L1 Visa majority Share holder

[SanFranbound 0]

Hi all, 

 

Long time lurker first-time poster. I am looking for some advice on the L1-A visa route as a majority shareholder. I am CTO at a funded startup in the UK owning around 80% of the shares in the business with external investors and a VC firm invested in the business.  We have a board who has approved a US office and we are now looking to set up an office in San Francisco which I was planning to head over to do myself. I have read that as a majority share holder when applying for a L1-A you may need to provide evidence that at the end of a period you will be returning to a foreign entity of the business.

 

I am a majority shareholder of the UK business which is a 100% shareholder of the American LLC, I guess my question first is does that make me a majority shareholder of the LLC? 

 

Additionally, does anyone have experience of this? What proof, if it is needed, can prove I would be coming back? Is the end of the "period" typically viewed as 1 year?

 

Cheers

 

Phil

[Boiler 45,486]

Nothing that you have mentioned seems an issue, soemthing to discuss with your legal team, presumably the business plan etc is all put together, they might suggest changes.

[SanFranbound 0]

Hi Boiler

 

Thanks for your reply. I have tried to speak with the immigration consultant that the company has hired but he doesn't seem to have the time to explain things properly to me, I do ask a lot of questions. He had suggested there was no need to prove I would be returning to the UK at the end of the office setup but other advice I read from other law firms seems to suggest I do.

 

I didn't think there was necessarily a problem I was more just interested in others experience of a setup like this, did they need to prove they were returning to the UK if they were a major shareholder?

Thanks again

 

Phil

[Boiler 45,486]

These are handled by Lawyers.

 

L is dual intent.

 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

4 hours ago, SanFranbound said:

Hi Boiler

 

Thanks for your reply. I have tried to speak with the immigration consultant that the company has hired but he doesn't seem to have the time to explain things properly to me, I do ask a lot of questions. He had suggested there was no need to prove I would be returning to the UK at the end of the office setup but other advice I read from other law firms seems to suggest I do.

 

I didn't think there was necessarily a problem I was more just interested in others experience of a setup like this, did they need to prove they were returning to the UK if they were a major shareholder?

Thanks again

 

Phil

If the consultant (I presume lawyer) you’ve hired can’t be bothered explaining things to you, get a new one.  You’re the majority shareholder so I guess you can make that call. And like boiler says, this is not DIY. Get a lawyer specializing in Ls. The refusal rate has been increasing significantly in the past few years.

Edited March 4, 2018 by SusieQQQ

[Coco8 1,042]

L1-A allows you to apply for a green card without going through the Labor Department. I find it odd that you need proof of,

 

23 hours ago, SanFranbound said:

may need to provide evidence that at the end of a period you will be returning to a foreign entity of the business

 

because that would go against the dual intent of the L1-A.

 

I agree with above, you need to get a new lawyer or whatever. I know someone who has an L1 and lawyers did all the paperwork. It can be very technical, it is not DYU, and you need good communication between lawyers and yourself (to avoid errors on the paperwork which can cost you the visa). 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, Coco8 said:

L1-A allows you to apply for a green card without going through the Labor Department. I find it odd that you need proof of,

 

 

because that would go against the dual intent of the L1-A.

 

I agree with above, you need to get a new lawyer or whatever. I know someone who has an L1 and lawyers did all the paperwork. It can be very technical, it is not DYU, and you need good communication between lawyers and yourself (to avoid errors on the paperwork which can cost you the visa). 

 

It’s a tricky one in a way (I say this second hand from someone who went through the process - and got rejected) because even though it’s dual intent, the principal motivation behind offering the visa is not to give people green cards, but to expand employment in the US. It seems that they had been fairly lax up to a point some years ago in really examining the applications, and a lot of people were basically using it as a backdoor way to getting a green card - much shorter time than a family visa, less expensive than EB5, etc. All you really needed was to have run a company of just about any sort and almost any size for a while back home then say you want to open a branch on the US and, voila, you have a green card a couple of years later (and then you close down the company at home ...).

They seem to be getting more fussy about granting the visa (even before Trump, this person I know was denied before he became president, I imagine they have not relaxed anything since) in terms of analyzing the business plan and all sorts of things around it - is the proposed employee structure feasible, is the projected income level reasonable, why are you renting a 200 sq foot office when you say you plan to employ 10 people, etc. so it’s definitely not just a case of filling out some answers in a visa form and paying a fee. ....and I don’t know, this is just speculation, but possibly wanting proof that the person will go back is one way of trying to ensure the business case is genuine and it’s not a backdoor to a green card. Then, if the business does in fact turn out to be what it’s claimed to become, it’s probably then fairly easy to get the L visa extended. 

[Boiler 45,486]

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[Going through 5,671]

4 hours ago, green_card_usa said:

Check all information here — https://greencardinusa.com/managers-executives-l-1-visa/

How many threads are you going to go into just to posts links to your blog articles?

[John JK 0]

Regulations have special additional requirements for an L-1 visa for an owner or a major stockholder. Title 8 CFR 214.2(l)(3)(vii)

"(vii) If the beneficiary is an owner or major stockholder of the company, the petition must be accompanied by evidence that the beneficiary's services are to be used for a temporary period and evidence that the beneficiary will be transferred to an assignment abroad upon the completion of the temporary services in the United States."