L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

Hi all

A well known requirement for L1A visas is to work for a parent/subsidiary company outside the US for 1 continuous year.

The company I work for in London is HQ-d in NYC and I travel frequently to attend business/client meetings (not doing actual work) on ESTA. At the moment this travel is about 1 week per month, so 12 weeks in total combined during a year. The company is super keen to relocate me on L1A as soon as I have had 12 months’ employment. Would this be an issue?

Re: L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

I think if the company you work for is US owned, you definitely won't qualify for L1 intra company transfer. I could be wrong but I am led to believe that you need to work for a foreign owned company for 12 months before transferring to the US affiliate. There maybe however, other visa options

Re: L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

It can be a US company if he works for the US subsidiary or affiliate abroad, or a foreign company with a presence in the US.

I worked for a US HQ’d firm in the UK and transferred to one of the US offices using an L1A visa.

Re: L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

Time spent travelling to the US firm doesn’t really matter for L1 purposes.

The important factor is you have worked for the UK based subsidiary or HQ for a min of 1 year and can demonstrate managerial experience for L1A or specialised knowledge for L1B.

And of course you haven’t abused your ESTA during your trips ie attending meetings and not working etc.

Re: L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

Where do you see that he works for a US company? He clearly states that he works for the UK company and goes to the US company once a month for meetings.

Re: L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

I stand corrected, as per the reply BEFORE yours. I misunderstood and thought that if the OP currently works for a foreign subsidiary of a US owned company - its not as straight forward. Im glad this isn't the case.

Re: L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

Nope. I had a similar scenario in that i travelled around the same for work prior to moving.

Albeit i was on an L1B - but still fits in the same requirements. Won't be an issue.

Re: L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

The regulations governing L status are found at 8 CFR 214.2(l).

There are two issues raised by these facts: continuity of service abroad and what counts or does not count towards the required year.

Re: L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

General comment: the current administration is quite hostile towards what was perceived as lax enforcement of the law in previous administration's, believes in "extreme vetting," and is now more willing to revisit past determinations when the opportunity arises.

Second general comment: past travel history is readily available to CPB inspectors and CIS adjudicators.

Re: L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

I know you have acknowledged the error, but I would like to add a historical note. The L category was created in 1970 for the purpose of large US corporations to transfer in executives from their foreign subsidiaries. Think of GM transferring an executive from Opel or Holden. That said, it was not limited to large companies.

Now with GM's sale of it's European subsidiaries, it is BMW, Mercedes and VW which will be using the category. I'm sure that GM has made work for it's immigration lawyers in order to retain some executives in the US.

Re: L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

I haven't seen it covered above, but something to be aware of is that as I understand it, time spent inside the US, on business or holiday, does not count towards the 1 year spent working for the company outside the US.

It sounds like in your situation the 12 weeks spent on business trips will not count towards your 12 months employment.

Re: L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

That is exactly my question. Can you quote source/regulation?

Re: L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

I already did just that: 8 CFR 214.2(l).

Re: L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

I may have missed it but I had a look at the text of 8 CFR 214.2(l) and didn’t see anything relating to time spent in the US prior.

I found this immigration advise website that mentions this though I still haven’t seen anything official so my advise will be to leave it to the lawyers as your company will require an immigration lawyer given the ton of paperwork required for the L1 visa.
It’s not a visa you can apply for on your own without legal support.

http://www.immigration.com/visa/l-visa/l-visa-overview

The Employee Must Have Worked Abroad for the Overseas Company for a Continuous Period of One Year in the Preceding Three Years
The employee must have completed one continuous year of employment outside of the United States with the overseas company within the preceding three years, before he or she can be transferred to the related U.S. company. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will look at the three years preceding the date of the petition to see whether the alien has spent the requisite continuous period of one year of employment abroad. Any time spent in the United States during that year does not bar the employee from being transferred, but that time cannot be counted toward fulfilling the one year abroad requirement. Thus, an alien who spent two months in the United States during the preceding year must have worked for the overseas company for at least fourteen months, at least twelve of which were outside of the United States. Each day in the United States during the preceding year adds one day to the total time that the alien must have been employed by the overseas company.

Re: L1A eligibility - time spent inside/outside US
 

I found this on the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) website and it looks like time spent indeed counts towards the fulfilment of one year continuous employment outside the US.

We learn everyday :). As I advised in my earlier post, the lawyers preparing the paperwork should be able to provide proper guidance on this.

https://fam.state.gov/fam/09FAM/09FAM040212.html

9 FAM 402.12-13 QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENT
(CT:VISA-1; 11-18-2015)
a. Continuous for One Year: INA 101(a)(15)(L) requires the beneficiary of an intracompany transferee petition to have been employed continuously by the petitioner, or by an affiliate or subsidiary thereof, for one year within the three years preceding the beneficiary’s application for admission into the United States.
d. Employment Abroad:
(1) The beneficiary’s one year of qualifying experience with the petitioner must be wholly outside the United States. Time spent working for the petitioning firm in the United States does not qualify.
(2) Periods spent in the United States in any authorized capacity on behalf of the foreign employer or a parent, branch, affiliate, or subsidiary thereof, and brief trips to the United States for business or pleasure, do not interrupt the continuity of the one year of continuous employment abroad for L-1 status, but do not count toward fulfillment of that requirement. Such periods spent in the United States may follow the year of employment abroad and immediately precede application for L-1 status, so long as the required one-year of qualifying employment during the past three years has been served abroad.