The Grady Firm recently filed an L-1A Intracompany transferee petition application for a corporate client, the U.S. subsidiary of a multi-national company with offices around the world. This company was seeking to transfer a high-level executive in the role of CEO to the U.S. subsidiary in new York. The L-1A visa allows multi-national executives to relocate to the U.S. for up to 7 years, and can lead to a Green Card. This popular visa has faced increased scrutiny under the Trump Administration, resulting in more Requests for Evidence, delays, and denials.
Because this visa is eligible for Premium Processing (a 15-day case review for an additional $1,410.00 filing fee), our client was fortunate to receive an approval within 15 days without a further costly and time-consuming Request for Evidence by USCIS. The key to our success was anticipating what documentation would be sought by the adjudicating officer, and providing a meticulous, detailed, and creative presentation. In order to prevent a delay by Request for more Evidence from USCIS, we provided some of the following evidence in anticipation:
Evidence regarding the executive’s subordinates: we provided a comprehensive chart listing each subordinate’s job title, educational background, salary, Job Description, employment history and resume to show that the beneficiary holds a position superior to his subordinates;
Evidence of executive authority abroad: we provided actual results of the applicant’s executive-level work, including, contracts signed by the CEO, financial documents drafted by the CEO, and work emails demonstrating his actions in an executive manner on a daily basis; and
Evidence of ownership of the subsidiary: we drafted unique documents explaining the corporate ownership structure between the foreign parent company and US subsidiary. We also provided evidence of the company’s good standing in the US and abroad.
Photo by Roland Samuel on Unsplash
The Grady Firm was able to anticipate that the reviewing officer might be confused by the intricate nuances of the company’s corporate structure, and drafted additional letters from key company personnel describing the relationship between the entities, created organizational charts, and included corporate organization documents. By taking nothing for granted, and only submitting the application once we could be confident that a RFE would be unlikely, we were able to help the CEO start his new job in the US within 6 weeks from the date we started preparing the application to his first date of employment in the US (including time to prepare the application, 15-day review by USCIS, and two week’s wait for his consular interview abroad). He was able to arrive in August in time for his children to start a new school year, and to arrive before his furniture arrived in the US and passed customs.
About The Grady Firm, P.C.
The Grady Firm works with dynamic employers across the country to prepare successful employment-based applications, including Green Cards based on employment. In addition, we help individuals, families, employees, business owners, and investors obtain non-immigrant and immigrant visas (B-1/B2, H-1B, H-2B, L-1A, L-1B, O-1, TN, E-2, E-3), as well and Green Cards and citizenship based on family relationships, investment, or employment.
The Grady Firm is a partner firm to the California Employers Association and provides on-site training on government site visit preparation, and sexual harassment training in English and Spanish.
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This article is for informational purposes only, and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. This article does not make any guarantees as to the outcome of a particular matter, as each matter has its own set of circumstances and must be evaluated individually by a licensed attorney.