In re _______ [The Case of the L-1A Company President]

The petitioner (plaintiff) was an Arizona corporation in the construction business that sought to extend the employment of its president (beneficiary) as an L-1A nonimmigrant intracompany transferee pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The INA required, in part, that a petitioner establish a qualifying relationship with the beneficiary’s foreign employer by showing that the foreign employer and the United States employer were parent and subsidiary, or affiliates. The petitioner claimed to have a qualifying relationship with Willma, S. A. de C. V., which was located in Mexico, but provided only (1) a self-prepared chart describing the relationship of the entities, (2) a copy of the United States company’s stock certificate, (3) a copy of its articles of incorporation, and (4) a single, untranslated tax receipt submitted to the Mexican government. The petitioner provided a description of the beneficiary’s duties but did not include the time spent on each duty. The petitioner also provided an organizational chart showing that the beneficiary supervised an operational manager, sales manager, and administrative assistant. The evidence provided by the petitioner suggested that these employees might have been only part-time or intermittent employees. The petitioner also provided a list of contractors it worked with to complete construction. The director of the Administrative Appeals Office denied the petition. The petitioner appealed.