I am a Polish citizen currently present in U.S. on F-2 visa. My father in 1994 obtained U.S citizenship through his mother (my grandmother) who was born in U.S. in 1906. My father was born in Poland and has never been in U.S. Am I eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship through my father?

If you refer to my article on citizenship acquired by birth abroad, you would see that in order to transmit citizenship to a child the parent must have resided in the U.S. for a period of time. Refer to the article for further information. As your father has never been in the U.S., you do not have a claim to U.S. citizenship through him. However, as a U.S. citizen he can petition you for permanent residence under a family-based immigration category. However, Congress plans to eliminate family categories that permit the sponsoring of adult children. You may already be too late. Check my article on pending legislation.

I believe that I am eligible for L-1 status. However, I am not on the payroll of the company abroad. I have been paid as an independent contractor, although in all other respects I am an employee. Will I be able to establish L-1 eligibility?

The term "employed" is not defined in the Immigration and Nationality Act or in Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations ("8 CFR") within the context of the L-1 category. However, 8 CFR does define the term elsewhere. 8 CFR §274a.1(f) defines "employee" as an individual who provides services or labor for an employer for wages or other remuneration but does not mean independent contractors. The definition of "independent contractor" in 8 CFR §274a.1(j) suggests that it is possible to be an employee even without a traditional T-4 establishing employment. A recent letter from the Chief of the Nonimmigrant Branch at the INS Office of adjudications has confirmed this as well. It suggests that the INS will be concerned more with factors such as the degree of control that the employer has over the employee's activities.