L1-A Petition Key Requirement

Navigating the L-1 Visa Qualifying Criteria: Importance of One-Year Employment Abroad

One of the important requirements for L-1 Visa eligibility is that the employee must have worked for a qualifying organization outside the United States for a continuous period of one year within the three-year period prior to filing the petition. Part time employment or employment with an unrelated organization does not count towards the fulfillment of this criterion. However, full-time services divided among affiliated companies may be counted in the aggregate if each company employs the beneficiary for part of the period.

The one-year employment abroad is measured from the time of filing the L-1 petition not admission so that an individual must have one year of the prior three years employment abroad prior to filing an L-1 petition.

It should also be noted that brief trips to the U.S. on other visas such as a B-1 or B-2 do not interrupt the one-year period but are not counted toward it. This means a person who spends 60 days in the U.S. over a year period would not accrue the one-year employment abroad requirement until after one year and 60 days were reached. Additionally, any periods of employment in the U.S. and time spent in the U.S. in any capacity does not satisfy the one-year requirement. However, individuals lawfully employed by the qualifying organization in other capacities such as an E-2 or H-1B can generally still be eligible for an L-1 visa, but the time spent in those capacities do not count towards the three-year employment abroad criteria required for eligibility. For example, if a beneficiary worked in the U.S. in H-1B status for the qualifying organization from January 2, 2017 to January 2, 2018 and then the petitioner filed for L-1 for the employee, the pertinent three-year period would be January 1, 2014 to January 1, 2017 thus not counting the year in H-1B status.

It is important for individuals seeking L-1 visa eligibility to understand the qualifying criteria and how it is computed. Any periods of stay in the U.S. as an L-2, H-4 or F-1 (including OPT), or not being employed or being employed with another unrelated company do count in computing the three years of employment abroad and therefore do not result in an adjustment for the three years as does employment in the U.S. for the qualifying organization. It is also important to note that there is no distinction between U.S. companies with subsidiaries abroad and those with employees abroad who work directly for the parent company. The L-1 classification does not require a petitioner to establish that a beneficiary has been employed abroad by a separate foreign entity or branch office. The direct employment with a qualifying U.S. entity, if based outside the United States, allows a noncitizen to accrue the required one year of continuous employment abroad with a qualifying organization in the three years preceding the filing of the petition.

Moreover, it is immaterial whether the United States and foreign employers were qualifying organizations during the employment period abroad, as long as the relationship is present during the time the beneficiary is in the U.S. in L-1 classification. Additionally, there is no requirement that the affiliation must have existed for a year before filing the petition.

The evidence that can be submitted to establish this requirement may include employment offer letters, employment agreement, promotion letters and pay statements.