L-1A to EB-1C: Requirements, Timing, and the One-Year Rule (2026) 

For executives and managers working in the United States on an L-1A visa, the EB-1C immigrant visa can often be the natural path to a green card. The L-1A is a temporary visa for intracompany transferees, while the EB-1C is a green card category for multinational executives and managers that leads to permanent residence. An EB-1C visa requires a U.S. employer willing to file the petition, a qualifying corporate relationship between that employer and a company abroad, and one year of managerial or executive work performed outside the United States inside a specific three-year window. 

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How the L-1A Visa and the EB-1C Green Card Fit Together 

The L-1A visa and the EB-1C green card use the same legal definitions of managerial and executive work, but are separate benefits with separate requirements. For someone transitioning from L-1A to EB-1C, important considerations are listed below: 

• An employer files the petition. The company files Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The company is the petitioner, and the employee is the beneficiary. EB-1C has no self-petition option. 

• No labor certification is required. For most employment-based green cards, the employer must go through a Department of Labor (DOL) process called labor certification, or Program Electronic Review Management (PERM). The employer advertises the job, interviews any U.S. workers who apply, and shows the DOL that no qualified U.S. worker was available to fill it. Under 8 CFR 204.5(j)(5), EB-1C petitions skip labor certification entirely. 

• The definitions of the work are the same. Managerial capacity and executive capacity are defined in section 101(a)(44) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and USCIS applies those definitions to L-1A and EB-1C petitions.  

• Seeking a green card does not put L-1 status at risk. Under 8 CFR 214.2(l)(16), a person can hold L-1 status and pursue permanent residence at the same time. Filing an immigrant petition is not a reason to deny an L-1 extension or entry at the border. 

The Four EB-1C Eligibility Requirements 

Eligibility requires demonstrating that all four criteria below have been fully satisfied.  

1. The year does not have to be unbroken. The L-1 statute requires a year of continuous employment abroad. The EB-1C statute requires only employment abroad for at least one year, and the USCIS Policy Manual notes the difference. A long separation is treated differently from a gap. Under Matter of S-P-, Inc., an employee who left the organization for more than two years after admission to the United States did not meet the requirement and would need an additional qualifying year abroad. 

2. A qualifying corporate relationship. The U.S. employer is the same company as, or a parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of, the company abroad that employed the person. 

3. The U.S. employer has been doing business for at least one year. Doing business is defined in 8 CFR 204.5(j)(2) as the regular, systematic, and continuous provision of goods or services. An agent or a mailing address alone does not satisfy it. 

4. A permanent managerial or executive position in the United States. The job offered must be managerial or executive in nature and permanent rather than temporary. 

Whether a job is managerial or executive is determined by the duties performed, not the title. A precedent decision adopted by USCIS, Matter of G- Inc., sets out a test for a function manager, a person who manages an essential function rather than supervising staff. 

The One-Year Requirement and How the Three-Year Window Is Measured 

One year of the employee’s work abroad must fall inside a three-year window. Which three years depends on where the employee is when the I-140 is filed, and the EB-1C regulation sets out two versions:  

• If the employee is outside the United States when the petition is filed: the qualifying year must fall inside the three years immediately before filing. 

• If the employee is already in the United States working for the same employer, or its parent, subsidiary, or affiliate: the qualifying year must fall inside the three years before that employee entered the United States as a nonimmigrant. 

The second window is what applies to most L-1A holders, because an L-1A holder filing an EB-1C petition is in the United States working for a related company when it is filed. That window is anchored to the date of entry, and time passing afterward does not move or shrink it. 

The qualifying year must be employment outside the United States. INA 203(b)(1)(C) requires employment abroad, so time worked in the United States does not count toward the year, whoever pays the salary during that period. 

The year does not have to be unbroken. The L-1 statute requires a year of continuous employment abroad, while the EB-1C statute requires only employment abroad for at least one year, and the USCIS Policy Manual notes the difference. A long separation is treated differently from a gap. Under that same chapter, an employee who left the organization for more than two years after admission to the United States generally does not meet the requirement and would need a fresh qualifying year abroad. 

What the Petitioning Employer Must Prove 

An EB-1C petition is evaluated on two fronts: the employee’s managerial or executive career and the employer’s own record. The employer’s side carries requirements that have nothing to do with the employee’s background. 

