dismissed L-1A Case: Construction

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re : 25316251 
Appeal of California Service Center Decision 
Form I-129, Petition for L-lA Manager or Executive 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: MAR. 2, 2023 
The Petitioner, an installer of pipe and fiber optic cable, seeks to temporarily employ the Beneficiary as 
the general manager of its new office I under the L-1 A nonimmigrant classification for intracompany 
transferees. Immigration and Nationality Act(the Act) section 1 0l(a)(15)(L), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(L). 
The L-1 A classification allows an employer to transfer a qualifying foreign employee to the United States 
to work temporarily in a managerial or executive capacity for the employer or its affiliate or subsidiary. 
The Director of the California Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the record did not 
establish that the new office would support a managerial or executive position within one year after 
approval of the petition. The matter is now before us on appeal. 8 C.F.R. § 103 .3. 
The Petitioner bears the burden of proof to demonstrate eligibility by a preponderance of the evidence . 
MatterofChawathe, 25 I&N Dec. 369, 375-76 (AAO 2010). We review the questions in this matter 
de novo. Matter of Christo 's, Inc., 26 I&N Dec. 537,537 n.2 (AAO 2015). Upon de novo review, 
we will dismiss the appeal. 
I. LAW 
To qualify for the L-1 A nonirnmigrant visa classification in a petition involving a new office, a 
beneficiary must have worked for a qualifying organization in a managerial or executive capacity for 
one continuous year during the three years preceding their application for admission into the United 
States. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(1)(3)(v)(B). The beneficiary must seek to enter the United States temporarily 
to continue rendering services to the same employer or a subsidiary or affiliate thereof in a managerial 
or executive capacity. Id. 
The petitioner must submit evidence to demonstrate that the new office will be able to support a 
managerial or executive position within one year. This evidence must establish that the petitioner 
secured sufficient physical premises to house its operation and disclose the proposed nature and scope 
of the entity, its organizational structure, its financial goals, and the size of the U.S. investment. See 
generally, 8 C.F.R . § 214 .2(1)(3)(v). 
1 The term "new office"refers to an organization which has been doing business in the United States for less than one year. 
8 C.F.R. § 214.2(l)(l)(ii)(F) . 
II. ANALYSIS 
A petitioner seeking to employ a beneficiary as a manager or executive of a new office must establish 
that the new office will support an executive or managerial position within one year of approval of the 
petition. The Petitioner must establish the proposed nature of the office, describing its scope, 
organizational structure, and financial goals; the size of the United States investment and the foreign 
entity's financial ability to remunerate the beneficiary and to commence doing business in the United 
States; and the foreign entity's organizational structure. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(1)(3)(v)(C). 
The "new office" regulations allow a newly established petitioner one year to develop to a point that 
it can support the employment of a beneficiary in a primarily managerial or executive position. 
Accordingly, if a petitioner indicates that a beneficiary is corning to the United States to open a "new 
office," it must show that it is prepared to commence doing business immediately upon approval so 
that it will support a manager or executive within the one-year tirnefrarne. See generally 8 C.F.R. 
§ 214.2(1)(3)(v). 
The Director concluded that the Petitioner did not establish that its new office will support a 
managerial or executive position within one year after approval of the petition. The Director based 
this conclusion on incomplete staffing evidence and on the Beneficiary's proposed job description. 
The Petitioner's business plan indicates that "[t]he Company has already hired seven employees," 
specifically an administrative assistant and a field supervisor with authority over a locator technician, 
a machine operator, and three operations assistants. The Petitioner asserted that the seven individuals 
below the Beneficiary "are all currently employed as subcontractors. If the subject petition is 
approved, the US Entity will be able to hire additional staff as full employees." The Director 
concluded that the Petitioner had not established that "these subcontractors provide continuous, rather 
than occasional and incidental, services to the petitioning entity." This conclusion, by itself, does not 
necessarily support denial of the petition. In a new office petition, the Petitioner need not establish 
that it has already fully commenced operations, only that it will be able to do so within a year after the 
approval of the petition. 
Of greater consequence is the Director's conclusion that the Petitioner had not established that the 
Beneficiary's position would qualify as either managerial or executive within one year after approval 
of the petition. The Petitioner asserted that the Beneficiary's position qualifies as both managerial and 
executive, but the record does not support either characterization. 
