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L-1 One-Year Foreign Employment Requirement

Tiyalaw — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 04:37:14 +0000

L-1 One-Year Foreign Employment Requirement

Recently, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) clarified the “one-year foreign employment” for an L-1A intracompany transferee as follows:

1. The L-1 Beneficiary must be physically outside the U.S. during the continuous one-year foreign employment, except for brief visits to the U.S. Additional days of foreign employment must be accrued to account for the brief visits to the U.S.

2. The L-1 Beneficiary must have been employed abroad by a qualifying organization for at least one continuous year out of the three (3) years when the “initial L-1” is being “filed” to USCIS, regardless of when the L-1 Beneficiary was or will be admitted to the U.S.

3. Additionally, the 3-year period is calculated as below:

(a) If L-1 Beneficiary is already in the U.S. working in a non-L-1 nonimmigrant work status (e.g. H-1B or E-2) for the qualifying organization, the 3-year period is to look back 3 years from the non-L-1 nonimmigrant work status (e.g. H-1B or E-2).

(b) The 3-year period is to look back for 3 years from the date of filing the initial L-1 Petition:

(i) If L-1 Beneficiary is working in the U.S. for the qualifying organization in an L-2 dependent status of L-1 or F-1 student such as Optional Practical Training.

(ii) If L-1 Beneficiary is already in the U.S. working for an unrelated organization or not working.

(iii) If it is an L-1 extension.

4. Moreover, if an L-1 Beneficiary stops working for the qualifying organization as a principal beneficiary for a period of more than two years during the three years preceding the petition filing, the one-year foreign employment requirement will not be met. Such an L-1 Beneficiary must start another one-year employment in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity with the qualifying organization abroad to qualify for an L-1 Petition.

USCIS is a part of DHS. USCIS administers the U.S. lawful immigration system such as adjudicating requests for immigration benefits.

For additional information, please visit:

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/2018/2018-11-15-PM-602-0167-L-1-foreign-employment-requirement.pdf

November 29, 2018

This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as legal advice or attorney-client relationship. By Aik Wan Kok, Lawyer USA Immigration Services, at Tiya; Tel: 703-772-822four & info at tiyaimmigration dot com; Tel (from abroad): 001-7037728224four;

https://www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; https://immigrationresource.net

Aik Wan Kok at Tiya represents companies, employers, individuals and families, located nationwide and internationally, in U.S. Immigration Law. We focus on diverse immigration cases such as extraordinary ability; national interest waiver; PERM; various green cards; N-400 Naturalization; various waivers; Hs; L executive, manager and specialized knowledge professionals; E treaty investor/trader; cases with USCIS, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Consulates and National Visa Center.

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Proposed Law on Public Charge for Denying Cases for More Current and Potential Welfare Benefits Recipients

Tiyalaw — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 07:00:27 +0000

Proposed Law on Public Charge for Denying Cases for More Current and Potential Welfare Benefits Recipients

Recently, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) proposes new law to widen the “public charge” determination for recipients of various welfare benefits. Those who are likely to become a “public charge” at any time in the future will be inadmissible and disqualify from various immigration green card applications, admissions, visas; and nonimmigrant change of status and extension of stay.
USCIS will publish the effective date for proposed rules upon completing public comments and reviews.

The public benefits (beyond certain thresholds) that are covered by the proposed “public charge” determination includes:

Receipt of designated public benefits, including cash assistance for income maintenance, Medicaid (with limited exceptions for Medicaid benefits paid for an “emergency medical condition,” and for certain disability services related to education), Medicare Part D Low Income Subsidy, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps), any benefit provided for institutionalization for long-term care at government expense, Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program, Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, and Public Housing. Generally, these covered benefits represent the largest Federal programs for low-income people by total expenditure that address basic living needs such as income, housing, food, and medical care.
Under the proposed rule, receipt of public benefits that are not covered by the 1999 Interim Field Guidance (i.e., Medicaid, the Medicare Part D Low Income Subsidy, SNAP, and the designated housing benefits) would not be considered for public charge purposes. Only such benefits receipt that occurred after a final rule becomes effective will be considered public charge.

