On October 15th, an Executive for European commodities trading company successfully obtained an approved L-1A Visa after engaging LOIGICA Immigration Attorneys in the summer of 2015.
For an L-1A visa to be approved, the intra-company Transferee Executive must be sent to manage or run a U.S. branch of the foreign company or to an affiliate U.S. office.
In this case the Executive was being transferred to manage a newly established office in Miami, Florida. Miami has become an ideal location for foreign businesses to establish themselves given the city’s international culture, it proximity to markets in Latin America and the Caribbean. As a result, our law firm is seeing growth in L-1A transferees for newly established business, unlike older cities like New York and Chicago, where transferees have a long standing office full of office employees to call home.
As such, L-1A transferees for newly established businesses are challenged to prove that the employer has secured sufficient physical premises to house the new office, and to demonstrate that personnel exist or will exist to support the transferee in his/her executive capacity.
Another challenge is that L-1A candidates must have been working for a qualifying organization abroad for one continuous year within the three years immediately preceding his or her admission to the United States. This time requirement can create a big barrier for young burgeoning companies if they do not sufficiently demonstrate that the executive was in fact employed for the time period in the Executive position at the foreign company.
L-1A Executive candidates and their employers should consult with LOIGICA Immigration Attorneys to properly prepare the evidence required for a newly established business and secure a successful L-1A visa.
