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Hi,
I work for a small UK base company. Our CEO applied for an L1A visa but it has been turned down. The reason giving being that we haven't demonstrated the need for a CEO/Executive level role in the USA and the manager we have in place at present does not have sufficient authority/responsibilities. The company employs about 25 people in the UK. The US operation is separate company, incorporate in the USA, with the UK operation as the parent. The USA office is just 4 people, although we have had it for nearly 3 years, the North American market has been a slow burner and is only now picking up. The CEO needs to be out there to drive through our growth plans. We have been using a specialist firm of lawyers for this application, but have come to the conclusion they may not be experienced enough to get this approved.
My question(s) is; is the L1A route for a visa the correct one and does the fact the office has been established for 3 years undermine the application.
Also, how can we show sufficient reporting structure and roles/responsibilities when by its very nature, the small US office has neither. The majority of major decisions are made in the UK...we hold at least weekly meetings to discuss operational issues. The manager we have there can make recommendations regarding employment and is registered with the US bank we hold an account with.
How is the CEO of a small company supposed to get a visa with sufficient 'rights' to enable them to get a social security number to gain access to the company's bank account etc directly, without having to trust a third party.
Hope this all makes sense.
Many thanks.
I work for a small UK base company. Our CEO applied for an L1A visa but it has been turned down. The reason giving being that we haven't demonstrated the need for a CEO/Executive level role in the USA and the manager we have in place at present does not have sufficient authority/responsibilities. The company employs about 25 people in the UK. The US operation is separate company, incorporate in the USA, with the UK operation as the parent. The USA office is just 4 people, although we have had it for nearly 3 years, the North American market has been a slow burner and is only now picking up. The CEO needs to be out there to drive through our growth plans. We have been using a specialist firm of lawyers for this application, but have come to the conclusion they may not be experienced enough to get this approved.
My question(s) is; is the L1A route for a visa the correct one and does the fact the office has been established for 3 years undermine the application.
Also, how can we show sufficient reporting structure and roles/responsibilities when by its very nature, the small US office has neither. The majority of major decisions are made in the UK...we hold at least weekly meetings to discuss operational issues. The manager we have there can make recommendations regarding employment and is registered with the US bank we hold an account with.
How is the CEO of a small company supposed to get a visa with sufficient 'rights' to enable them to get a social security number to gain access to the company's bank account etc directly, without having to trust a third party.
Hope this all makes sense.
Many thanks.
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