dismissed L-1A Case: Furniture Wholesale

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
MATTER OF T-E-C-, LLC 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: JUNE 27, 2019 
APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
PETITION: FORM I-129, PETITION FOR A NONIMMIGRANT WORKER 
The Petitioner intends to operate as a furniture wholesaler. It seeks to temporarily employ the 
Beneficiary as "owner/manager" of its new office 1 under the L- lA nonimmigrant classification for 
intracompany transferees. Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 10l(a)(15)(L), 8 U.S.C. 
§ 110l(a)(15)(L). The L-lA classification allows a corporation or other legal entity (including its 
affiliate or subsidiary) to transfer a qualifying foreign employee to the United States to work 
temporarily in a managerial or executive capacity. 
The Director of the California Service Center denied the petition concluding that the Petitioner did not 
establish, as required, that: (1) it had secured sufficient physical premises to house its new office as 
of the date this petition was filed; (2) the Beneficiary was employed abroad in a managerial or 
executive capacity; and (3) the new office would support the Beneficiary in a managerial or executive 
position within one year of this petition's approval. 
On appeal, the Petitioner disputes the denial asserting that it met the eligibility criteria that is applicable 
in this matter. 
Upon de nova review, we find that the Petitioner has not established that it had secured physical 
premises to house the new office. Therefore, we will dismiss the appeal. Because of the dis positive 
effect of this finding, we will reserve the remaining issues regarding the Beneficiary's foreign and 
proposed employment. 
I. LEGAL FRAMEWORK 
To establish eligibility for the L-lA nonimmigrant visa classification in a petition involving a new 
office, a qualifying organization must have employed the beneficiary in a managerial or executive 
capacity for one continuous year within three years preceding the beneficiary's application for 
admission into the United States. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(1)(3)(v)(B). In addition, the beneficiary must seek 
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). The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(1)(3)(v)(C) allows a "new office" operation no more than 
one year within the date of approval of the petition to support an executive or managerial position. 
Matter of T-E-C-, LLC 
to enter the United States temporarily to continue rendering his or her 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). 
II. SUFFICIENT PHYSICAL PREMISES 
The primary issue we will address in this decision is whether the Petitioner submitted sufficient 
evidence to show that it had secured sufficient physical premises to house its new office as of the date 
it filed this petition. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(1)(3)(v)(A). 
The petition was filed in August 2018. The accompanying evidence included a commercial sublease 
which identified the Petitioner as the sublessee an....._ __________ __.as the sublessor. The 
sublease indicated that it would commence in April 2018 and would be valid for one year. Although 
both parties to the sublease signed and initialed the document where necessary, the validity of the 
sublease is in question based on the contents of clause no. 17, which included the following additional 
provisions with respect to sub lessor's right to assign the lease: 
A. Unless the provisions of the master lease permit Sublessor to sublease the 
subleased premises, Sublessor will, before this sublease beings, deliver to 
Sublessee evidence of Landlord's consent to this sublease. If the evidence is not 
delivered by the time required, this sublease will be void and unenforceable. 
The Director issued a request for evidence (RFE) instructing the Petitioner to document the validity 
of the sublease by providing a copy of the contract between the owner and lessee and a letter from the 
property owner or management company confirming permission to sublet the property in question. 
The Petitioner's response did not include the requested evidence. Instead, the Petitioner provided a 
new lease for a different property showing a different lessor, I I The new lease listed 
a new lease term, indicating that it would be valid for one year beginning on December 1, 2018. 
In the denial decision, the Director found that the Petitioner did not provide sufficient evidence to 
address the concerns described in the RFE with regards to obtaining sufficient physical premises to 
house the new office. On appeal, the Petitioner offers a statement indicating that the leasing agreement 
it previously provided in response to the RFE was "contingent" upon an approval of this visa petition. 
The Petitioner also provides a supplemental statement froml I the newer prospective 
lessee, indicating that it had "entered into an agreement with [the Beneficiary] for the lease of a 
commercial space ... once his L-1 Visa is approved and the business is operating." The statement 
listed March 15, 2019 as the estimated date upon which the lease would commence, provided that the 
Beneficiary's visa is approved. 
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Matter of T-E-C-, LLC 
The Petitioner must establish that all eligibility requirements for the immigration benefit have been 
satisfied from the time of the filing and continuing through adjudication. 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(l). 
Given that this petition was filed in August 2018, a lease commencing in December 2018 is not be 
relevant for the purpose of establishing the Petitioner's eligibility at the time this petition was filed. 
We agree with the Director that the Petitioner did not demonstrate that it had a valid lease at the time 
of filing. As such, the Petitioner has not established that it had sufficient physical premises to house 
its new office at the time this petition was filed. 
III. CONCLUSION 
The appeal will be dismissed for the above stated reasons. In visa petition proceedings, it is the 
petitioner's burden to establish eligibility for the immigration benefit sought. Section 291 of the Act, 
8 U.S.C. § 1361. The Petitioner has not met that burden. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
Cite as Matter ofT-E-C-, LLC, ID# 4220657 (AAO June 27, 2019) 
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