How long I can stay on L1

[Simrat]

I have multiple questions

1 - I am in US on blanket L1, now for L1 one can stay for 5 years or 6 years like on H1 in US before one has to leave US for one year.
2 - I first visited US in 2008 on B1, than on L1 in 2009 stayed for 3 months, finally I came to US on Aug-2010 and has been here since than. Now against the tenure of 5/6 years, will the time I stayed in US only will be accounted or the clock started ticking on my first visit?
3 - As I came on B1 first which is not a work visa, will that be accounted as my first visit to calculate the 5/6 years period or it will be when I first came on my work visa?

[raghvi]

I have multiple questions

1 - I am in US on blanket L1, now for L1 one can stay for 5 years or 6 years like on H1 in US before one has to leave US for one year.
2 - I first visited US in 2008 on B1, than on L1 in 2009 stayed for 3 months, finally I came to US on Aug-2010 and has been here since than. Now against the tenure of 5/6 years, will the time I stayed in US only will be accounted or the clock started ticking on my first visit?
3 - As I came on B1 first which is not a work visa, will that be accounted as my first visit to calculate the 5/6 years period or it will be when I first came on my work visa?

Till when is your I-94 valid? Primarily I-94 determines till when one can stay in US subject to individual visa restrictions below, if GC is filed timely you may be able to extend beyond these timelines too.

On L1B one can possibly stay 5 Years (initial 3 Years + 2 years extension if approved). On H1 one can stay 6 years (3 Years + 3 Years if extension approved). on L1A one can possibly stay 7 Years. Certain specialized H1s can stay for 10 Years. L1+H1 can be for 6 Years.

Your B1 visit will not be counted, only time spent physically in US counts towards the 5/6/7 Years limit. So your 3 Months in 2009 + Aug-2010 till date, so effectively you have already stayed around 31 Months on L1.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[Simrat]

Till when is your I-94 valid? Primarily I-94 determines till when one can stay in US subject to individual visa restrictions below, if GC is filed timely you may be able to extend beyond these timelines too.

On L1B one can possibly stay 5 Years (initial 3 Years + 2 years extension if approved). On H1 one can stay 6 years (3 Years + 3 Years if extension approved). on L1A one can possibly stay 7 Years. Certain specialized H1s can stay for 10 Years. L1+H1 can be for 6 Years.

Your B1 visit will not be counted, only time spent physically in US counts towards the 5/6/7 Years limit. So your 3 Months in 2009 + Aug-2010 till date, so effectively you have already stayed around 31 Months on L1.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

Raghvi, thanks a lot for your response. I am aware of I-94. I am precisely inquiring about that tenure after which one has to leave US for 1 year which you stated is 5 years for L1 and thanks for clarifying that.

Another confusion I had is that is the time only when you were physically present in US counted or the clock starts ticking on your first entry. For example I came on L1 first in may 2009, so do my 5 years complete in May-2014 or it will be just when I was physically present i.e. for 31 months?

[raghvi]

Raghvi, thanks a lot for your response. I am aware of I-94. I am precisely inquiring about that tenure after which one has to leave US for 1 year which you stated is 5 years for L1 and thanks for clarifying that.

Another confusion I had is that is the time only when you were physically present in US counted or the clock starts ticking on your first entry. For example I came on L1 first in may 2009, so do my 5 years complete in May-2014 or it will be just when I was physically present i.e. for 31 months?

Yes you are right only the physical time spent is counted towards the time. So your 5 years will complete when you have spent 60 Months in US.

This is my opinion not legal advice.