May 26, 2020
Dear Valued Clients:
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a Policy Memorandum adopting the May 5, 2020 Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) decision in Matter of F-M-Co. USCIS will use this Policy Memorandum to guide determinations going forward.
Matter of F-M-Co reaffirms and clarifies the following for EB1-C Multinational Executives and Manager Visa applications:
A qualifying relationship between the petitioner and the beneficiary’s foreign employer must exist at the time the petition is filed and the relationship must be maintained until the petition is adjudicated.
This is consistent with longstanding interpretations of INA 203(b)(1)(C) and 8 C.F.R. §204.5(j)(3)(i)(A) and (B), which allows an alien to enter the United States to continue working for the same employer. The AAO decision clarifies that a “[B]eneficiary cannot be transferred to the United States as a multinational executive or manager from a company that is no longer in the same multinational organization as the petitioner, whether it is because the former foreign employer no longer exists in any form, or because the former foreign employer no longer shares common ownership with the petitioning U.S. employer.”
In the event of a corporate restructuring, affecting the foreign entity, occurring before filing of the petition, the petitioner may establish that the beneficiary’s qualifying foreign employer continues to exist and does business through a valid successor entity.
Should the beneficiary’s foreign employer undergo a reorganization (e.g. merger, consolidation, dissolution) after the beneficiary has been transferred to the United States as an L-1A but prior to filing an immigrant petition for a multinational manager or executive, the petitioner must fully disclose and document the corporate changes, in addition to providing evidence of the foreign employer’s ownership and control in establishing a qualifying relationship between the petitioner and the foreign employer.
This allows USCIS to conduct a successor-in-interest analysis to determine whether a beneficiary’s foreign employer continues to exist through a valid successor company within the same multinational organization.
This recent decision by the AAO simply upholds longstanding interpretations of the rule allowing multinational executives and managers to enter the United States and continue working for their foreign employer or a related employer within the United States. The decision does clarify that although the qualifying relationship between the foreign and US employer must exist at the time the petition is filed and is adjudicated, the foreign employer need not exist in the same form from the time of petition to adjudication. These clarifications made in the Policy Memorandum will allow for greater uniformity in adjudicating similar EB1-C cases.
Meyer Law Group will continue to assist clients with their EB1-C petitions, adhering to the requirements set forth in Matter of F-M-Co. Please contact Meyer Law Group if you have any questions or concerns regarding this new Policy Memorandum.