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Green Card for Multinational Manager or Executive or L-1A Intracompany Transferee – New USCIS Clarifications on EB-1C

Tiyalaw — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 02:24:01 +0000

Green Card for Multinational Manager or Executive or L-1A Intracompany Transferee – New USCIS Clarifications on EB-1C

Generally, a multinational manager or executive (L-1A intracompany transferee) who has worked outside the U.S. for a qualifying multinational organization for at least one (1) out of the three (3) years may apply for an immigrant petition to be a U.S. permanent resident under employment-based classification 1 (EB-1C). This is pursuant to Section 203(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration & Nationality Act (INA).

Lawful permanent residence is also known as Green Card. There are many ways for foreign nationals to apply for Green Cards in and to the U.S., and EB-1C multinational manager or executive is just one of them. An EB-1C Green Card is initiated by a qualifying employer by filing an I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. After complying with the qualifying period as a Green Card holder, a person is eligible to apply for naturalization to be a U.S. citizen. Once a person is naturalized, he/she may apply for a U.S. passport.

If the beneficiary is outside the United States at the time of filing the Green Card, the multinational manager or executive’s one-year qualifying foreign employment must have occurred within the three years preceding the filing of the petition. 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(j)(3)(i)(A). If the multinational manager or executive is already working in the United States in L-1A status for the L-1A employer-petitioner, or its affiliate or subsidiary, at the time of filing filing the Green Card, the employer-petitioner must demonstrate that the L-1A multinational manager or executive’s one-year qualifying foreign employment must have occurred within the three years preceding his or her entry as a nonimmigrant. See 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(j)(3)(i)(B).

An intracompany transferee of specialized knowledge who is not a multinational manager or executive such as those under L-1B does not qualify for Green Card under EB-1C.

The approval of an immigrant petition for multinational manager or executive with the eventual approval of I-485 Applications for Adjustment of Status in the U.S. or approval of immigrant visas consular processing, will confer the multinational manager or executive and his/her qualifying family members with Green Cards.

Recently, the U.S. immigration clarifies that if the multinational manager or executive leaves the qualifying employer for more than two (2) years after working with a qualifying employer for at least one (1) year, he/she will not qualify for Green Card under EB-1C even if he returns to the same qualifying employer. This ineligibility applies regardless if the interruption of employment happened prior to multinational manager or executive’s admission as a nonimmigrant or after his/her entry to the United States. To qualify again, the multinational manager or executive must complete another year of qualifying employment with the qualifying employer outside the U.S., before being eligible to apply for Green Card under EB-1C. However, an employee whose break in continuous employment with the qualifying employer is less than 2 years may still be eligible to apply for EB-1C.

This U.S. immigration clarification is published as a policy memorandum on March 22, 2018 by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) based on The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) immigration adjudication of the Matter of S-P-, Inc., Adopted Decision 2018-01 (AAO Mar. 19, 2018) on March 19, 2018. This AAO adjudication is utilized as a form of policy memorandum by USCIS serving as a guidance only, and does not create any rights to Green Card. Each case is adjudicated on a discretionary basis by USCIS. For further information on the Matter of S-P-, Inc., please see

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/2018/2018-03-19-PM-602-0158-Matter-of-S-P.pdf

Even though not all immigration cases are appealed to the AAO, AAO has appellate jurisdiction over approximately 50 different types of immigration case. AAO is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). USCIS is a part of DHS. Certain immigration cases are appealed to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) such as the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).

March 22, 2018

This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as legal advice or attorney-client relationship. By Aik Wan Kok, Lawyer USA Immigration Services, at Tiya; Tel: 703-772-8224 & info at tiyaimmigration dot com; Direct dial from abroad: 001-703-772-8224; https://www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; https://immigrationresource.net

Need help with green card, work visas, work permit, sponsoring family, sponsoring employees, sponsoring relatives, hardships or immigration waivers, U.S. naturalization/citizenship, and cases with USCIS, Department of Labor or immigration? We represent employers, companies, individuals, and families in U.S. Immigration & Nationality Law. Our clients are based nationwide in the U.S. and internationally. We represent diverse immigration cases including, but are not limiting to: extraordinary ability; national interest waiver; PERM with U.S. Department of Labor; I-130 for sponsoring relatives and families; I-140 for employment green card; I-485 to adjust status; I-765 work permit/employment authorization; I-131 for international travel and returning to the U.S; I-601 extreme hardship waiver relatives of U.S. citizen or green card holder; I-751 joint filing or waiver; N-400 Naturalization/Citizenship; N-648 Medical Waiver; I-212 waiver for deportation or removal order; J waiver; H-1B professional worker/specialty occupation; H-2B temporary worker; L executive, manager and specialized knowledge professional transferring from overseas; E treaty investors/traders; B-1 business visitor to the U.S.; B-2 visitor to the U.S.; F-1 student coming to study in the U.S.; matters pertaining to consular processing with U.S. consulates and National Visa Centers; cases with USCIS; cases with U.S. Department of Labor; PERM audit; RFE Request for Evidence (RFE); NOID Notice of Intention to Deny (NOID); and many more.

