L-1 Visa Requirements: The One-Year Rule, Qualifying Relationship and Role Tests, Checked One by One

The L-1 hinges on one continuous year of full-time work abroad, and the way USCIS counts that year quietly rules out most F-1 and OPT graduates.

Part of our guide to the L-1 visa.

The L-1 visa requirements come down to four tests your employer must prove on Form I-129. The US and foreign entities share a qualifying relationship (parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate) and are both doing business. You worked full-time for that group, physically outside the US, for one continuous year within the three years before the initial petition is filed. That year was managerial, executive or specialized knowledge. And the US job is managerial or executive (L-1A) or needs specialized knowledge (L-1B). These rules are in effect as of November 1, 2026, under 8 CFR 214.2(l) and the USCIS Policy Manual.

The one-year rule has the most counting traps, and it is where F-1 and OPT holders usually fall out. For the wider picture, including the green card path, see our L-1 intracompany transfer guide.

Status as of 2026-11-01

• In effect: the four tests above, unchanged. Policy Manual Volume 2, Part L is current as of 2026-10-27, when PA-2026-16 confirmed that the $4,500 9-11 fee applies to L-1 petitions from covered employers, extensions included.
• Scheduled: from 2026-11-09, USCIS accepts only the 09/09/26 edition of Form I-129. The 02/27/26 edition works only if postmarked or e-filed before that date, and old filing addresses only if postmarked on or before it (USCIS I-129 page).
• Proposed, not law: ending the discretionary 60-day grace period for workers, L-1 included (RIN 1615-AD22, comments close 2026-11-10), and removing deference to prior approvals on I-129 extensions (RIN 1615-AD26, comments close 2026-11-13). Neither is final; today's 60-day grace period and deference rules still apply.
• Does not apply: Proclamation 11069's $100,000 restriction covers H-1B only.

L-1 visa requirements in one paragraph

An L-1 needs a US employer related to your foreign employer as parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate, both doing business. You need one continuous year of full-time work for that group outside the US within the three years before the initial petition is filed, in a managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge role, and a US job at L-1A or L-1B level.

The L-1 eligibility checklist, test by test

L-1 eligibility tests, as of 2026-11-01 (8 CFR 214.2(l); USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 2, Part L)

Test 1: does your employer have a qualifying relationship?

What is a qualifying relationship for an L-1?

It means your foreign and US employers are the same legal employer (a branch) or are linked by ownership and control as parent and subsidiary, or as affiliates. USCIS looks at who owns and who actually controls each entity, not at a shared brand.

Under 8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii), a subsidiary is owned more than half, or half, by the parent with control, or is a 50-50 joint venture with equal control and veto, or is less than half owned but in fact controlled. An affiliate is one of two subsidiaries owned and controlled by the same parent or individual, or one of two entities owned and controlled by the same individuals in roughly the same shares. The Policy Manual excludes relationships based on contracts, licensing or franchises, and says stock certificates, "standing alone, generally are not sufficient."

Do both companies have to be doing business?

Yes, for your entire stay. The regulation requires "the regular, systematic, and continuous provision of goods and/or services" and excludes "the mere presence of an agent or office." The Policy Manual adds that the relationship must "continue to exist during the approval period requested." If the foreign side stops doing business while you are in the US, the qualifying relationship, and the L-1 that rests on it, comes into question.

A blanket L approval settles the corporate relationships in advance, but you still have to show your own year abroad; our explainer on how blanket L-1 petitions qualify covers the company side.

Test 2: the L-1 one-year rule, counted the way USCIS counts it

You need one continuous year of full-time work for the group while physically outside the US, inside the three years before the initial L-1 petition is filed. US days never count. Brief B-1/B-2 trips pause the clock, US work for the group on a work petition stretches the window, and other US time neither counts nor stretches it.

The USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part L, Chapter 6 (current as of October 27, 2026) is direct:

"The 1-year foreign employment requirement is only satisfied by the time a beneficiary spends physically outside the United States working full-time for the petitioner or a qualifying organization."

Which date does the three-year look-back run from?

The filing date of the initial L-1 petition. The regulation's definition of an intracompany transferee and USCIS's L-1A page speak of the three years before "admission." But the regulation's evidence rule, 8 CFR 214.2(l)(3)(iii), asks for the year "within the three years preceding the filing of the petition," and the Policy Manual measures from the initial filing "regardless of when the beneficiary was, or will be, admitted." For extensions and L-1A/L-1B switches, the year must have been met at that same initial filing.

