procedure for their employees.
The L-1 visa and the L Blanket visa are closely related, as the L Blanket visa is a special form of the L-1 visa reserved for certain large companies and multinational organizations. Here are the main aspects that explain their dependence and differences:
The L-1 visa is a work visa for managers, executives (L-1A) and employees with specialized knowledge (L-1B) who are being transferred from a foreign location to a US location within a multinational company. The application process for the L-1 visa includes:
The L blanket visa is an accelerated procedure for large companies that regularly transfer employees between international locations. The most important features of the L blanket visa are
The validity of an L-Blanket visa refers to the duration for which a company's blanket petition is approved. This petition allows the company to send qualified employees to the US for a limited period of time. Employees can work in the US without the need for individual petitions for each person or visa application.
Under this regulation, employees with an L-1A or L-1B visa can stay in the US for up to 3 years per entry and have the option of extending this period of stay to a total of up to 5 years (L-1B) or 7 years (L-1A). L-Blanket visas can be extended in 2-year increments.
However, the actual length of stay is determined individually by the US immigration authorities upon each entry and can be extended in accordance with the provisions of the L visa. The exact length of stay is recorded digitally on the I-94 form, which travelers should check after successful entry.
When applying for the L Blanket visa, consular fees of 184.50 € (205 $) apply. In addition, the Fraud Prevention & Detection Fee of 500$ must be paid for first-time applications.
Optionally Premium Processing fees of 2,805 $ for companies that want an accelerated application procedure.
The payment of the processing fee can be made by online bank transfer, online payment by debit card or cash payment at a bank.
As a rule, this fee can be used to make an appointment within one year of the payment date.
In addition to these fees, the following costs may be incurred:
Payment of fees can be made by online bank transfer, debit card or cash. For detailed information on current fees, payment methods and additional costs, please visit the relevant USCIS or US Consulate fee page.
We advise you on the choice of the appropriate visa category and take over the complete processing for you or your company.
For multinational corporations, the US legislature provides for the possibility of a simplified application process. Thus, certain groups of companies that meet one of the following requirements may qualify for L-Blanket registration:
L-Blanket registration can be applied for in the US with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for an entire group of companies. Once the application has been approved by the USCIS, all locations worldwide that are listed in the L-Blanket can access the simplified procedure for applying for L-Blanket visas.
In practice, this means that the L-1 procedure can be handled faster and more cost-effectively, because the initial application phase in the US is completely eliminated. L-blanket visa applications can be submitted directly to the U.S. consulates. Applicants must appear in person at an interview at the relevant U.S. consulate (usually that of the employee's home country).
Usually, L-1 applications are time-consuming and cost-intensive, because they are divided into two application steps: the first step is to apply at the responsible service center of the U.S. immigration authorities with extensive documentation, and the second step is the issuance of the visa by the U.S. consulate.
The application for an L Blanket visa is made by the US company acting on behalf of the applicant. The application documents cannot be submitted by the applicant him/herself; the official applicant must be a US company.
The procedure for applying for the L Blanket Visa is divided into the following steps:
Check qualification
The company must ensure that it meets the requirements for applying for a blanket petition. These include meeting certain size and employment criteria, such as a certain number of US employees or a minimum turnover.
Submission of the blanket petition (Form I-129S)
The company submits a blanket petition to the USCIS to obtain pre-approved authorization to facilitate multiple L-1 visa applications for qualified employees. The petition must include information about the company's structure, international operations, and planned employee transfers.
After receiving the application, the USCIS will decide on the petition (=work permit) within a processing time of several months, depending on the capacity of the responsible USCIS Service Center.
All applications submitted to the USCIS using the form I-129 (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker), it is possible to shorten the usually long processing times. For an additional fee of , the acceleration request can be processed by the form I-907 (Request for Premium Processing Service) be submitted. The Premium Processing procedure has the advantage that the USCIS guarantees applicants a response within 15 working days. This response usually contains an approval, a request for further documentation (Request For Evidence, RFE) or a rejection.
