adamflorida

Hi, I am new a member here hoping to find some answers.

My mother and I own 3 closely linked but seperate businesses between us in the UK. All three are profitable and the oldest has been running since 2005. None of them are VAT registered at this point (this is something we are about to do with one of them) as there is no need but all are functioning and legitimate. We have a work force which consists of around 30. We have a few full time and the rest are part time. They are all self employed which means technically we do not employ them as such, but most work solely for us every single day. The business has recently acquired premises and our revenue for all 3 totals to around £160,000pa.

I want to move and start up a branch in the US of one of the businesses but am worried that although what we run isn't small, and has passed its initial few years, it wouldn't be 'enough' for an L1 in the eyes of the embassy.

TL;DR
We have a business that provides work to 30ish, some full time, with a management structure in place. Our revenue is around £160,000pa but does the lack of VAT registration and our employees self employment mean it wouldn't be enough?

I have Googled extensively but cannot find anything to do with the minimum requirements of the employer sponsoring the worker, in this case me. I have found the paragraph talking about the parent company owning 50% of new start up hundreds of times.

I want to know what paper work and proof they will be asking from the business. Wage slips, list of employees, finance information?

I'd appreciate any help Thank you

Bob

Welcome to BE and good luck.

This really is in the realm of a good immigration lawyer with experience in self sponsored L1's.

There has been a few threads on this with small companies and with recommendations, so you might be able to find them out.

The real problem tends to be the visa renewal and less about the initial visa....that and you say your employees are contracted rather than employees.

You need to show the company structure, how it will continue to function with a management structure in place when you are gone if you are going to be the recipient of the L1 visa.

The other option could be to look into the investment visa, E2, but that has plenty of other pit falls too.

adamflorida

Thanks for the reply!

There has been a few threads on this with small companies and with recommendations, so you might be able to find them out.

I'm on page 16 of search results and I'm really struggling to find anything about this bit in particular! I have been doing my research though I promise

The real problem tends to be the visa renewal and less about the initial visa....that and you say your employees are contracted rather than employees.

As I understand it, I need to show growth, among other things. A year is an extremely short amount of time to prove yourself but I would hope to employ 1 full time and perhaps 1 -2 part time. I can't pretend I would be raking in the cash after this amount of time, but it would show 'growth'.

Would them being contracted definitely be against me? There are businesses that run that way.

You need to show how it will continue to function if you are going to be the recipient of the L1 visa.

My mother would carry on all UK operations and there is someone that could take my place too, if that was needed. Continuing business in the UK is not an issue for me, so I am lucky there.

The other option could be to look into the investment visa, E2

I don't have the outlay for this, I would be doing the L1 on bare minimum but 'enough' money, but could only get enough cash for an E2 if we sold up everything and my mother moved there too, shutting the UK side. That's why I am hoping to make the L1 work.

I realise I am not in the ideal position for the L1. I am not the manager of Google. However I am sure people have made it to GC in even less perfect scenarios.

Thank you for your help !

Is there anything out there to say what the business needs to qualify?!

Bob

Good job on searching! You tried using the advanced search feature? Set it to US Immigration/visa forum only, then for thread titles and search out self sponsor, small companies, L1 etc. Might have more luck. I know there are a few threads on the subject, seemed to be popular end of last summer for a time frame.

This is where a good lawyer will be worth their gold. They'll be able to help you with your business proposal because the double edge sword is showing your business has the potential to grow a good chunk, but then come renewal time to have been realistic and to show further growth.

The employees do need to be full time, because being contractors, they can be gotten rid of to easily and you're not investing much in their benefits etc.


That's good. You should be able to show how she'll be qualified to do this and plans for the UK business to continue and to grow.


If you don't really have the cash outlay to set up the business as a E2, you'll struggle on the L1 as well.

You've got all the other set up costs involved such as finding somewhere to live, couple of cars, all the deposits involved in everything -the utilities etc all because you have no US credit history.

You've also got the much larger employer portion of costs when you hire people, the employer portion of tax on top of what you pay them and the huge cost of medical insurance.

It's definitely doable though, but a large extent of that would depend on where you're planning on setting up, as CoL and company costs can vary wildly depending on where in the US you go.

Awesome Welles

You may run into significant problems in these circumstances....
The parent company must prove that it has the financial capability to 'carry' the subsidiary until it becomes self-sustaining. Having UK revenues of
GBP160,000 is nothing like sufficient in my experience. I was heavily involved in a US start-up in 2001 and our UK revs were in millions. We still had to provide chapter and verse on precisely how we intended to finance the US subsidiary over the first three years.
Don't overlook the requirement for real property, inventory, employment of locals and all associated taxes.
I would suggest that trying to persuade USCIS that you can do a US start-up 'on the cheap' will lead to a (potentially costly) denial. L1 was never intended for Mom'n'Pop operations - despite some managing to wangle it. Those that have done so, are likely to have had a lot more than 160 grand with which to make it happen.

scrubbedexpat099

What is the business activity? I can not reconcile the employee ish numbers and the turnover.