How each kind of US time is treated

US time and the one-year rule, as of 2026-11-01 (2 USCIS-PM L.6(G))

A break of more than two years with the group during the look-back rules the test out, but a person who falls short "may again qualify" after a new qualifying year abroad.

What happens to the year when you visit the US on B-1 or B-2?

Brief B-1 or B-2 visits do not break it; they toll it. Officers "subtract the number of days the beneficiary spent in the United States," so every US day is a day you still owe abroad. The Policy Manual sets no day limit for "brief."

Does working remotely from the US count?

No. A petitioner "cannot use any time that the beneficiary spent in the United States," even if the foreign entity kept paying you. Whether a long remote stretch also breaks continuity depends on your status during it, which is a question for an immigration attorney.

Does part-time work abroad count?

Not under current guidance, which requires time abroad "working full-time." Do not confuse this with 8 CFR 214.2(l)(12)(ii), which exempts part-time commuters from the five- and seven-year limits; that is about maximum stay, not the year abroad.

A worked one-year count with real dates

Say you joined a qualifying affiliate in Bengaluru full-time on 2025-12-01 in a managerial role, then made two B-1 trips to US headquarters: 2026-03-09 to 03-27 and 2026-09-14 to 10-02, 19 days each. The plain anniversary is 2026-11-30. Adding back the 38 tolled days moves completion to 2027-01-07. On this arithmetic, a petition filed in December 2026 falls short of the year, and one filed from about 2027-01-08 clears the counting test on paper; the other three tests still have to be proved. How arrival and departure days are counted is a detail for the employer's attorney.

Can you get an L-1 straight from OPT? Usually not

Rarely. The Policy Manual names OPT directly: F-1 time, OPT with the same company's US office included, neither counts toward the year nor stretches the look-back, because "the purpose of admission was for study." Every month in the US slides the window forward and eats the year you earned abroad.

Take a master's student who worked full-time in a specialized-knowledge role at the group's Indian subsidiary from 2022-07-01 to 2024-07-31, studied in the US from 2024-08-15 to 2026-05-15, and started OPT with the US parent on 2026-06-15.

Here the window closed in early August 2026. Even inside it, the role abroad must have been genuine specialized knowledge. Cap-gap does not help; it covers only timely cap-subject H-1B change-of-status petitions. What remains is a new qualifying year abroad, which our guide to the work-abroad-for-a-year, return-on-L-1 plan walks through month by month, or another route, compared in our guide to H-1B versus L-1 as a target. Talk to your DSO before any departure or status change touches your SEVIS record, and to the employer's attorney about the petition.

Tests 3 and 4: the role abroad and the role in the US

Your year abroad must have been primarily managerial, executive or specialized knowledge, and the US job must be L-1A or L-1B. They need not match: the Policy Manual's eligibility chapter says "a manager abroad could be transferred to the United States in a specialized knowledge capacity or vice versa." A new-office L-1A is the exception; its year abroad must be executive or managerial.

L-1A: manager or executive

A manager primarily runs a department, function or component, supervises professional or managerial staff (or manages an essential function), holds hiring authority or senior standing, and exercises day-to-day discretion. An executive directs the organization or a major component, sets policy and receives only general supervision. The regulation warns that a first-line supervisor is not a manager "unless the employees supervised are professional." If you manage a function rather than people, read why L-1A functional manager petitions get denied.

L-1B: specialized knowledge

The regulation covers special knowledge of the company's products, services, research, techniques or management "and its application in international markets," or "an advanced level of knowledge or expertise in the organization's processes and procedures." General skill in a common technology is not that; see our guide to L-1B specialized knowledge scrutiny.

New-office petitions

A new office is a US entity that has been doing business for under a year. For an L-1A, the employer must show secured premises and that the office will support an executive or managerial position within one year of approval. A new-office L-1B needs secured premises and proof the employer can pay you and start doing business. Either way the first approval is for one year; our guide to the L-1 for opening a new US office covers the renewal.

How long an L-1 lasts and what filing costs

L-1 stay limits, fees and data, as of 2026-11-01

Fees are from the G-1055 fee schedule (edition 10/26/26), which PA-2026-16 names as the list of every fee due on an L-1 Form I-129. Covered employers have 50 or more US employees with more than half, part-time staff counted, in H-1B or L-1 status. An amended petition that does not extend your stay is exempt from the 9-11 fee. Approval rates are approvals divided by approvals plus denials, October 2025 to June 2026, initial and extensions combined, with blanket L petitions excluded, from USCIS I-129 data. They predate PA-2026-05 (in effect since 2026-08-05, challenged), which lets USCIS deny without an RFE when required initial evidence is missing. On 2026-11-01 the processing-times tool showed 6.5 months for 80% of I-129 L cases; check it live.

