L1A/EB1 - Front office Manager/Dept head

[jatinr]

My cousin works for a resort in British Virgin island - Turks & Caico's. The Resort that he works for also has a Resort in Hawaii, Florida. He is currently working there as Front office manager/dept head for his resort and has bunch of hotel staff reporting to him.
He would like to see if he can apply for L1A visa on intra company transfer to their Resort in Hawaii for a similar or a higher management role than what he has and start GC process.
Following are the questions

a> Can he start the EB1 GC process (since it is for future employment in US) while he is still working at the resort in Turks & Caico's? Does he need to enter US through L1A before he can start his process.
b> The specialized skills and experience he possess is the knowhow of running/managing the complete Front office function of the resort, is that good enough of experience to get his a L1A visa and EB1 GC.
c> Can he file the I-140/485 directly since no labor is required on L1A/Management category, what is avg cost/ETA for the complete process.

Awaiting your response.

Thanks

[inadmissible]

a) yes
b) no
c) yes

[jatinr]

Request for details

a) yes
b) no
c) yes

you have mentioned "No" to point b, my cousin has more than 15 yrs experience working in Hotel industry and also has done Hotel Management Degree. He has been heading the Resort Front office functions for more than 1.5 yrs outside of US, is that good enough experience and degree for EB-1 , External Manager.

[scientist2016]

you have mentioned "No" to point b, my cousin has more than 15 yrs experience working in Hotel industry and also has done Hotel Management Degree. He has been heading the Resort Front office functions for more than 1.5 yrs outside of US, is that good enough experience and degree for EB-1 , External Manager.

EB1C, the intra company manager transfer category, does not have a set degree or experience requirement. The category is meant for managers defined as being people who play a strategic role in the company, not just supervisors. Once a person meets the requirements (needs to be an intra company transfer, company needs to have a US entity in place, should have been in the said managerial role for atleast 1 yr. in the three years before the petition date in a foreign arm of the same company, etc.) the USCIS adjudication officer looks at the whole package and determines whether to approve or reject the I140.

A common misunderstanding is a supervisor being a manager as per the USCIS EB1C definition. The determination is subjective, and hence in the past some people have been able to get their green card while not fully qualified as per the definition. But of late there has been an increased scrutiny of these petitions, and adjudication has become stricter. This is probably the reason for inadmissible's answer as no.

Having said that, if the employer is willing your cousin can always ask the employer to file under EB1C and see what USCIS says.

Regarding other questions:
a) Yes
c) Yes

There is no premium processing for I140 in the EB1C category. It typically takes 6-12 months to adjudicate. Processing times for I485 are the same as any other I485. On the whole a good estimate to get GC from the start of the process is ~12 months or so. Things like the actual field office that has jurisdiction, whether the EB1 category is current for the beneficiary's nationality, etc., can delay the aforementioned timeline.

[inadmissible]

you have mentioned "No" to point b, my cousin has more than 15 yrs experience working in Hotel industry and also has done Hotel Management Degree. He has been heading the Resort Front office functions for more than 1.5 yrs outside of US, is that good enough experience and degree for EB-1 , External Manager.

No