Evidence of One Year of L-1 Employment Abroad

The filing should identify the employer, start and end dates, job titles, promotions, leaves, U.S. travel, and qualifying duties during the claimed period.

The foreign employment evidence should establish an exact chronology for the qualifying year. Identify the legal employer, start and end dates, work location, job titles, promotions, leaves, and periods of US travel. The regulation generally requires one continuous year of qualifying full-time employment abroad within the applicable three-year period. The chronology should be compared with passports, I-94 records, payroll, tax records, personnel files, resumes, and prior immigration filings. Date inconsistencies should be explained before filing because uncertainty about even a small period can affect whether the required continuous year is established.

USCIS instructions identify a letter from the foreign qualifying employer detailing dates, duties, and qualifications as relevant evidence.

A detailed letter from the foreign qualifying employer is central evidence because the Form I-129 instructions call for documentation of the beneficiary's foreign employment, duties, dates, and qualifications. The letter should identify the legal employer, relationship to the US petitioner, exact period of employment, location, position, and substantive duties. It should also explain whether the foreign work was managerial, executive, or involved specialized knowledge. A conclusory title or statement that the employee was important is weaker than a factual description that can be compared with payroll, organization charts, and other records.

Payroll statements, salary records, tax records, employment contracts, social insurance records, or other local employment documents can support the claim.

Objective employment records can corroborate that the claimed foreign employment was genuine and continuous. Depending on the country and employer, evidence may include payroll statements, salary records, bank deposits, tax filings, social insurance records, employment contracts, personnel records, attendance records, or government employment registrations. Not every document is required in every case, but the evidence should be internally consistent and should match the dates and employer identified in the petition. Gaps in payroll or unusual compensation arrangements should be explained rather than left to appear as breaks in qualifying employment.

Brief U.S. trips may not necessarily break continuity, but the physical U.S. days do not count toward the required foreign employment.

Time physically present in the United States does not count toward fulfillment of the required foreign employment year. Under 8 CFR 214.2(l), certain lawful US employment periods for the same or a qualifying related employer and brief business or pleasure trips may not interrupt the continuity of the foreign employment period, but those US days still do not count toward the year abroad. The petition should therefore reconcile every US trip with the claimed chronology. Passport stamps, I-94 history, travel records, and employer records can establish the dates needed for an accurate calculation.

Organization charts, project records, subordinate information, technical records, performance documents, and detailed duties can establish managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge employment.

The petitioner must prove not only that the beneficiary worked abroad, but that the foreign employment was in a qualifying capacity. Detailed duties should establish managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge work under the applicable definitions. Organization charts, subordinate information, project records, technical documents, training records, performance materials, or other company evidence can corroborate the foreign role. The US position may be in a different qualifying capacity, but the foreign employment relied upon for the one-year requirement must itself qualify. Titles such as manager, director, or specialist do not substitute for evidence of the actual duties.

For an L-1A beneficiary coming to open a new office, the qualifying foreign employment must have been managerial or executive rather than solely specialized knowledge.

An L-1A beneficiary coming to open or work in a new US office faces a narrower foreign-role rule. The regulations require the qualifying foreign year to have been in a managerial or executive capacity; specialized knowledge employment alone cannot support L-1A new office eligibility. The filing should therefore document the foreign managerial or executive duties in detail and place them within the foreign company's staffing and organizational structure. If the beneficiary held several positions abroad during the relevant period, the chronology should identify which periods satisfy the required managerial or executive capacity and whether they form the necessary continuous year.