{"id":2418,"date":"2018-12-04T10:48:04","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T17:48:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swlgpc.com\/eng\/?p=2418"},"modified":"2018-12-04T10:48:04","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T17:48:04","slug":"clarification-l-1-requirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swlgpc.com\/eng\/clarification-l-1-requirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Clarifications on L-1 One-Year Foreign Employment Requirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

On November 15, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a\u00a0policy memorandum<\/a> that provided clarification regarding the one-year foreign employment requirement for the L-1 nonimmigrant classification.<\/p>\n

The L-1 nonimmigrant classification allows an employer to transfer an executive or manager (L-1A<\/a>) or an employee with specialized knowledge (L-1B<\/a>) from one of its qualifying foreign offices to one of its offices in the United States. Amongst the qualification for L-1, an employee is required to \u201cgenerally have been working for a qualifying organization abroad for one continuous year within the three years immediately preceding his or her admission to the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new policy memorandum provides clarification for how to calculate the one-year foreign employment requirement as well as adjustments to the three-year period to ensure that the adjudication of L-1 petitions by USCIS are consistent. According to the policy memorandum:<\/p>\n