L1 application - credible?

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caledonia

Registered Users (C)
Firstly, I'm really impressed by the content of the site here and by the various people who spend time answering questions and passing on information - keep up the good work!

I am an MD of a small uk Ltd company. We incorporated in 2001 and have been trading ever since. The company has a modest turnover and is owned and run by 3 directors. Currently, I am paid for my work exclusively via expense claims and dividends. I own over 1/3 of the business.

We've recently formed a wholly-owned subsidiary in the US (an LLC) and now with stock (product) actually in our US warehouse, we are about to commence trading. I'm seriously considering going out to the US on an L1 and as far as I can see, there's no real reason why we wouldn't qualify. Any thoughts?

One added complication is that my parents have been out there (Florida) for about 8 years now on a green card. (My father is the current sole employee of the newly formed US company). The desire to go out is a genuine one, ie to grow the company but I wonder if the application would be viewed suspiciously?

Thanks for your help.
 
You can expect scrutiny for any application received by USCIS especially for starting businesses on L visas. This doesn't mean however that it's too difficult for a small company. Just try to be very precise and have a good attorney to help you out.
All in all I don't see any problem of getting an L1. They are meant for intra-company transfers and starting new businesses. It is a fairly common visa as well so most attorneys know the process very well.
Regarding the greencard of your parents: there should be no problem since the L1 visa allows for dual intent (i.e. you can also have immigration intent).

An alternative for the L1 visa is the E1/E2 visa. Basic requirement for that type of visa is a reasonable investment to start the business in the US, without the requirement of a parent company in the originating country.
 
Thanks for the quick reply billy_bob.

Presumably an attorney is a must then? I had initially thought that we would file the paperwork ourselves. . . .

Good point about immigration intent on the L1 - I didn't appreciate this. To be honest, whilst we wouldn't rule it out, I can't say that our intention would be to immigrate although this may change once we've been out there for a while.

At what point can you apply for a green card on an L1? Do you know what the likely success of taking this route would be? Is the fact that my parents are green card holders likely to affect an L1 - GC application?
 
Yes, I do suggest to get an attorney. They (can) add a lot of value regarding their experiences dealing with USCIS and other cases they have done. Not so much for filling out the paperwork correctly - I have had to correct my attorney more than once.

Regarding the immigration intent: Its not so much your word against theirs that you don't want to migrate but when USCIS hears about your parents having a greencard and living in the US, that might already be enough proof for them that you have that immigration intent, now or in the future. For L1 this is no problem.

I also suggest you read more about obtaining a so called L1a visa. Its for managers and it has a great benefit when you want to pursue your greencard: You can skip the labor certification, which is step one in the three step greencard process.
Your company can file for your greencard right now since it is for a job in the future. But your sponsoring company is small and may not have a lot of operating history, so I think you should first concentrate on the business side, generate recurring revenues, hire a couple of people and so on.

Oh, and one thing. You should keep in mind that it is very difficult (impossible?) to get a greencard based on employment for a company that you own for more than 5 %. You see, an attorney really comes in handy for these kind of issues.

Some web sites you can read more about these issues:
murthy dot com
visalaw dot com
and of course this web site.
 
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Do not even think of doing this alone. The L1-A process is very complicated when setting up a new US company - mostly they are afraid of people exploiting the system and using a new company incorporation as a shell/back door route to residency.

I was in an exact same situation as you in 2003. I came over to start up a Inc. subsiduary as an offshoot of a UK Limited consulting company on a L1-A multinational executive visa.

It's not so much the filling of the forms, but their knowledge of the overall process that will be of use to you. Especially in the early days as requests for additional information can delay you if you don't know what you are doing.

We submitted a good 150 pages or so of data to get through the process first time (company accounts, resumes, marketing material +++). At the time we had no local employees so they were keeping a close eye on our motives.

When we extended our visa in 2004 we had to show evidence of growth in US employee headcount, local company accounts, tax returns, payroll, job descriptions etc. They came back with additional evidence request, picture of our office space (!), the front door to our office, external shot of our office (!), headshots of our team/ID of our employees etc in a very detailed manner.

We filed I140/485 in October 2004 to tranfer to Green Card from L-1A (executive). Anyone any idea how long this could take? The Texas service quotes very long process times.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. .

Billy_bob - will do more reading. .cheers.

Thanks for your insight Robedo. I'm confident that the company will grow and that we can demonstrate this adequately. Can I ask - what law firm did you use in the UK?
 
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