British Expatriate Network

Hi There,

I was in the US on an L1-A for 7 years, but at the end of the 7 yrs, the company shut down. For the last year I've been working for an English company (a different one) using a B1 visa, basically moving all the old L1 clients to the new English company (getting the accounts, negotiating the contracts - all the work was done in the UK) - so I've spent about 10 of the last 12 months in the 'states.

Now English company wants me to set up a US office. To get a new L1-A, I need to have worked for foreign company for one year abroad. Any idea minimum amount of time over the year I need to spend in the UK to qualify?

Also, there is a 7 year L1-A limit. Is that just for a given employer or is that me done with L1-A's for life for anyone now?

Any input much appreciated! (Also the names of any really hot immigration attorneys in or around NYC!).

Best Wishes,
Peter

Afraid I"ve used a couple of attorneys in the US and they are all much the same which is not a good thing!

On the speding time out of the country - I ran into this when I applied for my L1A and L1B 3 years ago. Any time spent in the US whether vacation or working (or on business in the case of your B1) counts against the 365 day requirement when applying (although I'm not sure how or if they actually check this). As for time abroad it doesn't seem to matter where as long as it is not the US, I know I spent time in France and Germany and it all counted. So, if indeed you have been employed by your new employer for 12 months and been in the US for 10 months, my understanding is that you need to spend another 10 months somewhere else before applying for the L again.

I kept a spreadsheet showing days I had been out of the US whilst employed by my UK company and as soon as we hit 365 we applied and eventually the application was successful.