Visa Lawyer Blog

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Recently, the USCIS Service Center Operations Directorate hosted an engagement with AILA representatives. USCIS addressed questions related to Requests for Evidence, the L-1 visa category, and court case decisions. The information below provides a review of the questions solicited by AILA regarding the increased denials in L1A cases and the responses provided by USCIS. We continue to fight and win many of the motions resulting in such erroneous denials.

Question: AILA members report receiving denials of L-1A “new office”petitions where service centers conclude that there is insufficient proof of consideration, or inadequate consideration, for the acquisition by one entity of another, notwithstanding the submission by the petitioner of evidence in the form of executed contracts, stock certificates, and other documentation showing the corporate transaction. Please instruct service centers that the financial arrangements involved in a corporate transaction are not a proper area of inquiry so long as there is other evidence of the creation of a qualifying corporate relationship between the foreign and domestic entities.

Immigration Service Answer:There may be circumstances in which it is necessary to request financial documentation to help establish a qualifying relationship. Such a determination must be made on a case-by-case basis. SCOPS will discuss this topic with the service centers. If there are examples where an I-129 L-1A petition was adjudicated improperly, please provide us with the receipt number, and we will review.

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The issue of immigration is one of the most complex and politically difficult issues because there is so much passion on all sides. It literally goes to the very heart of what it means to be an American. I wanted to share this great post from AILA leadership site:

Discussions about immigration reform often focus on the issue of “undocumented” or “illegal” aliens. But fixing our broken immigration system is about more than the determining the fate of the estimated ten million people currently living and working and studying in the United States without papers. In the words of President Clinton, “It’s the Economy, Stupid.” Immigration reform would allow us to create a legal framework for who we want to have remain in our country, who we want to exclude, and to do so in a way that reflects our values and our interests. The bottom line, however, is that reform would benefit the bottom line. Reform would raise wages, decrease unemployment, and increase tax revenues. Who wouldn’t want that?

Currently, our immigration system hurts our nation’s economy. We want to invite investment in our economy, attract bright and talented people in our businesses, and to create a fair and level playing field for our workers. Our immigration system falls short of each of these goals.

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A New York judge released Dominique Strauss-Kahn from house arrest Friday, after prosecutors presented evidence questioning the credibility of the hotel maid who accused the former International Monetary Fund chief of sexual assault.

The alleged victim, a 32-year-old immigrant from Guinea, admitted to prosecutors that she lied about the specifics of her whereabouts following the incident, the details of an asylum application and information she put on tax forms.

According to a New York Times report, the 32-year-old hotel maid may be linked to drug dealing and possible money laundering. The unidentified woman also lied to investigators about previously being raped in her native Guinea.

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We have been duplicating a immigration policies of continental European –countries similar to France as good as Germany – which have utterly unsuccessful to confederate as good as cushion their populations

America is still distant forward of a rest of a world. We still do immigration improved than a lot of a rest of a world. But if America will not start changing the way we look at Immigration and Immigrants, how we welcome them and embrace their skills, we will loose big time.

Fareed Zakaria put it nicely in his latest article on CNN:

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In recent months, the L-1A visa has been under attack by Immigration. More Requests for Evidence and more denials have been forthcoming on L-1 visas than have been issued in the past. Such issues that have arisen recently include the adequacy of the employer’s office space, the nature of the business itself, and even ownership concerns. What is more vexing is when Immigration sends a Request for Evidence asking for more evidence, providing the evidence asked for, and then receiving a rejection notice on a totally unrelated issue that was never raised in the Request for Evidence. Andrew Despositio, Esq. from our office with our team won an amazing motion to re open on a difficult L1A case denial.

Recently, our office submitted an L-1 petition on behalf of a company with a newly founded subsidiary in the U.S. The subsidiary is in the business of marketing the hearing and eye protection that is manufactured and distributed by the parent company in the foreign country. The subsidiary established that it had a legitimate need for an employee from the parent company to act as an executive/manager under the L-1A visa.

Once the case was submitted, a Request for Evidence came back asking to substantiate the business premises, the parent company’s premises, a feasibility study of the subsidiary’s business made by the parent company, insurance statements from the subsidiary, bank statements from the subsidiary, and a lease agreement from the subsidiary. All of these documents were provided to immigration to fulfill each request it made. In the end the case was still denied.

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The Department of State (DOS) has launched the anticipated new version of the Form DS-160 Nonimmigrant Visa Application.

The form’s new version clarifies, in no uncertain terms, that the applicant – and no one else – must electronically sign and submit the DS-160 form. As part of a newly formatted opening page, the DS-160 advises applicants to:

“be aware that under U.S. law you must electronically sign and submit your own application unless you qualify for an exception. This means that you (the applicant) must check the ‘Sign Application’ button, even if someone else helped you fill the application out.”

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Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), together with six other Democratic Senators, introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2011. The bill, which would overhaul the country’s immigration system, proposes a mandatory employment verification system, a federal commission on immigration, and an earned path to citizenship for those undocumented immigrants already in the United States.

The Senate bill stands in contrast to recent House bills that focus on narrow aspects of immigration reform, such as expansion of E-Verify and tougher immigration enforcement laws. Immigration Reform Bill Introduced in the Senate.

While we remain skeptic that any major reform will happen any time soon, the only positive side is that there is still some support and interest by certain members of Congress to pass reform.

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The Work & Travel Program is part of the J-1 visa category of the U.S. government’s Exchange Visitor program.

If you are a university student from outside the United States and are not a U.S. citizen, you may experience life in the U.S. as a temporary employee and tourist by participating in a Work & Travel Program during your four-month college vacation period.

How? Your first step is to obtain a J-1 visa, which is the U.S. government’s exchange visitor visa program designed to promote cross-cultural exchange between the US and other countries. To qualify for this J-1 visa, you must be a full-time university student or be within six months of graduation.

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USCIS open forum, designed to encourage open communication between USCIS representatives and AILA practitioners, was held at AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) Annual Conference on June 17, 2011. USCIS Director, Alejandro Mayorkas, was present to answer the questions of immigration practitioners regarding the current issues in USCIS adjudication procedures. Attorney Kate Powel who attended this session, prepared the following points for our readers:

The Open Forum concentrated on the issues of aliens with extraordinary abilities category and the Kazarian guidance, VIBE program and its deficiencies, the increased number of standard RFEs, and other problem areas.

During the open forum, AILA members pronounced their concerns regarding the unpredictability in adjudications and stricter adjudication standards, especially as applied to small businesses, that are contributing to an environment that is discouraging foreign companies from coming here.

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