Anastasia Tonello comments on new restrictions for L-1 visa applications
6 December 2018
Managing Partner and Head of US Practice Anastasia Tonello spoke to Bloomberg Law regarding a new provision of the L-1 visa category. The category is designed to enable companies to transfer executives, managers, or employees with specialised knowledge.
The new provision will impact companies with employees who have been in the US for part of their qualifying one year of employment with the overseas company. This is the case even if the employee has been paid by the overseas company and has reported directly to the overseas company while spending time in the US, and even impacts employees who have spent time on holiday in the US during the qualifying period.
Anastasia notes the negative effect this new provision will have on companies looking to transfer highly skilled employees to the US, as well as knock-on negative ramifications for US businesses. She also highlights this change in policy as yet another move by US Citizenship and Immigration Services to “close off any discretion”.
Read the full article here.
Latest Insights
12 February 2026
US immigration update – Proposed dual citizenship legislation
Recent proposals in the United States Congress have sparked attention around dual nationality, but at this stage nothing has changed in the law that…
9 February 2026
Christi Jackson quoted in The Financial Times on increasing US visa restrictions
Christi Hufford Jackson has been quoted in the Financial Times in an article titled 'US embassy in London denies visas to executives over minor…
29 January 2026
FY 2027 H-1B registration: Major policy changes and how to prepare
It is time to begin preparing for the upcoming FY 2027 H-1B Cap Registration period. While the H 1B program remains an important pathway for…