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USCIS Suspends Premium Processing Service for H-1B Petition FY 2019 Visa Cap

Tiyalaw — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 22:47:30 +0000

USCIS Suspends Premium Processing Service for H-1B Petition FY 2019 Visa Cap

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has just announced that it will be suspending premium processing service, temporarily, for all cap-subject H-1B petitions, starting April 2, 2018. This suspension is expected to last until September 10, 2018. Currently, this suspension applies only to H-1B petitions that are subject to Fiscal Year (FY) 2019.

H-1B employers will be eligible to submit H-1B petitions subject to FY 2019 visa cap to be received by USCIS on April 2, 2018. With this temporary suspension, USCIS will reject any Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Services, filed with H-1B petitions that are subject to FY 2019 visa cap.

The reason for this premium-processing suspension is so that USCIS may adjudicate other H-1B petitions that have been long pending.

With a premium processing service, USCIS will adjudicate a petition within 15 calendar days from its receipt (e.g. approval, request for evidence or denial within 15 days). With this temporarily suspension, there will be processing delay for FY 2019 H-1B cap petitions/visas. This means, it will be some months before USCIS will be able to adjudicate H-1B petitions subject to FY 2019 visa cap that are fortunate enough to be selected in the H-1B lottery process.

March 20, 2018

Need help with green card, work visas, work permit, sponsoring family, sponsoring employees, sponsoring relatives, hardships or immigration waivers, U.S. naturalization/citizenship, and cases with USCIS, Department of Labor or immigration? We represent employers, companies, individuals, and families in U.S. Immigration & Nationality Law. Our clients are based nationwide in the U.S. and internationally. We represent diverse immigration cases including, but are not limiting to: extraordinary ability; national interest waiver; PERM with U.S. Department of Labor; I-130 for sponsoring relatives and families; I-140 for employment green card; I-485 to adjust status; I-765 work permit/employment authorization; I-131 for international travel and returning to the U.S; I-601 extreme hardship waiver relatives of U.S. citizen or green card holder; I-751 joint filing or waiver; N-400 Naturalization/Citizenship; N-648 Medical Waiver; I-212 waiver for deportation or removal order; J waiver; H-1B professional worker/specialty occupation; H-2B temporary worker; L executive, manager and specialized knowledge professional transferring from overseas; E treaty investors/traders; B-1 business visitor to the U.S.; B-2 visitor to the U.S.; F-1 student coming to study in the U.S.; matters pertaining to consular processing with U.S. consulates and National Visa Centers; cases with USCIS; cases with U.S. Department of Labor; PERM audit; RFE Request for Evidence (RFE); NOID Notice of Intention to Deny (NOID); and many more.

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Immigration Will Begin Returning H-1B Cap Cases Not Selected in the Lottery System. What Can You Do if You Have Not Heard About Your H-1B Cap Petitions?

Tiyalaw — Tue, 03 May 2016 03:05:41 +0000

Immigration Will Begin Returning H-1B Cap Cases Not Selected in the Lottery System. What Can You Do if You Have Not Heard About Your H-1B Cap Petitions?

H-1B Annual Work Visa Cap

On April 1, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting H-1B Cap Petitions for the annual 65,000 government-mandated cap for the 2017 fiscal year (FY), and the 20,000 exemption for H-1B under the U.S. advanced degree. On April 7, 2016, USCIS announced it had received more than sufficient H-1B Cap Petitions to meet the cap.

USCIS received over 236,000 H-1B Cap Petitions described above. USCIS had long completed its computer-generated random selection process (lottery system) which started on April 9, 2016.

Those under U.S. advanced degree not selected within the 20,000 visa numbers were processed under random selection or lottery for the 65,000 limit.

For some time now, USCIS has been issuing receipt notices for the above H-1B Cap Petitions filed under premium processing, regular processing, and U.S. advanced degree.

