One Year Business Rule
Posted on: Immigration, Law
The USCIS designed the one-year ‘doing business’ requirement to force the applicant company to show good faith in efforts to establish itself in the US. In the 1980s many Taiwanese companies established US subsidiary ‘shell’ companies as a vehicle to move children to the US to study and to later apply for a green card. The USCIS established the one-year doing business rule for start-up companies to curtail this abuse.
Russian and PRC Chinese companies tend to follow the trail blazed by their Taiwanese predecessors. The USCIS tends to not only question Russian and PRC Chinese start-up company applications, but often sends the files to field investigators who visit the premises in the home country and the US to check the bonafides of the visa petition.
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Extending working stay
Posted on: Citizen, Immigration, Law
Start-up company L-1A visas have an initial validity period of one year, not three years as in other L-1A situations. The L-1A manager must conduct active business and hire employees within the one-year period. Remember, L-1A managers must oversee other managers, supervisors or professionals. At a minimum, the manager must make tangible progress towards establishing the business. At the end of the first year the L-1A visa can be extended for up to two three-year periods.
H-1B visa holders are limited to six consecutive years in the US. The L-1A visa holders are restricted to seven consecutive years in the US. At the end of the maximum validity period they may change to any other status than H-1B or L-1A, often El/2, or they must leave the US for at least one year before reapplying in H-1B or L-1A status.
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Corporation and Regulation
Posted on: Immigration, Law
There are some question that used to be asked by people who owned some big corporation company and like to open some branch in other countries, mainly US as we discuss in here. They might found it bit tricky if didn’t know some qualification or regulation related onto it.
So what are the regulation and terms should be consider on it? The first one is you should establish some company. No matter what visa alternative you ultimately choose you will need to establish a US company licensed to do
business in a particular state. The USCIS will not consider most business oriented visa petitions unless a US company
exists. Although there are reasons to establish partnerships, joint ventures or even to use individual ownership, in
most cases it’s best to form a limited company or a corporation.
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L-Visas
Posted on: Immigration, Law
The L visa category includes executive, manager or specialized knowledge applicants who transfer within an international organization. To qualify for any L category the visa applicant must transfer within the same international organization.
The applicant must work in a qualifying capacity (as an executive, manager or specialized knowledge employee) for a foreign member of the international organization, for one of three years preceding the transfer to the American member of the international organization in the same capacity. L visa applicants file Form 1-129 and the L supplement with the USCIS.
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Temporary Working Visas
Posted on: Immigration, Law
International organizations and corporations use non-immigrant working visas to staff US operations. Investors use non-immigrant visas for themselves and employees sent to the US to monitor investments. US employers use non-immigrant visas to fill skill shortages in their companies. Many people use non-immigrant working visas as a stepping stone to permanent residence status and then citizenship. People commonly obtain a non-immigrant work visa so that they can remain in the US while applying or waiting for a green card.
The US maintains two interdependent non-immigrant working visa systems. E visas are the product of treaties, negotiated between the US and other countries and administered by the Department of State through embassies and consulates. Congress created the other commonly used non-immigrant work visas H and L through domestic law. The USCIS serves as the lead agency for administering H and L visas or other visas created by domestic law.
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