After reading the EB1c visa overview and gaining a general idea of what an EB1c green card petition is, the next step is to learn about what a person would need to provide as evidence to prove that they are qualified for an EB1c green card.
The article below provides a brief overview of what the EB1c green card requirements are looking for and what documents are usually submitted for each requirement.
- 1.
- a.
- b.
- c.
- d.
- 2.
- a.
- b.
Table of Contents
In an EB1c green card petition, the person would need to show that (1) the person has a job offer for an executive or managerial position, (2) the job offer must be from a U.S. sponsoring employer that has been doing business for at least 1 year in the United States and also conduct business in at least one other country other than the United States (e.g., multinational corporation), (3) the person must have worked as an executive or manager for at least 1 year within the 3 years prior to filing the EB1c green card petition OR within 3 years of entering the United States as a nonimmigrant if already working for the sponsoring employer in the United States, and (4) the overseas work experience must be at the entity of the U.S. sponsoring employer (i.e., branch of the U.S. company) or its other business entities (i.e., parent, affiliate, subsidiary).
The following sections consist of a brief summary on each requirement and the documents that are generally used as evidence to satisfy that requirement.
The person has a job offer for an executive or managerial position
The person must have a job offer for a position that consists of “primarily” executive or managerial job duties. This means that non-qualifying duties for executives or managers such as operational or administrative tasks can only be incidental to the proposed position. The emphasis under this EB1c green card petition requirement is that the person should be in a position where the job duties are primarily focused on the broad goals and policies and not the day-to-day operations of the business.
Effective and Qualifiable Items (Executive or Managerial Job Offer)
Below are some general guidelines as to what usually satisfies the “job offer for an executive or managerial position” requirement under an EB1c green card petition.
- A specific description of the proposed job duties and the percentage of time spent on each duty is required. The job duties must be primarily executive or managerial and non-qualifying duties such as operational, administrative, or non-managerial duties can only be incidental to the position offered.
- Whether the proposed position qualifies as a primarily executive or managerial position, factors such as reasonable business needs, staffing levels, overall size of organization, the purpose and stage of development would all be considered in totality. For example, managers that do not oversee any employees but manage an essential function or operation in the organization can still be qualified as manager here.
- There should be enough employees at the subordinate staff level to avoid questions about the reasonableness of the need for an executive or managerial position in the business or whether the company has the capacity for the person to be able to act primarily as an executive or manager. The subordinates must be able to relieve the person from needing to carry out day-to-day non-managerial duties.
- Executives have similar but broader job duties as managers. Executive job duties are more focused on making senior-level directions for the business operation.
- Subordinates of the person do not necessarily need to be employees on the company’s payroll, which means subordinates may include independent contractors or employees from related companies overseas.
- The function that a “function manager” manages should be essential to the business as a whole. Function managers are closely scrutinized under the EB1c green card petitions especially if the person currently holds an L1B visa status and did not include their past managerial experience in their L1B visa petition.
- The person as the only employee of the U.S. sponsoring company is possible but it is highly scrutinized and a very detailed explanation supported with objective evidence would be required. The U.S. sponsoring company under this scenario would need to show that the day-to-day non-managerial duties of the business will be carried out by independent contractors, consultants, and other outside legal entities.
Non-Effective Items (Executive or Managerial Job Offer)
Below are some general guidelines as to what items are usually considered non-effective or less effective in satisfying the “job offer for an executive or managerial position” requirement under an EB1c green card petition.
- First-line supervisors are usually not effective under the EB1c green card petition unless they supervise employees who are professionals with occupations that have a minimum requirement of at least a bachelor’s degree, or are managerial or supervisory personnel who can relieve the person of day-to-day non-managerial tasks.
- The number of employees that the person supervises or directs does not automatically qualify the person’s position as an executive or managerial position under the EB1c green card petition. For example, a front-line supervisor who has a large number of nonprofessional employees as subordinates would likely not be qualified as being in an executive or managerial position under this EB1c green card petition requirement.
- Function managers cannot be directly performing the day-to-day operations of the essential function that they are managing. For example, a function manager can be primarily directing a laboratory to research a certain chemical compound but cannot be primarily doing the day-to-day laboratory researches on that certain chemical compound.
