USCIS Clarifies L1 Visa Requirements for One-Year Foreign Employment

USCIS recently issued an L-1 policy memorandum (“PM”) clarifying the one-year foreign employment L1 visa requirements. This PM clarifies an apparent conflict within the statute and regulations regarding whether the one-year period was met prior to seeking admission or prior to filing the I-129.

Clarification of One-Year Employment Abroad Restricts L1 Visa Requirements

USCIS just published a policy memorandum clarifying that the one-year foreign employment requirement for L-1 visa must be met before the I-129 petition is filed. USCIS issued this PM with the intent to promote “consistent adjudication” of L-1 visa petitions within the spirit of the Buy American Hire American executive order.

The top-rated business immigration attorney at Columbus, Ohio-based Porter Law Office, LLC has in depth experience with securing L1 visas. If you need assistance with an L1 visa, contact the business immigration lawyer at Porter Law Office, LLC in Columbus, Ohio today.

L1 Visa Requirements

The L1 visa, also known as the intracompany transferee visa, allows a U.S. employer to transfer an executive or manager or an employee with specialized knowledge (L-1A or L-1B visa) from a qualifying foreign office to the U.S. It is often used by multinational companies to improve management effectiveness, expand U.S. exports, or to simply enhance competitiveness in markets abroad.

Specifically, pursuant to 8 C.F.R. 214.2(l)(1)(ii), an intracompany transferee means an alien who, within three years preceding the time of his or her application for admission into the United States, has been employed abroad continuously for one year by a firm, corporation, or other legal entity or parent, branch, affiliate, or subsidiary thereof, and who seeks to enter the United States temporarily in order to render his or her services to a branch of the same employer or a parent, affiliate, or subsidiary thereof, in a capacity that is managerial, executive, or involves specialized knowledge.

Under 8 C.F.R. 214.2(l)(3)(iii) and 214.2(l)(3)(v)(B), the one-year foreign employment requirement is only met within the three year period preceding the filing of the petition.

One-Year Employment Requirement

The issue that this PM seeks to resolve is whether the one-year employment abroad requirement is satisfied before admission or petition. The PM states that “USCIS is clarifying that the proper reference point for determining the one-year foreign employment requirement is the date the petitioner files the initial L-1 petition on the beneficiary’s behalf, the starting point in the alien’s application for admission in L-1 status.”

Further, the L-1 beneficiary must be physically outside the United States during the required one continuous year of employment, except for brief trips to the United States for business or pleasure; and the petitioner and the beneficiary must meet all requirements, including the one year of foreign employment, at the time the petitioner files the initial L-1 petition. USCIS will calculate the three-year period during which the beneficiary must meet the one-year foreign employment requirement. The PM also clarifies what time will be taken into consideration in determining when the three-year period begins.

The L1 visa lawyer at Porter Law Office, LLC specializes in assisting businesses with securing L1 visas to transfer multinational managers and executives and professionals with specialized knowledge. Contact the experienced business immigration attorney to discuss your L1 visa options. Call (614) 428-2887 today.