sustained EB-1C Case: Management Consulting

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re: 67 46210 
Appeal of Texas Service Center Decision 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date : DEC. 12, 2019 
PETITION: Form I-140, Petition for Multinational Managers or Executives 
The Petitioner, an international management consulting firm, seeks to permanently employ the 
Beneficiary as its "Engagement Manager" under the first preference immigrant classification for 
multinational executives or managers . See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) 
section 203(b)(l)(C), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(l)(C). An immigrant visa is available to a beneficiary who, 
in the three years preceding the filing of the petition, has been employed outside the United States for at 
least one year in a managerial or executive capacity, and seeks to enter the United States to continue 
rendering managerial or executive services to the same employer or to its subsidiary or affiliate. Id. 
The Director of the Texas Service Center denied the petition concluding that the Petitioner did not 
establish, as required, that the Beneficiary was employed abroad for one year out of the three years 
prior to filing this petition. The Director found that the Beneficiary's August 2015 entry to the United 
States as an F-1 nonimmigrant was not for the purpose of "working for" the petitioning organization 
and therefore interrupted the Beneficiary's prior period of employment for the petitioning 
organization. In light of this determination, the Director did not rely on the date of the Beneficiary's 
July 2014 1 entry as an L-1 nonimmigrant to calculate the relevant three-year time period of foreign 
employment, and instead relied on the Beneficiary's May 2017 U.S. entry as an L-1 nonimmigrant to 
calculate that time period, concluding that the Beneficiary was not employed for one out of the three 
years that preceded that entry. 
The matter is now before us on appeal. In these proceedings , it is the Petitioner's burden to establish 
eligibility for the requested benefit. Section 291 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1361. Upon de nova review, 
we find that the Petitioner has met its burden of establishing that the Beneficiary has the requisite one 
year of employment abroad within the relevant three-year period . 2 
According to the statute, the relevant period during which a beneficiary must have had one year of 
managerial or executive employment abroad is the three years "preceding the time of the alien's 
1 Although the Petitioner claims that the Beneficiary was employed abroad from February 2012 to August 2014, the 
Beneficiary's record of arrivals and departures into and out of the United States shows that she entered the United States 
as an F-1 nonimmigrant on July 26, 2014. Therefore her employment abroad ceased in July, rather than August of 2014. 
2 The record indicates that the Beneficiary's employment with the Petitioner 's foreign affiliate was more likely than not in 
a managerial capacity. 
application for classification and admission into the United States under this subparagraph." Section 
203(b)(l)(C) of the Act; Matter of S-P-, Inc., Adopted Decision 2018-01 (AAO Mar. 19, 2018). If the 
beneficiary is outside the United States at the time of filing, the petitioner must demonstrate that the 
beneficiary's one year of qualifying foreign employment occurred within the three years immediately 
preceding the filing of the petition. 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(j)(3)(i)(A). If the beneficiary is already working in 
the United States for the petitioner, or its affiliate or subsidiary, at the time of filing, the petitioner must 
demonstrate that the beneficiary's year of foreign employment occurred in the three years preceding his 
or her entJy as a nonimmigrant. See 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(j)(3)(i)(B); Matter of S-P-. 
In this matter, the Beneficiary's record of U.S. arrivals and departures shows that she initially entered 
the United States as an L-1 nonimmigrant on July 26, 2014, and remained in the United States in that 
status until June 4, 2015. She later changed her status to that of an F-1 nonimmigrant and entered the 
United States in August 2015, remaining in F-1 status for approximately 22 months before returning 
to the United States as an L-1 nonimmigrant on May 9, 201 7, 3 to work for the Petitioner. According 
to Matter of S-P-, "a break in qualifying employment longer than two years will interrupt a 
beneficiary's continuity of employment with the petitioner's multinational organization." Applying 
that reasoning to the facts presented herein, we find that there was a "break" in the Beneficiary's 
qualifying employment with the petitioning organization during her stay in the United States as an F­
l nonimmigrant. However, that break was for a duration of only 22 months and thus it should not 
disqualify the Beneficiary from meeting the foreign employment requirement. 
In light of the above, we find that the Beneficiary's stay in the United States in F-1 status did not 
interrupt her "continuity of employment" and therefore, the relevant reference point for purposes of 
calculating the three-year period of foreign employment is her July 2014 entry as an L-1 
nonimmigrant. Counting back three years from July 2014, the Petitioner must show that the 
Beneficiary was employed by a qualifying entity abroad for at least one year between July 2011 and 
July 2014. The record shows that the Beneficiary worked for the Petitioner's foreign affiliate from 
February 2012 to July 26, 2014; therefore, she has the requisite one-year of foreign employment during 
the relevant three-year time period. 
ORDER: The appeal is sustained. 
3 Although the Director referred to the Beneficiary's entry to the United States on June 9, 2017, her first U.S. entry as an 
L-1 nonimmigrant after changing status from that of an F-1 nonimmigrant was actually on May 9, 2017. 
2