sustained EB-1C Case: Hotel Marketing

MATTER OF H-M-C- LLC 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: SEPT. 13, 2018 
CERTIFICATION OF NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
PETITION: FORM 1-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, a hotel marketing company, seeks to permanently employ the Beneficiary as vice 
president of operations, Americas 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 record did not 
establish, as required, that the Beneficiary would act in a managerial or executive capacity. The 
Petitioner later appealed the Director's decision and we remanded the matter to the Director for entry 
a new decision, which if adverse, would be certified to us for review. 
The Director entered a new decision denying the petition and certified the matter to us for review. 
The Director determined that the Petitioner did not demonstrate that: 1) the Beneficiary would be 
employed in a managerial or executive capacity in the United States; 2) the Beneficiary acted in a 
managerial or executive capacity abroad; 3) it had a qualifying relationship with his foreign 
employer; 4) it was doing business as defined by the regulations; 5) it made a bona fide job offer to 
the Beneficiary; and 6) it had the ability to pay his proffered wage. 
On certification, the Petitioner submits additional evidence and asserts that the Director should have 
approved the petition. 
Upon de nova review, we will approve the petition. The submitted evidence reflects that the 
Beneficiary more likely than not acts in an executive capacity abroad overseeing the extensive Latin 
American operations of the Petitioner which includes several foreign legal entities. The record also 
establishes that the Beneficiary's subordinates relieve him from performing primarily non-qualifying 
operational duties. Section 101(a)(44)(B) of the Act. 
We also conclude that the Petitioner has demonstrated that the Beneficiary will act in an executive 
capacity in the United States. The Petitioner has credibly established that the Beneficiary is being 
transferred to the United States to extend its foreign operations to the United States and Canada, 
while also continuing to oversee its operations in Latin America. As such, the Beneficiary will 
Matter of H-M-C- LLC 
continue to act in a similar role as that abroad when transferred to the United States, overseeing 
several subordinate managers and a complex organizational hierarchy. 
In addition, the Petitioner has also provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that it has a 
qualifying relationship with the Beneficiary's foreign employers. The Petitioner indicates that the 
Beneficiary was simultaneously employed by five different foreign employers, including wholly 
owned subsidiaries in Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala 
and it provides evidence on certification indicating that the Beneficiary was paid by the Petitioner 
while overseeing these entities abroad. In denying the petition on this ground, the Director stated 
that the submitted evidence did not demonstrate that there was common ownership between these 
five foreign companies and the Petitioner. We conclude that the Petitioner has submitted sufficient 
documentary evidence to establish that there is more likely than not common ownership between the 
Petitioner and the five foreign affiliates the Beneficiary oversees abroad. See section 203(b)(l)(C) 
of the Act. 
We also conclude that the Petitioner has demonstrated that it is doing business as defined by the 
regulations. 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(j)(2). The Petitioner submitted tax documentation reflecting that it 
earned substantial revenue when the petition was filed in 2014. Further, the Petitioner supplemented 
the record with financial documentation on certification corroborating that it did, and still does, earn 
considerable revenue. This evidence indicates that the Petitioner was, and is, more likely than not 
continuously providing goods and services. 
Furthermore, we determine that the Petitioner has submitted a bona fide job offer to the Beneficiary. 
On certification, the Petitioner submits an additional support letter from its chief executive officer 
indicating that the Beneficiary's position as president of operations, Americas is still being offered and 
that he is urgently required to fulfill its plans to expand into the North American market. Supporting 
evidence on the record also reflects that the Beneficiary has been working for the Petitioner for many 
years in an executive capacity prior to the date of this decision. As such, the Petitioner has credibly 
established that its job offer to the Beneficiary is bona fide. 
Lastly, the Petitioner has demonstrated that it has the ability to pay the Beneficiary's proffered salary. 
In determining a petitioner's ability to pay the proffered wage, we will first examine whether it 
employed the beneficiary at the time the priority date was established. If a petitioner establishes by 
documentary evidence that it employed the beneficiary at a salary equal to or greater than the 
proffered wage, this evidence will be considered prima facie proof of a petitioner's ability to pay a 
beneficiary's salary. The Petitioner submits documentary evidence on certification reflecting that it 
paid the Beneficiary's proffered wage abroad prior to the date the petition was filed and that it continues 
to do so up to the date of this decision. Therefore, the record demonstrates that the Petitioner more 
likely than not has the ability to pay the Beneficiary's proffered wage. 
For these reasons, we find that the Petitioner has overcome the Director's grounds for denial. 
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Matter of H-M-C- LLC 
ORDER: The petition is approved. 
Cite as Matter of H-M-C- LLC, ID# 1362703 (AAO Sept. 13, 2018) 
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