The proposed rules will not affect foreign nationals specifically exempted from the public charge ground of inadmissibility, such as refugees, asylees, Afghans and Iraqis with special immigrant visas, nonimmigrant trafficking and crime victims, individuals applying under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and special immigrant juveniles; and also excludes consideration of benefits received by U.S. citizen children of aliens who will acquire citizenship under either section 320 or 322 of the INA, and by alien service members of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Additionally, most lawful permanent residents would not be subject to inadmissibility determinations; certain exceptions apply.

For additional information, please visit:

https://www.uscis.gov/legal-resources/proposed-change-public-charge-ground-inadmissibility

September 22, 2018

This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as legal advice or attorney-client relationship. By Aik Wan Kok, Lawyer USA Immigration Services, at Tiya; Tel: 703-772-8224 & info at tiyaimmigration dot com; Tel (from abroad): 001-7037728224;

https://www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; https://immigrationresource.net

Aik Wan Kok at Tiya represents companies, employers, individuals and families, located nationwide and internationally, in U.S. Immigration Law. We focus on diverse immigration cases such as extraordinary ability; national interest waiver; PERM; green card; N-400 Naturalization; various waivers; H cases; L executive, manager and specialized knowledge professional; E treaty investor/trader; cases with USCIS, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Consulates and National Visa Center.

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Immigration News: USCIS & FAM New Policy for Sibling DNA Testing

Tiyalaw — Thu, 03 May 2018 23:44:35 +0000

Immigration News: USCIS & FAM New Policy for Sibling DNA Testing

Recently, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a new immigration policy on establishing sibling or half-sibling relationship when primary evidence is unavailable or unreliable. A USCIS officer may suggest or consider a direct sibling-to-sibling DNA test by an AABB-accredited lab when establishing sibling relationship in immigration cases.

Additionally, since January 24, 2017 and pursuant to 9 FAM 601.11-1 (A)(3) and 9 FAM 601.11-1 (B) of the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), U.S. Consular officers are permitted to recommend direct sibling-to-sibling DNA testing as one of the ways of establishing sibling relationship.

For additional information on immigration policies on direct sibling-to-sibling DNA testing, please see https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-updates-policy-dna-evidence-support-sibling-relationships and https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/policy_updates/17%20STATE%206984%20Permitting%20Direct%20Sibling-to-sibling%20and%20Half-Sibling%20DNA%20Testing%20as%20Evidence%20of%20Relationship.pdf

This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as legal advice or attorney-client relationship. By Aik Wan Kok, Lawyer USA Immigration Services, at Tiya; Tel: 703-772-8224 & info at tiyaimmigration dot com; Direct dial from abroad: 001-703-7728224; https://www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; https://immigrationresource.net

Aik Wan Kok Fillali at Tiya represents companies, employers, individuals and families, located nationwide and internationally, in U.S. Immigration & Nationality Law. We focus on diverse immigration cases such as extraordinary ability; national interest waiver; PERM; green card; N-400 Naturalization; various waivers; H cases; L executive, manager and specialized knowledge professional; E treaty investor/trader; cases with USCIS, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Consulates and National Visa Center.

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Green Card for Multinational Manager or Executive or L-1A Intracompany Transferee – New USCIS Clarifications on EB-1C

Tiyalaw — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 02:24:01 +0000

Green Card for Multinational Manager or Executive or L-1A Intracompany Transferee – New USCIS Clarifications on EB-1C

Generally, a multinational manager or executive (L-1A intracompany transferee) who has worked outside the U.S. for a qualifying multinational organization for at least one (1) out of the three (3) years may apply for an immigrant petition to be a U.S. permanent resident under employment-based classification 1 (EB-1C). This is pursuant to Section 203(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration & Nationality Act (INA).

Lawful permanent residence is also known as Green Card. There are many ways for foreign nationals to apply for Green Cards in and to the U.S., and EB-1C multinational manager or executive is just one of them. An EB-1C Green Card is initiated by a qualifying employer by filing an I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. After complying with the qualifying period as a Green Card holder, a person is eligible to apply for naturalization to be a U.S. citizen. Once a person is naturalized, he/she may apply for a U.S. passport.

