Set up beauty company in US

Approved: E2 Visa for Owner of Norwegian Skincare Company

We are happy to share that we have successfully assisted a Norwegian national with his Visa E2 USA application. The client acquired an existing company which is a developer, manufacturer, marketer, distributer, and online retailer of organic skincare products.

The E2 business

The Company offers its skincare products to markets across the globe, including the U.S., Europe, Mexico, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. ISUN Skincare’s product line consists of both professional products sold to business-to-business (B2B) clients and retail products for sale through business-to-customer (B2C) channels. 

Challenges

There were a lot of challenges to overcome with the application. The total acquisition cost of the company is in the millions and the applicant was only able to make a 10% down payment. Our team had to work with the client and the seller to structure the deal to make the investment E-2 compliant. We also successfully used the escrow account mechanism to minimize the risk on the part of the applicant/investor.

What is an E-2 Visa?

The E-2 Treaty Investor Visa permits citizens of treaty countries to move to the United States to invest in and run a business there. While there are no minimum investment levels, E-2 investors must make a substantial investment in a US business – which could also include a franchise. The E-2 visa is a temporary, non-immigrant visa, but it is possible to keep renewing the visa so long as the underlying business continues to operate. Spouses of E-2 visa holders are authorized to work in the United States and children under 21 can accompany their parents.

What if you are not from an E-2 Treaty Country?

Check our list to see if your country has an E-2 treaty with the United States. If it does not have an E-2 treaty and you wish to apply, you can first become a citizen of an E-2 treaty county. Our firm offers a Grenada Citizenship by Investment + E-2 Visa package and a Turkish Citizenship by Investment + E-2 Visa package. Contact us for more information.


This article is published for clients, friends and other interested visitors for information purposes only. The contents of the article do not constitute legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Davies & Associates or any of its attorneys, staff or clients. External links are not an endorsement of the content..


Lay-offs at Twitter – Impact on Immigration Status of Foreign Employees

By Zeenat Phophalia Immigration Attorney, D&A

In a move that sent shockwaves, Twitter laid off half of its workforce on Friday, November 4, according to a Reuter’s report.  Hundreds of these employees who are in H-1B, L-1 or O-1 status would be put on a deadline to get another job or leave the country.  As reported by Forbes, an estimated 8% of Twitter’s employees are on an H-1B visa, based on a National Foundation for American Policy analysis of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data.

The L-1, H-1B and O-1 visa each have a different set of rules.  For the H-1B, the rules provide a 60-day grace period after termination and during this grace period, it’s important that the employee has either: another employer to file the H-1B, switches status to another non-immigrant visa category (F-1, B-1, H-4) or leaves the US.  In the absence of the occurrence of any of these, the person would be deemed to have violated his immigration status upon exceeding the grace period.

Generally, H-1B employees are able to have their employment petition transferred from one employer to another.  That’s no so in the case of L-1 intra company transferee employees; they typically have a more difficult time in situations of termination and lay-offs, often resulting in them having to leave the country. An L-1 employee’s employment is premised on a qualifying relationship between the US employer and its related foreign entity abroad as well as the employee’s prior qualifying employment at the foreign entity abroad.  Hence, L-1 employment cannot be transferred to another employer, unlike the H-1B.

Employers are required to notify the USCIS upon termination of an H-1B employee and are liable for reasonable costs of the employee’s return transportation (if the employment is terminated prior to the end of the authorized period).

If you would like to disucss any of the issues raised in this article, please contact us


This article is published for clients, friends and other interested visitors for information purposes only. The contents of the article do not constitute legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Davies & Associates or any of its attorneys, staff or clients. External links are not an endorsement of the content..


Technology Visas

Who Actually Qualifies for the L-1 Intracompany Transfer Visa for Managers & Executives?

Immigration Attorney Zeenat Phophalia delves into which staff members are eligible for the L-1A Visa and what constitutes a personnel manager and a function manager.

The L-1 visa classification for intracompany transferees comes in two categories: L-1A (managers and executives) and L-1B (special knowledge workers).  The L-1A allows a foreign company to transfer managers and executives to its related U.S. parent, subsidiary, affiliate or branch office. 

An L-1A manager is generally someone who supervises and manages professional, managerial or supervisory employees, as evidenced by a clear chain of workers reporting up to such manager. 

In addition to this “personnel” manager role, the L-1A classification allows for what is known as a Function Manager – someone who manages an essential function within the organization. 

While the standard applicable to a personnel manager who manages employees is well established, there had been lack of guidance and clarity on what needed to be proven to qualify as a function manager. 

In 2017, the USCIS, provided guidance by adopting the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) decision in Matter of G- Inc., that sets forth a five-prong analysis to determine L-1A function manager qualification.

Matter of G- Inc. clarifies that, to establish that a beneficiary/employee will be employed in a managerial capacity as a “function manager,” the petitioner must demonstrate that:

  • (1) the function is a clearly defined activity;
  • (2) the function is “essential,” i.e., core to the organization;
  • (3) the beneficiary will primarily manage, as opposed to perform, the function;
  • (4) the beneficiary will act at a senior level within the organizational hierarchy or with respect to the function managed;
  • (5) the beneficiary will exercise discretion over the function’s day-to-day operations.

An essential function, as noted by the AAO, in the above decision, is a function that is “fundamental,”core” or “necessary” to the company’s business and one that the manager will manage versus performing. 

An organization could have more than one core activity “such as the manufacture or provision of an end product or service, and research and development into other products or services,” as was noted by the AAO.  

While assessing the essential function prong and the other criteria, USCIS will typically evaluate the entire record: overall organizational structure and hierarchy; description of the manager’s duties – products, services or component that he will manage; seniority within the organization; nature of administrative support if any; and so on. 

Often times, it can be harder for smaller organizations to establish that a function is a clearly defined activity and fundamental to the business.  That said, the best approach would be to explain the function with as much specificity as possible while emphasizing the core and essential nature of the activity/function vis-à-vis the organization and its impact on business, and justify how the employee will manage the function at a senior level within the organization.

The adopted decision in Matter of G- Inc establishes policy guidance that USCIS adjudicators are bound by and obligated to follow; it does not apply to the Department of State and so consular posts abroad are not bound by the decision, often times leading to conflicting and different interpretations of the scope of a function manager by consular officers.

To learn more about the L-1 Visa, please click here to contact us and request and appointment.


This article is published for clients, friends and other interested visitors for information purposes only. The contents of the article do not constitute legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Davies & Associates or any of its attorneys, staff or clients. External links are not an endorsement of the content.