Published on the World Journal Weekly on October 7, 2018 1. H-1B or L-1 and Then Green Card? 2. I-601A

1. H-1B or L-1 and Then Green Card?

I have a 3 year degree in accounting, and have been the accounting controller in our family business in Taiwan (35 people in company and $3 million USD in sales) and want to be in the U. S. under H-1B or L-1 status with the ultimate goal of getting the green card. The company has a subsidiary in Canada with 10 employees and will start up a new company in the U. S. with me at the helm, initial capitalization of $100,000, and the initial plan in the first year is for the company to have 3 people including myself and U. S. sales of $750,000. What is the best approach?

Dear reader,
H-1B visas for private companies are capped in number and applications are only accepted at the beginning of April. The employment would have to be for a specialty occupation. A good time to start the case is in January.  2 possible problems are that you do not have a four-year baccalaureate degree in accounting and that the new company that you are starting would seem to be quite small to have the need for an accounting professional or manager. A startup L-1 is possibly a better option, but would have to include a solid business plan as to how the company plans to expand within the next year. Assuming that the visa is approved, U.S.C.I.S. would only give a period of one year, and the U. S. company would have to apply for an extension of your status by showing its growth after the first year. Assuming that it grows well, it could then sponsor you for permanent residence under the EB-1C multinational executive or manager category if you were transferred to the U. S. in an executive or managerial capacity. This is a fairly quick route to immigration and can usually be accomplished within 1-2 years after the EB-1C application is submitted. Please note that if the company does not grow, U.S.C.I.S. may have problems in granting you an extension for permanent residence. If you and your Taiwan company see possible problems with growing a small company in the U. S., you may wish to rethink your plans and attempt to acquire an existing company with employees and sales. Such could pave the way for easier entry under both L-1 and green card.

2. I-601A

I sneaked into the United States in 1995, applied for political asylum in 1996, lost and was ordered deported in 1998. My mother came to the U. S. in 2006, applied for me in January 2007, and became a U. S. citizen in 2010. I got married in 2016, my wife has the green card, and we have 3 children – 3, 4, and 7 years old. She has tried twice to become a citizen, but cannot pass the English test. How can I get my green card?

Dear reader,
Under the expansion to the I-601A program, you may be able to ultimately immigrate to the U. S. For you to do that, you can probably use your mother’s petition for you as the base. For the month of June 2018, the available date for the F-3 category of married sons and daughters of U. S. citizens is up to 3/15/06, and so the time for visa availability is probably between 1-2 years. In the meantime, you can file an I-212 conditional application for permission to reapply for admission into the U. S. after deportation or removal with the local U.S.C.I.S. field office. Such application would look at your immigration record, any criminal record, and all of your equities. Assuming that such is approved, you would then file for an I-601A application for provisional unlawful presence waiver with U.S.C.I.S. in which the standard for adjudication is whether there would be extreme hardship to a U. S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or parent if the waiver was not approved. If both the I-212 and I-601A applications are approved, you could then complete consular processing and return overseas to the home consulate or embassy, where you would likely have a normal immigrant visa interview and be able to return to the U. S. with an immigrant visa.