COS from H1B to L1A

[jbd]

Hi,

I started working with a company in USA on H1B visa from from Oct-2010 to Jun-2016.
I was out of country and started working at managerial position for the same company outside of USA from June-2016 to Aug-2017(14 months).
I came back to USA in August 2017 in H1B visa extended on I-140 on EB2 and resumed USA office with the same employer now.

My employer is willing to do convert my case from EB2 to EB1 but want to apply L1A->EB1C route. So my questions are...

1. Since I was out of country for more than year(June-2016 to Aug-2017) and entered the US back in Aug-2017 using my extended H1B petition, my clock does not reset?
2. As I have completed around 7.2 years of my total H1B stay so far, Am I still eligible for CHANGE OF STATUS from H1B to L1A now?

Thanks in Advance.

[scientist2016]

Hi,

I started working with a company in USA on H1B visa from from Oct-2010 to Jun-2016.
I was out of country and started working at managerial position for the same company outside of USA from June-2016 to Aug-2017(14 months).
I came back to USA in August 2017 in H1B visa extended on I-140 on EB2 and resumed USA office with the same employer now.

My employer is willing to do convert my case from EB2 to EB1 but want to apply L1A->EB1C route. So my questions are...

1. Since I was out of country for more than year(June-2016 to Aug-2017) and entered the US back in Aug-2017 using my extended H1B petition, my clock does not reset?
2. As I have completed around 7.2 years of my total H1B stay so far, Am I still eligible for CHANGE OF STATUS from H1B to L1A now?

Thanks in Advance.

1. Yes it does not reset.
2. No.
BTW there is no rule that you need to be on L1A to apply for EB1C.