Step by step: checking the one-year rule before anyone files

1. Request your appointment letter, payroll and proof of full-time hours from the foreign entity's HR department.
2. Download your travel history from CBP's I-94 website and match it to your passport stamps for the last three years.
3. Label each US period by status: B-1/B-2, a work petition for the group, F-1/OPT, L-2 or an unrelated employer.
4. Apply the Policy Manual's three steps, looking back three years from the planned filing date: list the dates you worked for the group abroad, total every break (stretching the window for any work for the group on a principal work petition), then subtract the breaks and see whether a continuous year remains.
5. Bring the results to the employer's immigration attorney, who decides whether and when to file Form I-129 with the L Supplement.
6. Plan the consular step: since 2025-10-01, L applicants, renewals included, interview in person under the State Department's interview-waiver update, and they apply in their country of nationality or residence. Check the live visa wait-times page rather than an old figure.

Common mistakes

• Counting remote US days as time abroad. The year is physical presence abroad, whichever payroll you were on.
• Assuming OPT with the US parent pauses the clock. Only principal work-petition status for the group adjusts the look-back.
• Measuring from the visa interview or entry date instead of the initial filing date.
• Counting part-time or vendor-employed months. Guidance requires full-time work for a qualifying organization. If you sat on a staffing vendor's payroll while placed at the group, who employed you is a question for the attorney before anyone counts those months.
• Treating a franchisee, licensee or contract partner as an affiliate.
• Assuming a blanket L waives the individual year.
• Filing thin evidence and expecting an RFE. Under PA-2026-05 (in effect, challenged), an officer can deny without one when required initial evidence is missing.

Frequently asked questions

What are the requirements for an L-1 visa?

As of November 1, 2026, your US employer must be the same company as, or a parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate of, your foreign employer, with both doing business. You need one continuous year of full-time work for that group outside the US within the three years before the initial petition is filed, in a managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge role, and a US job at L-1A or L-1B level.

Does remote work from the US count toward the L-1 one-year rule?

No. The USCIS Policy Manual (current as of October 27, 2026) counts only time spent physically outside the United States working full-time for the qualifying organization, even if the foreign entity kept paying you during US stays. Whether a long remote stretch also breaks continuity depends on your status, so raise it with an immigration attorney.

Do business trips to the US break the one continuous year?

Brief B-1 or B-2 visits do not break it, according to the USCIS Policy Manual as of October 27, 2026. They pause the clock, so the US days are subtracted and you need that many extra days of qualifying work abroad.

Can I get an L-1 straight from OPT?

Rarely. Per the USCIS Policy Manual as of October 27, 2026, F-1 time, including OPT with the same company's US office, neither counts toward the year abroad nor extends the three-year look-back. It works only if a full continuous year of qualifying work abroad for the same group still sits inside the three years before filing.

Does part-time work abroad count for L-1?

Under current USCIS guidance, no. The Policy Manual (current as of October 27, 2026) says the year is met only by time abroad working full-time for the petitioner or a qualifying organization. Ask the employer's immigration attorney how your schedule history will be read.

Sources

• USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 2, Part L, Ch. 6 (Key Concepts) and Ch. 2 (General Eligibility)
• USCIS L-1A page and L-1B page
• 8 CFR 214.2(l)
• Form I-129, G-1055 and PA-2026-16
• USCIS I-129 data, FY2026 Q3 and the USCIS processing-times tool
• State Department interview-waiver update and global visa wait times
• Worker grace-period NPRM and deference NPRM

How we checked this: on November 1, 2026 we read 8 CFR 214.2(l) on eCFR, the USCIS L-1A, L-1B and I-129 pages, Policy Manual Volume 2, Part L, Chapters 2 and 6 (current as of October 27, 2026), the G-1055 PDF (edition 10/26/26), PA-2026-16, the FY2026 Q3 I-129 data file and the Federal Register entries for both proposals, and checked every quotation against the source text.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice; your own I-797, I-94 and records govern, so have your employer's immigration attorney (or your DSO, for F-1, OPT or SEVIS questions) review your facts.

If you are weighing an internal transfer against an H-1B or another route and want help with the US job-search side, F1Jobs is glad to talk it through.