This past week, our law firm sued the federal government in U.S. District Court in Miami, over the denial of an extension of an L-1A, intracompany transfer working visa.
Our client, from Europe, had started his branch office in the USA and has over 10 American workers in Florida. The USCIS, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security had already previously approved him for an L-1A visa to work in the United States. After starting the business here and hiring more than ten employees, it was time to file for an extension of his stay in L-1A status.
In denying the extension of stay and rendering the business owner out of status, the government now claimed that he was not a manager or executive who managed management employees, even though all the evidence submitted indicated that he was the CEO of the U.S.-based company.
President Trump, through an executive order, has stated that the government would give a more difficult time to intracompany transfer workers, but he did not say the USCIS should not follow the law and should not approve cases that clearly qualify under the law.
This Miami immigration lawyer and Houston immigration lawyer has been suing the federal government on improperly denied immigration visa cases for over thirty years. Normally, such cases are resolved in favor of the foreign national, based on my own personal experience. Moreover, if the government waits for the federal judge to overrule their decision, the federal government is often on the hook to pay attorney’s fees of the foreign national.
The government is expected to file an answer to the lawsuit in the next 60 days, with a 2021 trial date most likely on the horizon.
About the author: Bruce Coane is a Miami immigration lawyer and a Houston immigration lawyer and is Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Mr. Coane practices immigration law in all 50 states and has clients all around the world.He may be reached at [email protected] or at 713-850-0066 or 305-701-4624.
