Cooling period between L1B and L1A

USA L1, L2 Visa
1

Hi,
My query is regarding cooling period between L1B and L1A

Background: I was in US on L1B from May 2010 to June 30 2015, almost exhausting out my L1B stay (after considering vacation time outside US in that period). After I came back to my home country, my company processed my B1 business Visa using which I traveled to back to US a couple of times totaling 90 days of stay in US on B1 (last exit from US on B1 was in March 2016). Now my company wants to apply for my L1A Blanket Visa.

Moreover the Blanket petition and I129S is already generated for me by my company for the current L1A processing. I haven’t filled the DS160 yet or taken appointment date at US Consulate. Following are the set of questions that I have.

  1. As I am going from L1B to L1A, do I have to wait for 365 days or if I apply it now, would I be able to avail only 2 years (7 years - 5 years) on L1A (L1B + H1B + L1A max out of 7 years) ?

If answer to the first question is I have to wait 365 days, following are subsequent questions that I have.

  1. Will my cooling period be June 30th 2015 + 365 days (cooling period requirement) + 90 days (stay in US on B1) ? Or is the cooling period calculated from the last exit from US regardless of the Visa Type. Should one wait for 365 days continuous days outside US or can it be cumulative 365 days ?

  2. Honoring the cooling period, should the 365 days wait be before the Visa Interview Appearance or 365 days before my company can even start creating my documents - I129S forms, etc ? E.g. If I get a Visa Interview date of Oct 2016, I will have completed 365 cumulative days outside of US, even though the I129S is probably dated June 2016.

  3. Currently the personal appearance appointment wait times at Chennai for L1 Visa is hovering around 80-85 days. Should I time my Visa interview date to cross the 365 days to maximize my fresh L1A validity ?

Appreciate the help.

Thanks

2

  1. If you want to reset the clock and want 7 years of L-1A then you need to wait for 365 days from the last exit date on B-1. If you are ok with 2 years of L-1A, then you can go ahead now.

  2. It would be 365 days from the date you left US on B-1.

  3. Visa stamping date should be after 365 days. You can have the documents ready even before that.

  4. It would be Mar 2017 in your case