EB-1C: what it is

Four conditions. At least 1 of the last 3 years with the foreign company in a managerial or executive role; the US employer is related to it as a branch, subsidiary, parent or affiliate; in the US you take a manager or executive position; the US company has been doing business for at least 1 year at filing. Holding an L-1A is not required, although many go L-1A first and then file EB-1C.

What counts as a managerial role. A manager runs an organization, a department or a function, supervises the work of other employees and makes hiring and task decisions; an executive sets goals and policy, has wide discretion and reports only to the board, shareholders or top management. Managing only your own expert work, with no reports or function, usually does not count - you need an org chart, a role description and proof of the real scope of authority.

EB-1C and L-1A. The logic is similar: a year abroad out of the last three, the employer files, no PERM. The difference is the type: L-1A is a work (nonimmigrant) visa, EB-1C is an immigrant category, i.e. a path to the green card. So an "EB-1C visa" is strictly not a visa but the basis for an immigrant petition; in the Visa Bulletin it sits in row 1st together with EB-1A and EB-1B.

The main obstacle is the employer: without its willingness to file, the category is unavailable. A typical chat situation - someone on an L-1A at a large multinational that does not sponsor green cards; then people look at the self-petition categories EB-1A (3 of 10 criteria + final merits) or EB-2 NIW (the Dhanasar test), where no employer is needed.

How to prepare the case. Documents on the link between the companies (charter, ownership structure, org charts of both); a description of your role abroad and in the US - duties, number of reports, budget, authority; proof of the US company activity over the year - financials, contracts, staff; recommendation letters from management. Unlike EB-1A, you do not prove acclaim in the field here - you prove the structure and the role.