EB-1C Green Card
Permanent residence for multinational managers and executives transferring to a U.S. office—no PERM labor certification required.
About This Visa
The EB-1C is an employment-based first-preference (EB-1) immigrant visa for multinational managers and executives. It allows a U.S. employer to sponsor a foreign manager or executive for a green card without going through the PERM labor certification process—the single largest time and complexity advantage over EB-2 and EB-3 sponsorship.
The beneficiary must have been employed for at least one year in the three years preceding the U.S. petition by a qualifying foreign entity in a managerial or executive capacity, and must be coming to the U.S. to work in a managerial or executive capacity for a related U.S. entity. The U.S. and foreign entities must share a qualifying relationship—parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate.
EB-1C is most commonly used as the second step for L-1A executives already inside the U.S., but it can also be filed for managers and executives abroad. As of June 2022, USCIS offers premium processing on the I-140 petition with a 45-day response window.
EB-1C is the fastest employer-sponsored green card path for multinational managers and executives—no PERM, premium processing on the I-140 since June 2022, and substantially the same evidentiary framework as L-1A.
EB-1C Eligibility Requirements
EB-1C uses requirements substantially similar to the L-1A, but with critical differences: the U.S. petition must be filed by a U.S. entity that has been doing business for at least one year, and the prior foreign-employment year must fall within the three years before the U.S. petition (or, if already in the U.S., before initial entry).
One year of employment with the qualifying foreign entity in a managerial or executive capacity within the three years before the U.S. petition (or before entering the U.S. for petitioners already in L-1 status)
U.S. role must be primarily managerial or executive in nature
Qualifying relationship between the U.S. and foreign entities (parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate)
U.S. entity must have been doing business in the United States for at least one year at the time of filing
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Schedule a ConsultationThe EB-1C Process
Qualifying Relationship & U.S. Operations
We document the relationship between the U.S. and foreign entities and the U.S. entity's operating history—corporate charters, financials, payroll records, organizational charts, and at least one year of U.S. business activity.
Managerial / Executive Capacity
We build a fact-specific record of the U.S. and prior foreign roles: decision authority, subordinate professional staff or essential functions managed, discretion over personnel or operations, and reporting relationships. Function-manager and small-organization cases need particular care.
File Form I-140
The U.S. employer files Form I-140 with USCIS. Premium processing is available with a 45-day response window. Unlike most EB-2/EB-3 pathways, no PERM labor certification is required—the largest single advantage of EB-1C.
Adjustment of Status or Consular Processing
After I-140 approval (and when a visa is available), the beneficiary and family adjust status if in the U.S. via Form I-485, or process the immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate abroad. Concurrent filing of I-140 and I-485 is permitted when the EB-1 priority date is current.
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Loren Locke
Managing Attorney
Former U.S. consular officer in Matamoros, Mexico — adjudicated some 12,000 visa applications before founding Locke Immigration Law.
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Adjudicated 12,000+ visas at the U.S. Consulate, Mexico · Former U.S. Foreign Service Officer · J.D. William & Mary Law School
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