If the application is approved, the US company will receive a letter of authorization ("Approval Notice I-797") by post. With the Approval Notice, the L-1 visa can now be applied for at the US consulate in your home country.
The online form DS-160 must be completed on the website of the U.S. Department of State. The online application form must contain detailed information about the applicant and the planned stay in the USA. You should have the following documents ready when completing the DS-160 form:
A few days after submitting your DS-160 form, you can check the status of your visa application online.
The professional processing and submission of your DS-160 form is part of our service. We will be happy to help you with the next steps.
Create a visa profile on the website of the visa information service provider. You can now use this to submit your application for the L visa.
Here you can also pay the visa processing fee and make an appointment for the visa interview.
Payment of the application fee: Pay the L-1 visa fee in the amount of 184.50 € (205 $). Payment can be made online or in cash.
Arrangement of the visa interview appointment: Arrange your appointment for the visa interview online via the visa profile.
When using our US Visa Service, we create the required online profile, pay the consular visa fee and arrange the appointment for the personal interview with the US consular officers.
For the interview date for your L Blanket Visa you must apply in person at the US Consulate or at the US Embassy where your documents will be checked and you will be interviewed by the consular officers.
The following documents must be prepared and brought along for the appointment at the US consulate or the US embassy:
Be prepared to answer questions about your visa application, your planned stay in the US and other relevant topics.
As a rule, L visa applicants are informed at the end of their visit to the US consulate or embassy whether or not their visa application will be approved.
Our visa consultants prepare you optimally for this important date and provide you with the necessary documents to make your visa interview as smooth as possible.
If your L visa application is approved, you will receive your passport with the L Blanket visa returned by post or can arrange a pick-up appointment.
The L Blanket Visa contains important identifying information about visa holders and sets forth their rights and restrictions during their stay in the United States.
It is crucial that you check this information carefully and ensure that it matches the requirements of your planned stay in the USA.
Here are some of the dates and details that can be found on a US visa:
A US work visa is always tied to a specific US company. In turn this means that you must have a specific employer in the United States before you can apply for a work visa.
The application process begins with the US company that wants to hire you. The US employer submits the petition either to the USCIS or to the responsible U.S. consulate. Since the application for a temporary work permit is made by the company for a future foreign employee, the U.S. employer is therefore the so-called petitioner, which means the official applicant. The future employee is the entitled person and thus the so-called beneficiary.
Many companies wonder what happens to the company-bound work visa when the visa holder no longer works for the US employer.
In the event that the employment contract is terminated, the US work visa automatically loses its validity. The derived visas of any family members who may have travelled with the employee also lose their validity upon termination of the work relations, as these are linked to the visa of the main visa applicant.
This means that the former visa holder is no longer allowed to enter the country with the work visa after termination of the employment relationship. Even if the work visa is theoretically still valid for a certain period of time, the visa may no longer be used to enter the United States. If the visa holder concerned wishes to travel to the US for tourism or business purposes in the future, he / she must reapply for an ESTA or a corresponding visa, depending on the type of activities carried out on site and the duration of such activities.
Tip: In order to avoid discrepancies or problems with later entries, it is advisable to inform the U.S. consulate about the new work situation. For this purpose, it is sufficient if the responsible company representative (e.g. HR manager, supervisor, board of directors) sends an e-mail to the responsible consulate with the request to invalidate the visa of the former employee. If possible, a copy of the visa should also be attached. The consulate will then put a note in the system so that the CBP officers at the US border are also informed.
In some cases, the visa holder will even be contacted directly by the U.S. consulate in order to send its passport with the work visa for the purpose of invalidation. In other cases, the visa will simply be invalidated by the CBP officer at the boder the next time he or she enters the United States.
