L1 B Visa Total Stay

[agan]

Hi
I am in USA in L1-B visa from Apr 2005. I heard that I can stay upto 5 years on L1-B visa and can apply for L1-A and stay for 2 more years(total of 7 years stay in L1 category).
My visa was issued on Apr 2005 and I came here on July 2005. While calculating the total stay period of 5 years, Do I need to take from Apr 2005 or from the period of arrival (July 2005) and in between July 2005 and now(Mar 2010), I have taken 4 months vacation. So this 4 months of vacation should be included in the total period of stay or we can deduct this?.

Visa Issued on 18 Apr 2005.
Entered US on 18 June 2005
Taken Vacation - Nov 2006 to Dec 2006
Taken vacation - June 2008 to 8 Aug 2008.
Applied for Fresh L1 B Petition and got it approved till 07-Jul-2011 and my I-94 also upto 07-Jul-2011.

My L1-Visa total period of stay comes to end on 18-Apr-2010 or I have to take the US entry period (18-June-2005) into calculation and take the end date as 18-June-2010. Can I include the vacation days in these calucations.

Please advice. Thanks for your help.

Thanks
N.Naga

[shervin143]

In case of L1, recapturing the time spent outside the country is little difficult compared to H1B. However it is still a possibility. Talk to your company attorney. Your clock starts from the day you arrived in U.S and not from the day of your approval.