Set up beauty company in US

O-1 Talent Visa for Kenyan Entrepreneur in the Beauty Industry

We are delighted to announce another petition approval this time for an O-1 Visa for a Kenyan CEO. The petition was approved first time without any Requests for Evidence (RFE)

By Verdie Atienza, Senior Immigration Attorney, Davies & Associates

Since the client is a CEO of an existing company in Kenya, we initially considered new office L-1 petition. The L-1A Visa allows for the transfer of managers and executives to the existing or newly established US office of a related overseas firm. However, since she meets the O-1A criteria as well with all her awards, recognitions and press coverage, we decided to go with entrepreneurial O-1A petition since it could get her a three-year visa instead of 1 year with new office L-1 petition.

The Beneficiary is an alien of extraordinary ability in the field of business with a focus in beauty entrepreneurship.  Her specific skills lie in the creation, formulation, marketing and branding of natural and organic haircare products.  She created her own brand of hair care and beauty products consisting of natural and organic hair products such as conditioners, moisturizers, cleansers, stylers, body butters and pure oils. Her unique skills of creating, marketing, and branding has had a significant impact in the black community, not only by empowering black people to take pride in their natural hair, but by also enabling them to raise above anti-blackness and the discrimination against afro-textured hair. 

She is one of the few black-owned natural hair product designers, who has created a business selling high-quality hair product for naturally kinky textures, which until most recently, very few mainstream brands were doing. The demand for natural and organic hair products, and the safe authentic ingredients used in her products has led to a high demand for the brand, worldwide.  

The client’s company in Kenya was launched and established in 2015. It is a high-quality hair product line that guarantees affordable natural and organic hair products such as conditioners, moisturizers, cleansers, stylers, body butters and pure oils, among other things. All products are made from African natural ingredients such as coconut oil from Kenya, shea butter from Uganda and natural fragrances from South Africa.  The star ingredient is Coconut Oil from the Coast of Kenya, a touristic country called Mombasa, famous for its pristine beaches, palm trees and “mnazi,” which is Swahili for pure coconut oil or water.

What is the O-1 Visa?

The O-1 Visa is a non-immigrant visa for individuals who can demonstrate extraordinary talent in a range of fields, from business and arts, to science and athletics. Our firm has helped hundreds of talented individuals move to the United States on both immigrant (permanent residency) and non-immigrant visas.


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