USCIS Issues Policy Guidance on the L-1 One-Year Abroad Rule

USCIS has published a Policy Memorandum clarifying the requirement that a qualifying organization employ an L-1 beneficiary abroad for one year out of the three years preceding the filing of the L-1 petition. The Policy Memorandum indicates that the L-1 beneficiary must be physically outside the United States during the required one continuous year of employment, except for brief trips to the United States for business or pleasure, and that the petitioner and the beneficiary must meet all requirements, including the one year of foreign employment, at the time the petitioner files the initial L-1 petition.