Our recommendation: By sending a short message to the responsible U.S. consulate, companies can protect themselves and above all be sure that entry with the previously valid work visa is no longer possible. Do not take any risks and prevent possible abuse with company-bound visas.
Global Entry is usable with most US visas, even with ESTA. Except if you are a holder of one of the following visas, then you are excluded from Global Entry:
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As a rule, work visas for the United States cannot be applied for without a concrete US job offer. The official petitioner ("Petitioner") is the US company of the group of companies for the future employee ("Beneficiary"). An independent petition by the foreign employee is not possible. The L-1 visa application process involves at least two entities of the corporate group - the foreign employer, as well as the US location.
The legislation distinguishes between L-1A visa petitions for managers/executives and L-1B visa petitions for specialists.
The category is based on the employee's future job at the US location (not current job).
The boundaries between the individual categories may well be fluid. It must be decided on a case-by-case basis under which category the L-1 transfer should take place. L-1B applications are generally subject to a stricter review.
The maximum stay under L-1A status is up to 7 years, L-1B visa holders can stay in the US up to a maximum of 5 years.
The category also allows the transfer of personnel to a "newly opened" US location (not yet operating in the US market for 1 year). In this case, the US authorities require additional information beyond the usual L requirements. For example, proof of the purchase or lease of office space, the special skills of the applicant in the start-up process, the economic situation of the parent company, and suitable business plans for the US venture. In particular, future U.S. personnel policies are of interest to U.S. officials.
L-1 "New Office" applications are approved for a maximum of 1 year in the initial application, but may then be extended up to a maximum of five (L-1B) or seven (L-1A) years.
For internationally active companies with a high rate of assignments to the USA, the complex L-Visa application process represents a not inconsiderable time and cost factor.
However, US regulations provide for the possibility of a significant simplification of the entire process for large corporations - the so-called L-Blanket Petition.
If a regular L-Visa application must always be submitted in advance via the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (USCIS), this step is omitted in the L-Blanket process. This means that the L-Blanket application can be submitted by the employee directly at an interview appointment at the domestic US consulate.
This has two decisive advantages:
On the one hand, the high application fees of the USCIS, as well as translation costs and the time-consuming compilation of company documents are eliminated. On the other hand, the simplification procedure allows employees to be deployed at shorter notice.
However, the L-Blanket is only available to companies that can meet the following requirements:
In addition, the U.S. company must meet at least one of the following requirements:
To the extent that the Group can meet these items, an approval process for use on L-Blanket will occur with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Based on an L-Blanket registration of the group of companies (issued by the USCIS), all locations worldwide listed in the Blanket can use the simplified application process for employees.
It is not uncommon for employee assignments to have to be realized at quite short notice. Since the application for a work visa can unfortunately take several weeks, a temporary solution must often be realized.
Many companies therefore choose to inform the employee about the B-1 visa category to be sent in advance to the US location. It is important to emphasize that the B-1 category is no work permit for the USA. It only legitimizes the employee to, for example, coordination discussions, meetings or negotiations at the US location.
To the extent that the employee is already in the United States under a valid visa, then a change of status (without leaving the US) to the L-1 category can theoretically be made.
It is not possible, however, to calculate on the basis of thevisa free entryto apply for a work permit. In addition, not all changes within different categories are accepted.
The application for change of status, if at all possible or appropriate, is filed simultaneously with the L-1 petition at the US Immigration Service Center.
IMPORTANT: In case of a change of status, it is urgent to ensure that a valid L-1 visa is available for exit and re-entry in any case (see consular procedures). Background: The USCIS only issues the approval on the L-1 status, but not the US visa (in the passport). These entries are made exclusively by the U.S. consulates abroad.
So the change of status is NOT the same as visa. If you leave the United States and re-enter without a valid visa, you will be denied entry.
In contrast to other non-immigrant visas, the application is in principle also possible in countries bordering the USA, such as Mexico or Canada, at the US consulates there.
Otherwise, the application is usually made at the domestic U.S. consulate.
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