Regarding L1A Individual Stay

[dagrawal2]

Hi,

i came to usa in Feb 2014 on L1A Individual visa. I had to travel back in Sep 2016 due to some family emergencies. And came back again in Mar 2018. Still I am in USA.

I am little bit confused with my overall stay. my stay will be counting from Feb 2014 or it will be counting from Mar 2018 as there was a gap of 16 months (which is more than a year).

Could someone please help me to identify this.

[Libra_14]

Are you using the same visa & petition which was issued on Feb 2014? If yes, then your earlier stay will be counted.

If you applied for a new visa & petition in Mar 2018, then that won't be counted - since you took a break of more than a year outside USA.

[dagrawal2]

Thanks for your reply.

i came in Mar 2018 using same visa but I had to apply for extension in May 2018 because visa was valid till May 2018 only. so I got extension approved.

so what should be in that case?

[Libra_14]

Since you used the same visa/petition. Your overall stay will be counted (i.e. from Feb 2014). But your leave of absence will NOT be counted.

So effectively:
Feb 2014 to Sep 2016 - ~19 months stayed
Mar 2018 to Nov 2019 - ~21 months stayed

You can stay for 44 months more.