L-1 Visa

The INS, the predecessor to the USCIS, published a Memo which discusses important issues regarding the travel of H-1B and L nonimmigrants who have been granted Advance Parole.

The USCIS has announced that after completing a policy review that it was clarifying that “any time spent in H-4 status will not count against the six-year maximum period of admission applicable to H-1B aliens.”  Likewise, the USCIS also announced that “time an alien has spent time in L-2 dependent status will not count against the time available to the alien in L-1A or L-1B status.”  The new policy was announced in a USCIS Interoffice Memorandum from Michael Aytes, Associate Director, Domestic Operations, to all Regional Directors and Service Center Directors, dated December 5, 2006.  

L-1 visas are available for intracompany transferees, i.e., certain types of employees who are transferred from a foreign company to a related company in the U.S.

Under the general U.S. immigration rule, you must file an EXTENSION OF STAY application for a non-immigrant status (e.g., H-1B, O, L, etc.) BEFORE your original status expires. For example, if your H-1B status expires on November 29, 2006, then you must file your extension of stay application before November 29, 2006. What happens, however, if you fail to file your extension before your original status expires, or you otherwise fail to maintain the previously accorded status? Normally, this means that your extension of stay application will be DENIED. There is an exception however.

"Extension of Stay" refers to the process of extending a non-immigrant status, e.g., H-1B, L, O, etc. It really refers to the extension of the Form I-94, which states a foreign national's STATUS in the U.S. It should not be confused with extending a "visa".

The main requirements for L-1 visas are as follows:

1. The employee must have worked abroad in either (a) a managerial or executive position, or (b) in a position performing services entailing "specialized knowledge"; and must be coming to work in the U.S. in one of these capacities.
2. The company for which the employee worked abroad must be either the same company for which the employee will be working for in the U.S., or a branch, subsidiary, or affiliate of that company.
3. The employee must have worked abroad for that particular company for one continuous year within the three year period immediately preceding the filing of the petition for the L-1 visa.