remanded EB-1C Case: Insurance
Decision Summary
The Director denied the petition because the beneficiary's significant ownership interest in both the foreign and U.S. entities was believed to preclude a bona fide employer-employee relationship. The AAO remanded the case, withdrawing the decision, citing a recent court case (ITServe Alliance, Inc. v. Cissna) and a related USCIS policy rescission that changed how the employer-employee relationship is evaluated. The Director was instructed to reconsider the petition under the current guidance.
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services In Re: 9296746 Appeal of Texas Service Center Decision Non-Precedent Decision of the Administrative Appeals Office Date: OCT. 6, 2020 Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Multinational Managers or Executives The Petitioner, an insurance agency, seeks to permanently employ the Beneficiary as its general manager under the first preference immigrant classification for multinational managers or executives . Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b)(l)(C) , 8 U.S.C. Β§ 1153(b)(l)(C). The Director of the Texas Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the record did not establish the existence of a bona fide employer-employee relationship between the Beneficiary and the foreign and U.S. entities for which he has worked. Specifically, the Director concluded that the Beneficiary's significant ownership interest in the foreign and U.S. entities precluded a true employerΒ employee relationship. The Petitioner then filed a timely appeal. While this appeal was pending, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a decision in ITServe Alliance, Inc. v. Cissna, - F. Supp. 3d -, 2020 WL 1150186 (D.D.C. 2020). Subsequently, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rescinded previously issued policy guidance and directed its officers to apply the existing regulatory definition at 8 C.F.R. Β§ 214.2(h)(4)(ii) to assess whether a petitioner and a beneficiary have an employer-employee relationship. USCIS Policy Memorandum PM-602-0114, Rescission of Policy Memoranda at 2 (June 17, 2020), http://www.uscis.gov/legal-resources /policy-memoranda . While this immigrant visa petition does not rely on any interpretation of the specific regulation that was subject to review in ITServe, nevertheless there is a broader similarity between that case and this proceeding. In ITServe, the Court cited the lack of a regulatory justification for imposing what the Court believed to be new restrictions on the employer-employee relationship. The present case raises a similar general issue: the denial of a petition for the lack of an employer-employee relationship when the applicable regulations contain no specific standards to govern the question. We also recognize that USCIS has rescinded the policy memoranda that addressed the common law principles that the Director applied to the present matter. Accordingly, we will remand the matter for the Director to consider the petition anew and to adjudicate in the first instance any additional issues as may be necessary and appropriate . ORDER: The decision of the Director is withdrawn. The matter is remanded for farther proceedings consistent with the foregoing analysis and entry of a new decision. 2
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