Normally, all USCIS receipt notices for selected H-1B Cap Petitions were being issued within several weeks of the lottery system (random selection process).

USCIS announced on May 2, 2016 that it has completed all its data entry of H-1B Cap Petitions selected in its lottery system. USCIS will now begin returning all H-1B Cap Petitions not selected. Due to the overwhelming number of H-1B Cap Petitions received, USCIS is not certain when it will complete returning all the unselected petitions but will issue an announcement once they are all returned to the employers (petitioners). Previously, H-1B Cap Petitions not selected in the lottery system were being returned throughout the summer.

USCIS urges employers (petitioners) not to inquire on the status of their H-1B Cap Petitions until they have received a receipt notice or a return of an unselected petition. This will allow USCIS to better-use their resources such as on adjudicating cases and completing the necessary return of unselected petitions.

On May 12, 2016, USCIS will begin premium processing of H-1B Cap Petitions selected in the lottery system. For H-1B Cap Petitions or eligible cases under premium processing, USCIS will adjudicate the case within 15 calendar days. Additionally, employers have the option to upgrade their selected H-1B Cap Petitions to premium processing.

All H-1B Cap Petitions above not selected in the lottery system will be returned with their filing fees. The filing fees for any H-1B Cap Petitions above with duplicate filings will not be returned.

What is an H-1B?

H-1B petitions are temporary work visas for specialty occupations. They are for positions requiring theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields for qualified foreign nationals to live and work in the U.S. Many H-1B foreign nationals have successfully gone on to apply for and obtain lawful permanent residence status (also known as, green card).

Foreign nationals with at least a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent (equivalent degree and/or work experience) may be sponsored for H-1B petitions. A broad range of positions may fall under H-1B specialty occupations. Each case depends on the position’s overall circumstances, necessitating complex legal analysis.

Some H-1Bs Are Not Subject to H-1B Cap or Quota

Not all H-1B petitions are subject to the annual visa cap or quota. It depends on the types of H-1B petition being filed, or the types of entity-sponsor. For examples, foreign nationals who already have approved H-1B petitions or H-1B status may still have H-1B petitions filed for them to extend their H-1B status, or to change or add H-1B employers. Certain employers are cap exempt.

Duration of H-1B

In general, H-1B petitions/work visas are approved for three years each time (up to a total of 6 years). Under certain circumstances, H-1B work visas can be extended beyond the 6-year maximum time limitation.

H-1Bs Not Selected or Filed When All H-1B Visa Numbers Are Used Up

H-1B candidates who has not made it to the Fiscal Year 2017 H-1B visa quota (October 1, 2016 employment start-date) have the options to have their H-1B cap petitions submitted to reach USCIS on April 1, 2017 (with an October 1, 2017 employment start-date) for the 2018 Fiscal Year H-1B visa cap/quota. They can also consider other immigration options such as other nonimmigrant status, work permit, and self-petition green card filings, if eligible.

This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as legal advice or attorney-client relationship. By Aik Wan Kok, Lawyer USA Immigration Services, at Tiya; Tel: 703-772-8224 & koka at tiyalaw dot com; Direct dial from abroad: 001-703-772-8224; https://www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; https://immigrationresource.net

Need help with green card, work visas, work permit, sponsoring family, sponsoring employees, sponsoring relatives, hardship waivers, marriage waiver, and cases with USCIS, Department of Labor or immigration? We represent employers, companies, individuals, and families in U.S. Immigration & Nationality Law. Our clients are based nationwide in the U.S. and internationally. We represent diverse immigration cases in naturalization/citizenship, green card, work visas, waivers and other immigration matters. Some of our cases including, but are not limiting: extraordinary ability; national interest waiver; PERM with U.S. Department of Labor; I-130 for sponsoring relatives and families (child, spouse, brother, sister, stepchild); I-140 for employment; I-485 to adjust status; I-765 work permit/employment authorization; I-131 for international travel and returning to the U.S; I-601 extreme hardship waiver relatives of U.S. citizen or green card holder; I-751 joint filing or waiver; I-212 waiver for deportation or removal order; J waiver; H-1B professional worker/specialty occupation; H-2B temporary worker; L executive, manager and specialized knowledge professional transferring from overseas; B-1 business visitor to the U.S.; B-2 tourist visiting the U.S.; F-1 student coming to study in the U.S.; consular processing with U.S. consulates; National Visa Centers; filing cases with USCIS; filing cases with U.S. Department of Labor; PERM audit; RFE Request for Evidence; NOID Notice of Intention to Deny; and Immigration Courts.