- General statements about the job duties of the proposed position are not effective.
Documents to Prepare (Executive or Managerial Job Offer)
Commonly used documents to prove that a person has received a job offer for an executive or managerial position under an EB1c green card petition includes but is not limited to:
- Letter from an authorized official of the U.S. sponsoring company that includes a detailed description of the person’s proposed job duties and a statement that the person will be employed in the U.S. as a manager or executive.
- Documents that show the position is in a primarily managerial or executive capacity:
- Explanation of the specific daily tasks that the person has to do under each proposed job duty and the percentage of time spent on each task.
- List of employees and individual contractors who are in the persons immediate division, department, or team. A summary of those people’s job duties, educational level, salary, whether they do full time or part-time work must be included.
- Description of the products and services should include (1) what administrative and productive tasks are necessary in producing the products and services, and (2) an explanation of who performs administrative and productive tasks, and who makes goal-setting related tasks, policy-making related tasks, discretionary decision-making related tasks.
- Organizational chart or diagram:
- Structure and staffing levels
- Identifies the person's job position
- Lists the name and job title of all the employees and independent contractors in the person's immediate division, department or team
- Documents that show the person and the person’s proposed subordinates (i.e., the people that work directly under that person):
- Payroll summary
- Wage and tax statement (Form W-2)
- Transmittal of wage and tax statements (Form W-3)
- Miscellaneous income statement (Form. 1099-MISC)
- Employer’s quarterly federal tax return (Form 941)
- Documents that show the person will be a functional manager should include:
- The specific function that the person will be managing
- The reason why the function is essential to the organization
- How the person will primarily direct the day-to-day operations of the function
- How the person will act as a senior level personnel in the organization or towards the function
- Documents that show the person will be a first-line supervisor who manages employees that are professionals should include:
- The occupations of the person's employees that would require a bachelor's degree as the minimum for entry
The person was employed overseas in a primarily executive or managerial position for at least 1 year within the 3 years prior to filing the EB1c green card petition OR within 3 years of entering the United States as a nonimmigrant if already working for the sponsoring employer in the U.S.
The overseas work experience in an executive or managerial position has the same standard as the EB1c green card petition required U.S. job offer. The overseas job position that the person held must consist of “primarily” executive or managerial job duties which means that non-qualifying duties for executives or managers such as operational or administrative tasks can only be incidental to the position.
For persons who are overseas (outside the United States) when the EB1c green card petition is filed, the person is required to have worked in an executive or managerial position for at least 1 year within the 3 years prior to the filing date of the EB1c green card petition.
For persons who are already in the United States working for the U.S. sponsoring employer as a nonimmigrant (temporary work visa status) when the EB1c green card petition is filed, the person is required to have worked in an executive or managerial position for at least 1 year within the 3 years of their entry into the United States. If the person later leaves the U.S. sponsoring employer to work for an unrelated company for more than 2 years or have periods of stay without work authorization for more than 2 years, then the U.S. sponsoring employer would not be able to sponsor an EB1c green card petition for the person unless that person leaves the United States to work for a qualified overseas employer in an executive or managerial position for at least 1 year.
Documents to Prepare (Employed Overseas for 1 Year Within 3 Years)
Commonly used documents to prove that the person was employed overseas as an executive or manager for 1 year within 3 years of filing the petition or entry as a nonimmigrant under an EB1c green card petition includes but is not limited to:
- Letter from an authorized official of the U.S. sponsoring company that includes a statement showing the person worked in a primarily managerial or executive capacity for the U.S. sponsoring employer for at least 1 year before the person entered the United States with a nonimmigrant visa. The arrival/departure record (Form I-94) or the passport page showing the nonimmigrant admission should also be provided.
- Letter from an authorized official of the U.S. sponsoring company that includes a statement showing the person worked in a primarily managerial or executive capacity for the U.S. sponsoring employer for at least 1 year before the date of filing this EB1c green card petition.
- Documents that show the person worked in a primarily managerial or executive capacity overseas should include:
- Explanation of the specific daily tasks that the person has done under each job duty and the percentage of time spent on each task.
- List of employees and individual contractors who were in the person's immediate division, department, or team. A summary of those people’s job duties, educational level, salary, whether they do full time or part-time work must be included.
