The EB-1C is an employment-based first-preference green card for multinational managers and executives. A U.S. employer sponsors the petition, and no PERM labor certification is required. You must have worked abroad for a qualifying related entity in a managerial or executive capacity for at least one year out of the three years before the petition, and the U.S. entity must have been doing business for at least one year.
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.
Final Action Dates — the EB-1 category EB-1C shares
EB-1C — the multinational-manager or -executive category — shares the EB-1 preference and its near-current priority dates shown here. For a qualifying manager or executive, that means little or no visa-bulletin wait for most of the world, and a shorter line than EB-2 or EB-3 even for India- and China-born applicants.
Source: U.S. State Dept Visa Bulletin (travel.state.gov), Final Action Dates. “Current” is plotted at the filing month; “Unavailable” periods are drawn as gaps. Educational, not legal advice — check the current bulletin. Data as of 2026-08-19.
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
Schedule a consultation with Loren Locke to see if this visa is the right fit.
Schedule a ConsultationWe 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.
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.
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.
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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