The employer submits a statement from an authorized company official covering the employment abroad, the corporate relationship, and the doing-business requirement, plus a description of the U.S. position. There are three areas of evidence which require the most documentation: 

• The corporate relationship: stock certificates, ownership ledgers, organizational charts, and financial statements trace the ownership and control connecting the two entities. 

• Doing business for at least one year: tax returns, audited financial statements, contracts, invoices, and payroll records show regular and continuous operations. A brand-new U.S. office may not satisfy this. L-1 has a new office option that lets a company send a manager to open a U.S. operation. EB-1C has no equivalent, because the position offered must be permanent. 

• Ability to pay the offered wage: the employer must show it can pay the offered wage from the priority date, meaning the date USCIS receives the petition, until the employee becomes a permanent resident. USCIS guidance accepts annual reports, federal income tax returns, or audited financial statements. 

Employer-side evidence is also where many EB-1C petitions run into trouble. Common issues include a corporate relationship that is claimed but not fully documented, a U.S. position described as managerial that reads as hands-on operational work once the duties are listed, and insufficient evidence that the employer can pay the offered wage. 

Filing Sequence and the L-1A Time Limit 

L-1A status allows for a maximum stay of seven years. L-1B specialized knowledge status has a five-year maximum. Once the limit is reached, the person generally must spend a full year outside the United States before being able to return in L or H status. 

L-1 has no extension tied to a pending green card case. H-1B holders can extend past the normal six-year limit under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act (AC21) when a green card case has been pending long enough. L-1 has no equivalent provision. 

What the seven-year limit constrains is when the I-485 can be filed, not when the green card has to be issued. Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, is the application to become a permanent resident without leaving the country. Filing it requires two things at once: the applicant must be in a lawful status, and an immigrant visa number must be available. Both conditions have to be satisfied while the L-1A is still valid. The I-485 can be filed at the same time as the employer’s I-140 when a visa number is already available, which USCIS calls concurrent filing. 

Once the I-485 is on file, the picture changes. A pending I-485 allows the applicant to remain in the United States while USCIS decides the case, and the expiration of the underlying L-1A does not end that. Work authorization and travel are separate questions. L-1A work authorization ends when the status ends, and the work permit that comes with a pending I-485 is its own application. If the L-1A expires before that work permit is approved, the employee stops working until it arrives, while remaining lawfully in the country. Travel requires a travel document obtained in advance. 

EB-1 Priority Dates in the Visa Bulletin 

Congress limits how many employment-based green cards are issued each year, and caps how many can be allocated to people of a certain nationality. When demand runs past the cap, a queue forms. The Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin each month to show how far the queue has moved. An applicant reaches the final stage when the priority date is earlier than the cutoff date listed for that category and country of birth. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Does time on an L-1A visa in the United States count toward the EB-1C one-year requirement? 

No. The qualifying year has to be full-time managerial or executive work performed physically outside the United States. USCIS policy states that a petitioner cannot use time the employee spent in the United States, even if the company abroad continued to pay the salary. 

How is the three-year window measured for someone already in the United States? 

For an employee in the United States working for the same employer or a related company, the qualifying year has to fall inside the three years before that employee entered the United States as a nonimmigrant. For an employee outside the United States at the time of filing, the window is the three years before the I-140 is filed. 

Is premium processing available for EB-1C petitions? 

Yes. For the multinational executive or manager classification, USCIS commits to taking an action within 45 business days. Taking an action includes issuing a Request for Evidence, which pauses the clock. Premium processing changes the speed of the response, not the legal standard. 

What happens if L-1A status expires before the green card process is finished? 

An approved I-140 by itself does not provide work authorization or lawful status. If no I-485 is pending, the routes available are extending L-1A status where time remains under the seven-year limit, changing to another status, or departing the United States. A pending I-485 allows an application for a work permit and a travel document and to remain in the US even after L-1 expires.  

Talk Through Your L-1A to EB-1C Timing 

If you are on L-1A status and interested in an EB-1C green card, Colombo & Hurd can help. Our work in this area covers assessing how the three-year window applies to a specific date of entry, preparing the employer-side evidence on corporate relationship and ability to pay, and sequencing the I-140 and I-485 against the time remaining on L-1A status.  

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