Month: August 2023

L1 Visa

L1 Study Cases

US Immigration Advisor

L-1A status for an Executive extended for another two years

Getting a new office L1-A Visa petition approved for an executive or manager does not automatically mean that he or she will get an extension of another two years. It is not a matter of right to get your status extended and it is certainly not a ministerial act on the part of USCIS to approve the petition. At the time of filing, the petitioner must prove that it can clearly elevate the beneficiary to a managerial or executive position. This means that USCIS will look into whether the petitioner has hired the right people to relieve the beneficiary from performing non-qualifying duties. This is why personnel planning in the business plan for new office L-1 Visa petitions is critical. Aside from this, both the foreign entity and the petitioning US entity must continue to meet all other requirements. 

 APPROVAL OF ANOTHER L-1A PETITION AN EXECUTIVE FROM INDIA

 
We filed an extension of L-1A Visa status petition on behalf of an executive from India. We worked with the Petitioner in getting the new office petition approved and now we have successfully obtained approval of the extension of status petition for an additional period of two years.

The beneficiary is an executive of a digital outdoor marketing agency, specializing in advertising via digital screens set in high traffic public areas, such as retail stores. The Company outsources the content creation and focuses primarily on digital screen setup and sales activities. 

As a multinational executive or manager, you can be transferred to the U.S. for a maximum period of 7 years. If the U.S. company has not been operational for more than a year, the company is eligible to file a new office petition for the transfer of the executive or manager for one year. Extensions can be granted in increments of 2 years until the maximum period of 7 years has been reached. Within the 7 year period, it is possible for the beneficiary to transition to become a permanent resident of the U.S. through the EB-1C Visa petition for a multinational executive or manager. 

L-1 PETITION APPROVALS – L-1A EXECUTIVE FROM INDIA AND L-1B SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE EMPLOYEE FROM ARMENIA


The first approval is for a specialized knowledge employee from Armenia. His petition for intracompany transfer as a Cloud Architect has been approved for 3 years. He is the third beneficiary under the L-1 Visa program to be transferred to the US company. We had previously secured approvals for two executives of the same company.

The second approval is for an executive from India, a VP for Engineering for an organization that provides cloud governance platform that empowers enterprises to increase top-line revenues, improve bottom-line efficiencies, and gain a competitive edge through AI-powered real-time cloud governance on autopilot. The beneficiary has been given three years as well. We had also obtained prior L and H-1B approvals for the U.S. company. 

Looking for an US immigration lawyer? Request free consultation at Davies & Associates or find our closest location around the world. 

This article has been written by Verdie J. Atienza, Esq., Senior Immigration Attorney, Head of E-2 and L-1 Visas Practice Team at Davies & Associates, New York Office.

Verdie J. Atienza is a Senior Attorney in charge of the firm’s L-1 and E-2 visa practice. He is a dual qualified lawyer in New York and in the Philippines and is qualified to practice immigration law in any state in the United States. 

 

Qualifying for the Einstein Visa: Eligibility Criteria

US Immigration Advisor

The EB-1A visa that is reserved for individuals possessing “extraordinary ability”
is nicknamed as the Einstein Visa.  The EB-1 is an employment-based first preference visa category that leads to a permanent residence status in the US; in other words – the Green Card.  The EB-1A is a sub-category of the EB-1 and is available to individuals who have achieved high acclaim in their respective fields. 

The requirements of the EB-1 in general are different from those stipulated under the other employment- based categories such as the EB-2 and EB-3 (excluding the EB-2 National Interest Waiver category) in that EB-1s do not require a labor certification and provide a much faster path to the green card.  

To qualify for the EB-1A visa, an applicant must be able to demonstrate extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics through sustained national or international acclaim (by way of extensive documentation).

The applicant must meet at least 3 of the 10 prescribed criteria or provide evidence of a one-time achievement (i.e., Pulitzer, Oscar, Olympic Medal) as well as evidence showing that he or she will be continuing to work in that specific area of expertise.  Some of the key eligibility criteria are: membership in associations in the field which demand outstanding achievement of their members, having published material about the applicant in professional or major trade publications or other major media, original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance to the field, etc. 

The eligibility criteria of the EB-1A are very similar to those of the non-immigrant O-1 visa, also reserved for individuals with extraordinary ability or achievement. 

We at Davies and Associates have successfully assisted several individuals in obtaining the O-1 visa and are keenly aware of the depth and breadth of evidence that the USCIS looks for and work closely with our clients to bring out and highlight their abilities and achievements. 

This article has been written by Zeenat Phophalia, Esq. Of Counsel, Davies & Associates, India Office.

Zeenat Phophalia is qualified to practice law in New York, United Kingdom and India. She practices in the area of U.S. immigration law with a focus on business immigration, and has represented corporate clients including large and medium sized companies and startups across sectors such as IT, consulting, consumer goods, manufacturing and telecommunications.

Looking for an US immigration lawyer? Request free consultation at Davies & Associates or find our closest location around the world.

O1 Study Cases

US Immigration Advisor

O-1A Petition Approved for 3 years for a UK national

 
The beneficiary is an expert in innovation, particularly in digital strategy, corporate innovation, and building start-up companies.  

The petitioning US company provides innovation strategy, lean start-up experimentation and organizational design. The company caters mostly to high growth European tech start-ups with goals of expanding operations in the US. The company assesses current organizational structure, identifies barriers to innovation, and develops custom organizational design that aligns with the goals and supports innovation of the clients.  

O-1A  APPROVALS


The first one is an O-1A petition for a scientific/medical researcher and physician of extraordinary ability from Spain. The beneficiary has been approved to work for the petitioner for 3 years. 

Looking for an US immigration lawyer? Request free consultation at Davies & Associates or find our closest location around the world. 

This article has been written by Verdie J. Atienza, Esq., Senior Immigration Attorney, Head of E-2 and L-1 Visas Practice Team at Davies & Associates, New York Office.

Verdie J. Atienza is a Senior Attorney in charge of the firm’s L-1 and E-2 visa practice. He is a dual qualified lawyer in New York and in the Philippines and is qualified to practice immigration law in any state in the United States.