Public Description:
The bill would cap annual issuance of L‐1 “intracompany transferee”/”specialized knowledge”
nonimmigrant visas at 35,000 (currently, no cap), but would clarify that this cap: (1) applies
only to principal aliens and not to their spouses or children; and (2) does not apply to an L‐
1 worker who is employed, or has received an offer of employment from, an institution of
higher education or a nonprofit research or governmental research organization;
• Would establish three years as the maximum period of authorized stay for an L‐1 worker;
• Would prohibit importation of an L‐1 worker unless the employer has filed a labor
condition application with the Department of Labor (DOL) attesting that: (1) wage and
working condition comparability exists; (2) no strike or lockout exists in the occupational
classification at the employment site; (3) the employer has notified the bargaining
representative or the employees about the prospective L‐1 hiring; (4) the L‐1 application
contains occupational classification and wage and working condition information; and (5)
there has not been nor will there be any lay off of United States workers 180 days before or
after the L‐1 hiring;
• Would require the petitioning employer to meet specified posting/public availability
requirements relative to the application;
• Would require DOL to compile, on an ongoing basis, sorted lists of filed applications and
to make these lists available for public examination;
• Would establish fines and other penalties for violation of these L‐1‐related requirements;
• Would establish additional violations of the conditions of an L‐1 labor condition
application concerning: (1) placement of a full‐time L‐1 nonimmigrant in nonproductive or
part‐time status and subsequent payment of less‐than‐full‐time wages; and (2) non‐offering
of benefits and eligibility for benefits on the same basis – and in accordance with the same
criteria – as offered to United States workers;
• Would authorize DOL to investigate, upon receipt of reliable information as to an
employer’s willful noncompliance with the terms of an L‐1 application and for 30 days
thereafter, a pattern or practice of failures to meet those conditions, or a substantial failure
to meet a condition that affected multiple employees, and would authorize random DOL NumbersUSA 2
investigations of an employer – for up to five years – following willful failure to comply
with the terms of an L‐1 application;
• Would prohibit the use of “blanket petitions” when importing L‐1 workers;
• Would require L‐1s to hold at least a bachelor’s degree in his area of “specialized
knowledge” and, if that degree is from a foreign institution, would require the State
Department to verify its authenticity; and
• Would require a person to have worked continuously for two of the last three years for the
same firm to be eligible for an L‐1 visa (currently, one year).
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to the admission of L-1 intra-company transferee nonimmigrants.
