Sophie Alcorn, lawyer, writer and founding father of Alcorn Immigration Legislation in Silicon Valley, California, is an award-winning Licensed Specialist Legal professional in Immigration and Nationality Legislation by the State Bar Board of Authorized Specialization. Sophie is obsessed with transcending borders, increasing alternative, and connecting the world by working towards compassionate, visionary, and professional immigration regulation. Join with Sophie on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Expensive Sophie,
For the previous 5 years, I’ve been working the Boston-based biotech startup I co-founded whereas residing in Pakistan whereas my co-founder has been residing in Boston. Now I need to transfer to the U.S. to increase our enterprise. What choices can be found to me?
— Plucky Pakistani
Expensive Plucky,
I’m appreciative of all of the worldwide founders such as you who come to the U.S. to innovate, create jobs, and contribute to the economic system! And kudos to you! It appears like your biotech has hit the candy spot to sponsor you for a visa in addition to a inexperienced card if you wish to keep within the U.S. completely.
Make sure to work with an immigration lawyer, who can information you and your startup by this course of and arrange your startup for achievement in sponsoring worldwide expertise. An immigration lawyer may also put together you for an in-person interview on the embassy or a consulate in Pakistan if you’re required to have one. You could possibly get an interview waiver for the visa choices under in the event you apply earlier than the top of the 12 months. Till then, consular officers have the discretion to waive the visa interview requirement for sure work visas in the event you have been beforehand issued a visa and have by no means been denied one.
Now, let’s dive into your finest choices.
L-1A visa
The L-1A visa for intracompany transferee executives and managers is a good choice for startup founders who’re both trying to arrange a brand new workplace within the U.S. or — such as you — need to transfer to the U.S. to work from an already current workplace.
Your startup should meet sure necessities to sponsor you for the L-1A. Your organization will want a bodily workplace location within the U.S. if it doesn’t have one already. In contrast to different visas, for an L-1A petition it’s truly required and may also function proof of enterprise viability. Your organization will probably additionally have to submit enterprise plans, progress fashions, and group charts.
For the L-1A, you should have been working in your startup in Pakistan for not less than one steady 12 months inside the previous three years for a associated firm, have an government or managerial place at your startup’s U.S. workplace, and make choices and supervise workers.
If the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Companies (USCIS) authorised you for an L-1A, it is going to be good for 3 years initially. You’ll be able to renew your L-1A twice for 2 years every, which provides you with a most keep of seven years as an government within the U.S.