sustained EB-1C Case: Apparel Retail

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
MATTER OF T- LLC 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: JULY 3, 2019 
APPEAL OF NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
PETITION: FORM 1-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, an international apparel retailer, seeks to permanently employ the Beneficiary as its vice 
president, global merchandising under the first preference immigrant classification for multinational 
executives or managers. Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b)(l)(C), 8 U.S.C. 
§ 1153(b)(l)(C). This classification allows a U.S. employer to permanently transfer a qualified foreign 
employee to the United States to work in an executive or managerial capacity. 
The Director of the Nebraska Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the Petitioner did not 
establish, as required, that the Beneficiary was employed abroad in a managerial or executive capacity 
prior to her entry to the United States to work for the Petitioner as a nonimmigrant in 2012. 
On appeal, the Petitioner submits additional documentation and asserts that the Director failed to apply 
the preponderance of the evidence standard to the evidence previously submitted. The Petitioner 
maintains that its Japanese affiliate employed the Beneficiary in a managerial capacity, specifically as 
a function manager, from 2006 to 2012. 
Upon de nova review, we will sustain the appeal. The Petitioner has now supplemented the record with 
sufficient evidence to establish that the Beneficiary was employed abroad in a managerial capacity as 
defined at section 10l(a)(44)(A) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § l 101(a)(44)(A). The Beneficiary held the 
position of "Women's Merchandising Manager" from 2006 until 2012. The record reflects that, in this 
role, she was ultimately responsible for managing merchandising of women's apparel that generated 
$ 130 million in sales at 60 retail stores in Japan. The Petitioner established that merchandising is an 
essential function of the Japanese affiliate, that the Beneficiary primarily managed the function and 
served at a senior level with respect to this function, and that she had sufficient direct and indirect staff 
within her department (and in other departments) to relieve her from significant involvement in non­
managerial duties. Further, the record establishes that the Beneficiary was required to oversee and make 
discretionary decisions regarding product and brand development from the pre-production stage to 
display in the company's retail locations, and that these higher level activities were more likely than not 
her primary duties. 
ORDER: The appeal is sustained. 
Cite as Matter ofT- LLC, ID# 2990059 (AAO July 3, 2019)