I'm going through a transfer process from my Canadian company to it's U.S. affiliate and was wondering if anybody knows whether I have to be actively employed with the Canadian company while petitioning for the L-1 visa or I can quit and take a break while the L-1 is being processed/petitioned for me to work in the states?
No you cannot
I think you can be on vacation or leave of absence but don't terminate your employment.
I was working in Canada with a 1 year visa and before it expired I applied for the L1. When my Canadian visa expired, I had to be terminated at the company. I came back to my country, wait for the paperwork (the lawyer sent it in like a week), did the interview at the embassy and then I got rehired in the US affiliate with the L1. So I had like 3-4 weeks break in between and I was officially unemployed during that time.
That's a good data point, thanks for sharing
You don't need to be actively employed by the company. I am 100% sure of that as i have done that. Only US doesn't have an active employment requirement. UK and Canada both have that. The legal requirement is 1 year in the past 3 year on the day of application
This is what I was referencing too as well (the 1 year continuous employment over preceding 3 years). I was planning on submitting my resignation once I know the US employer has filed the L-1 petition. Because at that point the only responsibility I have is to maintain communication with the US company right?
it should be processed in a couple of days was 2 days for me 🤔 do these few days really matter? you will take your brake once you will be moving to US
Not a few days but my start date is in 4 months time and I know the visa takes probably about 8-10 weeks to process. I was just wondering whether I can quit my Canadian company during that period of processing and before my start date