L-1 Extension for Chinese Entrepreneurs with No Profit

Tsang & Associates often receives questions from L-1 applicants: How many employees are required for L-1 extension? What is the amount of company revenue? If the business is not doing well, can it be approved? And so on and so forth. Let’s take a look at a case today, how to save a new company after one year of establishment, which is not doing as well as expected, when it encounters problems in the extension?

Applicant’s Nationality. China
Company Industry. Import and export of auto parts and textiles
Company Overview. Established in 2016, in start-up mode
Applicant Position. Executive President
Case Filed. L-1A Multinational Manager Visa Extension
Applicant. Mr. Sun

BACKGROUND
– In the first year of the company’s existence, the business growth was slow .
– The company has negative profits with losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
– Mr. Sun, as the CEO, can provide the operating and managing the company materials are lacking.

Brief background:
Two years ago, Mr. Sun was transferred from the China head office to the newly established U.S. branch office as the executive president. Mr. Sun was granted a one-year L-1 work visa, which was about to expire in February this year, and filed an L-1 extension application before its expiration. The main business scope of Sino-American is the import and export of auto parts and textile products. Soon the L-1 extension application received a supplemental notice. After careful online research and comparison, Mr. Sun carefully chose Tsang & Associates to prepare the supplemental L-1 visa extension for him.

According to Tsang & Associates’ professional analysis, there were two main connected factors that complicated the case and exacerbated the difficulty of filling the case. The most immediate reason was that the company’s performance since its inception had been less than stellar, with heavy losses, which Mr. Sun expressed concern about, but We were confident that this would not lead to the failure of the extension . Secondly, Mr. Sun could only provide a small number of documentation to prove that he serves as the company’s CEO. He had difficulty providing relevant evidence to show how he was in charge, coordinated the day-to-day work of his employees, and set and developed company policies. For example, Mr. Sun was unable to provide minutes of company meetings, there were few written reports of his normal work, Mr. Sun had difficulty communicating with company employees due to his poor English, and he rarely responded to his subordinates in writing. Although it can be discussed in the documents Tsang & Associates is confident that it will be able to provide a full range of documents through fully utilizing and extending the documentation We were able to help Mr. Sun obtain a successful L-1 extension.

KEYS TO SUCCESS
Originally, Mr. Sun believed that the biggest problem in this case arose from his inability to effectively demonstrate his management and leadership skills as president of the company, most visibly in the negative profits the company was experiencing, losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2017 alone. In fact, this type of challenge is common for start-up companies, and therefore one of the main reasons why many managers abandon their L-1 extension applications. Mr. Sun was concerned that USCIS would not approve an L-1 for a company that was not in good business condition. However, Tsang & Associates believes that this is a difficult issue that can be overcome. In response to Mr. Sun’s concerns
We proposed a solution to eliminate the specter of negative profit growth at this stage of the company
We proposed a solution to remove the specter of negative profit growth at this stage. Although the company was experiencing slow profit growth or even a significant loss, an analysis of recent financial statements showed that the company’s sales growth had been strong for several months and that this trend would continue. At the same time, we have taken the time to investigate the relevant markets and prepare documentation to demonstrate that the import market demand in which Mr. Sun’s company operates is vast and there is still plenty of room for improvement.
In addition, we emphasized that it is not unusual for a new company in its growth phase to have low or even negative profits, and therefore it is not reasonable to base the L-1 extension outcome solely on the company’s profitability.


In order to better demonstrate Mr. Sun’s management and execution capabilities, the
Under the professional guidance of Mr. Zang, the excellent legal writing team of Tsang & Associates assisted the company
We assisted the company in drafting a strong letter of explanation that tied the legal requirements of the L-1 to Mr. Sun’s business responsibilities. At the same time, Zang & Associates’ legal team helped the company discover marketing plans, employee reports, etc., that were beginning to be overlooked, demonstrating that Mr. Sun was fully capable of leading a company and had the vision to run it. In addition, we guided the company to prepare a company policy and a business plan for the company’s development, which was submitted to the immigration office as one of the important evidences.

Then, to prove that Mr. Sun was indeed a key decision maker in the management, Tsang & Associates went through the company’s organizational structure, recreated the company’s organizational chart, and explained in detail why each employee in the company played a key role in the company’s development and operation. In addition, we submitted a well-organized flow chart and a detailed business plan to justify the small-scale operation of the business. In order to make all this preparation more precise, Tsang & Associates’ team conducted extensive research on the company’s employees, partners, and managers to get an overview of the company’s day-to-day operations and to guide the company on how to dig deeper into the favorable evidence.
The immigration officer was able to quickly gain a clear understanding of Mr. Sun’s company’s business situation and grasp the key points when reviewing the file.

OUTCOME
Within a week after receiving the retroactive documents, Mr. Sun’s L-1 extension was successfully approved. Mr. Sun was thrilled to receive the good news, as he was originally very worried that the extension would not be approved. His wife and children are used to living in the U.S., and the children like to go to school in the U.S. Once the extension is not approved, the whole family will have to leave. In particular, many of his acquaintances and friends who submitted extension applications at the same time as him were denied. He is very grateful to Tsang & Associates for all they have done for him. In particular, he praised the team’s effective remediation plan and strategy, as well as the team’s legal writing skills and the amount of time they devoted to his case. Such an efficient and successful experience also prompted Mr. Sun to decide to continue to retain the Zang & Associates team for his next EB-1C green card petition.

Lawyer Joseph Tsang commented:
Many clients are alarmed when they receive a notice of replacement. It is advisable to consult with a highly professional attorney with experience in the relevant field for effective solutions and strategies. At the same time, a firm’s legal team can play a pivotal role in the case, and a good legal team can make the file submitted to the immigration officer more credible and persuasive. A flexible approach will help you navigate your way through the application process, and an impeccable argument will help you avoid red lights. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. Tsang & Associates is confident that we will be your navigator on your visa application, helping you to avoid red lights and get to the right end of the road quickly.

*To protect customer privacy, customer names are pseudonyms.