EB-1C Immigration for Multinational Business Executives

Applicant. American company
Beneficiaries. Mr. Lee
Nationality: Chinese
Application category: EB-1C multinational company manager/director immigration
Industry: Furniture design, development and sales
Position: Vice President of International Operations
U.S. company founded: 2011

Difficulties in this case.
1. Mr. Li’s direct petition for EB-1C immigrant and did not hold an L-1A work visa prior to this.
2. Mr. Li is more of a factory supervisor than a senior business executive, and there are multiple layers of relationships between the Chinese company and the U.S. company with a more complex structure.

The U.S. company filed an EB-1C immigration petition for Mr. Li as the vice president of the Chinese company. In response to the development needs of the U.S. subsidiary, Mr. Li will be assigned to work for the U.S. company in the next few years and will be responsible for the company’s international business. If Mr. Li could not go to the U.S. successfully, it would have a great impact on the development of the U.S. company. For this reason, the U.S. company’s personnel and Mr. Li himself came to Tsang & Associates to consult on obtaining EB-1C permanent residency. Joseph Tsang’s team filed the petition for Mr. Lee on September 4, 2015 and was approved on May 27, 2016 without being asked for a retroactive filing (RFE) during that time.

Key to case success.
How to prove a controlling relationship between a U.S. company and a Chinese company (parent-subsidiary relationship)
The more problematic aspect of the case is that there are multiple layers of subsidiaries between the Chinese company and the U.S. company, making it more difficult to prove their subordination. To apply for EB-1C, the U.S. company and the overseas company need to satisfy the parent-subsidiary relationship, as explained in the introductory article, “EB-1C Immigration Tips for Executives or Managers of Multinational Companies” http://www.uslawchina.cn/new_content.asp?xw_id=3009

We later completed the proof of subordination between the U.S. and Chinese companies by proving that the company Mr. Li worked for in China was initially a subsidiary of a Hong Kong company, which was owned by a U.S. company, through the information of the Chinese company Mr. Li had previously worked for.

How to prove that Mr. Li holds a position as a senior manager or executive in a U.S. company
An important part of the application is whether Mr. Lee is capable of serving as a senior manager or executive in a U.S. company. The USCIS defines what “managerial ability” and “executive ability” are.

Management capacity refers to the department that manages its organization, department or subordinate organization, primarily supervises or manages other practicing employees, or manages a significant division of the company or subsidiary.

To demonstrate this, Mr. Tsang’s team guided the company in preparing a business plan that presented the content and timing of Mr. Li’s planned work with the U.S. company. These responsibilities included direct management of the department, setting forth the company’s vision, coordinating international affairs, and implementing strategies to ensure the achievement of the company’s goals. We demonstrated that Mr. Lee has strong management skills to work in the U.S. company, be responsible for international affairs, and complete the tasks assigned to him by the company.

Administrative competence refers to “direct guidance to organizational structures or major functional departments”, “establishment of goals and systems within the department”, “decision-making ability to exercise extensive freedom”, and “acceptance of supervision and management by senior management, the board of directors and shareholders”.

From these aspects, Mr. Tsang’s team proved that Mr. Li is fully capable of setting up the company’s goals and managing the work of his employees, including being responsible for the company’s hiring system.

To further demonstrate Mr. Li’s ability to fill a position in a U.S. company, we investigated Mr. Li’s educational background, previous work experience, and also asked two experts to evaluate Mr. Li’s work experience, all of which reflected competent management skills.

Results
The application was submitted on September 4, 2015 and was approved on May 27, 2016.

Attorney Tsang comments.
EB-1C is for immigrant multinational business executives. This category emphasizes business management experience and is more suitable for those who have no education, but have business management experience. There is no need to apply for a labor certification from the Department of Labor, but rather apply directly to the USCIS without waiting for a quota, and the processing time is short.

EB-1C requires that there must be two companies in the U.S. and overseas, with a parent-subsidiary relationship; the overseas company can be the parent company and the U.S. company a subsidiary, or vice versa; either by purchasing an existing U.S. business, or by forming a new company in the U.S. Senior who meet this requirement
Manager or supervisor, must have worked for the company for at least one year within the last three years.