If the beneficiary is outside the United States at the time of filing the Green Card, the multinational manager or executive’s one-year qualifying foreign employment must have occurred within the three years preceding the filing of the petition. 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(j)(3)(i)(A). If the multinational manager or executive is already working in the United States in L-1A status for the L-1A employer-petitioner, or its affiliate or subsidiary, at the time of filing filing the Green Card, the employer-petitioner must demonstrate that the L-1A multinational manager or executive’s one-year qualifying foreign employment must have occurred within the three years preceding his or her entry as a nonimmigrant. See 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(j)(3)(i)(B).

An intracompany transferee of specialized knowledge who is not a multinational manager or executive such as those under L-1B does not qualify for Green Card under EB-1C.

The approval of an immigrant petition for multinational manager or executive with the eventual approval of I-485 Applications for Adjustment of Status in the U.S. or approval of immigrant visas consular processing, will confer the multinational manager or executive and his/her qualifying family members with Green Cards.

Recently, the U.S. immigration clarifies that if the multinational manager or executive leaves the qualifying employer for more than two (2) years after working with a qualifying employer for at least one (1) year, he/she will not qualify for Green Card under EB-1C even if he returns to the same qualifying employer. This ineligibility applies regardless if the interruption of employment happened prior to multinational manager or executive’s admission as a nonimmigrant or after his/her entry to the United States. To qualify again, the multinational manager or executive must complete another year of qualifying employment with the qualifying employer outside the U.S., before being eligible to apply for Green Card under EB-1C. However, an employee whose break in continuous employment with the qualifying employer is less than 2 years may still be eligible to apply for EB-1C.

This U.S. immigration clarification is published as a policy memorandum on March 22, 2018 by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) based on The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) immigration adjudication of the Matter of S-P-, Inc., Adopted Decision 2018-01 (AAO Mar. 19, 2018) on March 19, 2018. This AAO adjudication is utilized as a form of policy memorandum by USCIS serving as a guidance only, and does not create any rights to Green Card. Each case is adjudicated on a discretionary basis by USCIS. For further information on the Matter of S-P-, Inc., please see

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/2018/2018-03-19-PM-602-0158-Matter-of-S-P.pdf

Even though not all immigration cases are appealed to the AAO, AAO has appellate jurisdiction over approximately 50 different types of immigration case. AAO is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). USCIS is a part of DHS. Certain immigration cases are appealed to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) such as the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).

March 22, 2018

This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as legal advice or attorney-client relationship. By Aik Wan Kok, Lawyer USA Immigration Services, at Tiya; Tel: 703-772-8224 & info at tiyaimmigration dot com; Direct dial from abroad: 001-703-772-8224; https://www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; https://immigrationresource.net

Need help with green card, work visas, work permit, sponsoring family, sponsoring employees, sponsoring relatives, hardships or immigration waivers, U.S. naturalization/citizenship, and cases with USCIS, Department of Labor or immigration? We represent employers, companies, individuals, and families in U.S. Immigration & Nationality Law. Our clients are based nationwide in the U.S. and internationally. We represent diverse immigration cases including, but are not limiting to: extraordinary ability; national interest waiver; PERM with U.S. Department of Labor; I-130 for sponsoring relatives and families; I-140 for employment green card; I-485 to adjust status; I-765 work permit/employment authorization; I-131 for international travel and returning to the U.S; I-601 extreme hardship waiver relatives of U.S. citizen or green card holder; I-751 joint filing or waiver; N-400 Naturalization/Citizenship; N-648 Medical Waiver; I-212 waiver for deportation or removal order; J waiver; H-1B professional worker/specialty occupation; H-2B temporary worker; L executive, manager and specialized knowledge professional transferring from overseas; E treaty investors/traders; B-1 business visitor to the U.S.; B-2 visitor to the U.S.; F-1 student coming to study in the U.S.; matters pertaining to consular processing with U.S. consulates and National Visa Centers; cases with USCIS; cases with U.S. Department of Labor; PERM audit; RFE Request for Evidence (RFE); NOID Notice of Intention to Deny (NOID); and many more.