L1-A for small business owner

[popradsk]

This is annoying - just wrote a long post which got lost upon submission.

Anyway, I would like to ask for some advice regarding the L1-A visa for small business owners.

I read some conflicting information. According to some sources the L1-A category is ideal for small business owners who want to transfer themselves to the USA. However, other sources indicate this is not possible.

I own a small internet company based in the UK (Ltd). I employ 3 people on permanent, part time basis (marketing, sales, admin), including my wife. Me and my wife (with 3 small children) would like to move to the USA. I'd open a branch in the States where I would employ at least one employee (initially on part time basis). My wife would not work in the USA.

To be perfectly honest, being an online company, we don't really need a physical presence in the USA but we would use it to hold 1 or 2 annual industry events (we already hold one successfully in the UK). I would keep the UK office open and keep at least one of the employees employed there.

I am the managing director but my duties also include day-to-day tasks such as website administration, programming, etc. Company's profit before tax is around $110k pa. My personal income (salary and dividends) is around $70k per year.

I know we would have to prove our intend to go back to the UK once the US branch is up and running. However, if we like living in the USA we would want to stay there longer or perhaps permanently.

My questions are:

1. Do I have a realistic chance of getting the L1-A visa?
2. If I do, do I have the realistic chance of getting the visa renewed after the first year?
3. If I do, is there a realistic chance of getting the green card afterwards?

We also registered with the DV lottery (me and my wife were born in Slovakia and hold dual UK/Slovak citizenship). Of course we cannot rely on getting the green cards this way.

Any advice or opinion will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[me_shaan]

Getting an L1A for yourself might be a tough job. Also, there is a need to employ at least 50 people in US for your company for you to be elligible for L1A. My suggestion is to get in touch with a good immigration lawyer in the US and discuss.

If you get an L1A, getting a GC should not be much big of a task.

[delucasso]

Did you get any resolution ?

This is annoying - just wrote a long post which got lost upon submission.

Anyway, I would like to ask for some advice regarding the L1-A visa for small business owners.

I read some conflicting information. According to some sources the L1-A category is ideal for small business owners who want to transfer themselves to the USA. However, other sources indicate this is not possible.

I own a small internet company based in the UK (Ltd). I employ 3 people on permanent, part time basis (marketing, sales, admin), including my wife. Me and my wife (with 3 small children) would like to move to the USA. I'd open a branch in the States where I would employ at least one employee (initially on part time basis). My wife would not work in the USA.

To be perfectly honest, being an online company, we don't really need a physical presence in the USA but we would use it to hold 1 or 2 annual industry events (we already hold one successfully in the UK). I would keep the UK office open and keep at least one of the employees employed there.

I am the managing director but my duties also include day-to-day tasks such as website administration, programming, etc. Company's profit before tax is around $110k pa. My personal income (salary and dividends) is around $70k per year.

I know we would have to prove our intend to go back to the UK once the US branch is up and running. However, if we like living in the USA we would want to stay there longer or perhaps permanently.

My questions are:

1. Do I have a realistic chance of getting the L1-A visa?
2. If I do, do I have the realistic chance of getting the visa renewed after the first year?
3. If I do, is there a realistic chance of getting the green card afterwards?

We also registered with the DV lottery (me and my wife were born in Slovakia and hold dual UK/Slovak citizenship). Of course we cannot rely on getting the green cards this way.

Any advice or opinion will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hi, i am facing same situation like you. Can you please contact me by PM, i will send you my contact and if you don mind, i like to discuss with you that situation, how was your decision. ? Thanks DeLucasso p.s. Jsem z Prahy

[ahmedmaher74]

did you get any clarification about this??

Hi there
I'm facing same issue.. please let me know if you have any clarification about this. thanks

[fawad123]

Hi there
I'm facing same issue.. please let me know if you have any clarification about this. thanks

What kind of issues are you facing now?
Have you applied for L1A visa?

[inadmissible]

Hi popradsk

You do not have any realistic chances of getting an L1-A visa.

There may be other (investment related) visa categories that may work, depending on your resources.

Good luck.

Edit: I know you searched this site already, but immihelp himself wrote a quick description of the L-1 visa which specifically describes your situation. https://www.immihelp.com/doing-business-requirement-for-l1-visa-petition/

Is selling your company part of your exit strategy? If a larger American firm acquired yours, you could negotiate to get hired by them in some capacity. But, that may not lead to a green card.

On the other hand, if you started or expanded an American business to the tune of USD1 million you can get green cards for your family. Google EB-5. The dollar amount is halved if you invest in a rural or high unemployment area. A program expiring this year let's you place that 500k in designated passive investments, but it seems folks are mostly losing their shirts with those.