L-1A erroneously denied by USCIS, our office fights back!

The Law Offices of Sabrina Li has been successful in assisting another client. We would like to share their case with you.   

Our client hired our office for an L-1A change of status application. Our office diligently filed an application stating our client would be employed as an executive and included plenty of documentation regarding the corporation’s payroll, taxes, and other corporate materials.  

Despite our extensive evidence to the contrary, USCIS claimed that the corporation did not have sufficient staff so that our client could qualify as a manager or executive. USCIS thereafter denied the client’s I-129 Petition. 

However, our office did not take this lying down. Instead, we filed an I-290B motion to reopen, requesting that USCIS reopen the case so they could make a different decision. In our I-290B, we pointed out that USCIS misinterpreted the documents provided and erroneously stated that the corporation did not have enough employees. Our client entered a co-employment arrangement with a professional employer organization. Under this arrangement, this organization assumed certain employer responsibilities, including the processing and reporting employees’ wages and payroll taxes. Therefore, federal and state payment taxes for all wages were reported under this organization’s name and NOT under our client. We provided a detailed explanation with additional documents to rebut USCIS’s incorrect assessment.  

Our arguments were successful, and USCIS reopened our client’s case. On the same day, the case was reopened, our client’s I-129 was approved, and he was given an L-1A status.  

To qualify for an L-1A: 

• The employer must: 
• Have a qualifying relationship with a foreign company; and 
• Have an office doing business in the United States. 
• The employee must: 
• Have been working for the employer abroad for one year within the last three years; and 
• Have an offer of employment as an executive or manager for the employer’s U.S. office. 

If you or someone you know has encountered a similar issue and needs the assistance of qualified professionals, please do not hesitate to contact our office at 213-375-8096. We are here to help!