"Managerial capacity" means an assignment within an organization in which the employee primarily 
manages the organization, or a department, subdivision, function, or component of the organization; 
supervises and controls the work of other supervisory, professional, or managerial employees, or 
manages an essential function within the organization, or a department or subdivision of the 
organization; has authority over personnel actions or functions at a senior level within the 
organizational hierarchy or with respect to the function managed; and exercises discretion over the 
day-to-day operations of the activity or function for which the employee has authority. Section 
10l(a)(44)(A) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § l 10l(a)(44)(A). 
2 
"Executive capacity" means an assignment within an organization in which the employee primarily 
directs the management of the organization or a major component or function of the organization; 
establishes the goals and policies of the organization, component, or function; exercises wide latitude 
in discretionary decision-making; and receives only general supervision or direction from higher-level 
executives, the board of directors, or stockholders of the organization. Section 10l(a)(44)(B) of the 
Act. 
Discretionary authority over a company is not sufficient. A petitioner must show that the beneficiary 
will be primarily engaged in managerial or executive duties, as opposed to ordinary operational 
activities alongside the petitioner's other employees. See Family Inc. v. USCIS, 469 F.3d 1313, 1316 
(9th Cir. 2006). 
In denying the petition, the Director stated: 
[T]he fact that the beneficiary owns and manages a business does not necessarily 
establish eligibility for classification as an intracompany transferee in a managerial or 
executive capacity. Even if you establish that these individuals have been or will be 
hired, the evidence is not sufficient to show how they will relieve the beneficiary from 
performing operational and administrative tasks. . . . You have not provided sufficient 
evidence to demonstrate that the organization will be sufficiently staffed to relieve the 
beneficiary from performing necessary tasks in sales, sourcing, marketing, budgeting 
and other day-to-day operational tasks required by the business enterprise. . . . You 
have not established that the beneficiary will be primarily performing managerial or 
executive duties within the first year of operation. 
On appeal, the Petitioner states: 
The position of General Manager is a position that holds managerial capacity where 
[the Beneficiary] will be tasked with managing the organization, supervising and 
controlling the work of others, hiring and firing personnel as needed, and exercising 
discretion over the day-to-day operations of the company. 8 CPR 214.2(l)(l)(ii)(B). 
As a majority shareholder of [the petitioning company, the Beneficiary] will also serve 
in an Executive capacity since he has the ability to make decisions of wide latitude 
without much oversight. 8 CFR214.2(l)(l)(ii)(C). 
We agree with the Director's determination, and conclude that the Petitioner's statements on appeal 
do not resolve the issue. A job description in the Petitioner's business plan provides few details about 
the Beneficiary's proposed duties during the company's first year of operations. For the most part, 
the listed items amount to general responsibilities rather than specific duties. Examples include the 
following: 
• Managing the Company's operations, evaluating performance, and recommending 
improvements; 
• Set and supervise all processes of the Company; and 
• Establishing enduring relationships with the Company's main stakeholders, including 
clients and suppliers in the U.S. and abroad, to increase brand awareness. 
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The generic responsibilities listed in the job description show the level of the Beneficiary's authority 
over the company, but provide little information about the specific tasks he would perfmm. Specifics 
are an important indication of whether a beneficiary's duties are primarily executive or managerial in 
nature, otherwise meeting the definitions would simply be a matter of reiterating the 
regulations. Fedin Bros. Co., Ltd. v. Sava, 724F. Supp. 1103, 1108 (E.D.N.Y. 1989), aff'd, 905 F.2d 
41 (2d. Cir. 1990). The actual duties themselves reveal the true nature of the employment. Id. 
Furthermore, the anticipated personnel structure during the first year consists of two individuals who 
would report directly to the Beneficiary, one of whom would supervise a small crew. The Petitioner 
did not establish that the Beneficiary's oversight over this staff would occupy enough time to make 
his job primarily managerial, or would entail a degree of organizational complexity sufficient to 
require primarily executive authority. The business plan in the record forecasts future growth after 
the first year of operations, but the new office provisions limit consideration to the first year of 
operations. 
The Petitioner has not provided enough information to establish that the new office will support a 
primarily managerial or executive position within one year after approval of the petition. Because the 
Petitioner has not met its burden of proof, we will dismiss the appeal. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
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