- Description of the products and services should include (1) what administrative and productive tasks are necessary in producing the products and services, and (2) an explanation of who performs administrative and productive tasks, and who makes goal-setting related tasks, policy-making related tasks, discretionary decision-making related tasks.
Organizational chart or diagram of the overseas employer:
- Structure and staffing levels
- Identifies the person's job position
- Lists the name and job title of all the employees and independent contractors in the person's immediate division, department or team
- Payroll summary of the person and the person’s subordinates from the overseas employer
- Documents that show the person was a functional manager should include:
- The specific function that the person was managing
- The reason why the function is essential to the organization
- How the person primarily directed the day-to-day operations of the function
- How the person acted as a senior level personnel in the organization or towards the function
- Documents that show the person was a first-line supervisor who managed employees that were professionals should include:
- The occupations of the person's employees that would require a bachelor's degree as the minimum for entry
The overseas company that the person worked for as an executive or manager is the same company as the U.S. sponsoring employer (i.e., branch of the U.S. company) or its other business entities (i.e., parent, affiliate, subsidiary)
There must be a qualified relationship between the U.S. sponsoring employer and the overseas employer that the person worked for at least one year under the EB1c green card petition. There are four main types of qualified relationships: the U.S. company (1) is the same company as the overseas company, (2) is the parent company of the overseas company, (3) is the subsidiary of the overseas company, and (4) is the affiliate of the overseas company.
To determine whether a qualified relationship exists between the U.S. sponsoring employer and the overseas employer, the amount of ownership and control between the two employers will be looked at. Ownership is the right to possess the assets of a legal entity with absolute power and control. Control is the right to direct the management, establishment, and operations of a legal entity.
Effective and Qualifiable Items (Qualified Relationship Between U.S. Sponsoring Employer & Overseas Employer)
Below are some general guidelines as to what usually satisfies the “qualified relationship between the U.S. sponsoring employer and the overseas employer” requirement under an EB1c green card petition.
- The U.S. company is the same company as the overseas company.
- The U.S. company is the parent company of the overseas company.
- The U.S. company is the subsidiary of the overseas company. A U.S. company owning at least 50% in a joint venture with equal control and veto power over the joint venture can be included here as a subsidiary.
- The U.S. company is the affiliate of the overseas company. Relationships between international accounting or management consulting companies marketed under an internationally recognized corporate name (permitted under a contract with a worldwide coordinating organization) that have separate partnerships with no shared ownership and control, OR international management consulting companies that operate under a worldwide organizational structure after separating from an international accounting firm can be included here as an affiliate.
Documents to Prepare (Qualified Relationship Between U.S. Sponsoring Employer & Overseas Employer)
Commonly used documents to prove that a qualified relationship exists between the U.S. sponsoring employer and the overseas employer under an EB1c green card petition includes but is not limited to:
- Letter from an authorized official of the U.S. sponsoring company stating the U.S. sponsoring company (or its other business entities) is the same employer that employed the person overseas.
- Documents that show the ownership/controlling structure of the U.S. sponsoring company and the overseas company that employed the person:
- Detailed list of owners and their ownership percentage, and annual reports that lists all affiliates, subsidiaries, branch offices, ownership percentage
- Articles of Incorporation, corporation bylaws, stock ledger, meeting minutes, all stock certificates
- Proof of stock purchases (wire transfers, deposit receipts, bank statements, other documents if money was not exchanged in the stock transfer)
- Articles of Organization, Operating Agreement
- Partnership agreement
- Joint venture agreement
- Franchise agreement (with all addenda, attachments, exhibits, additional statements)
- Agreement with worldwide coordinating organization (when the U.S. sponsoring company and the person's former company overseas are both partnerships that market accounting services under the same internationally recognized name)
- Detailed list of owners and their ownership percentage, and annual reports that lists all affiliates, subsidiaries, branch offices, ownership percentage
- Articles of Incorporation, corporation bylaws, stock ledger, meeting minutes, all stock certificates
- Proof of stock purchases (wire transfers, deposit receipts, bank statements, other documents if money was not exchanged in the stock transfer)
- Articles of Organization, Operating Agreement
- Partnership agreement
- Joint venture agreement
- Franchise agreement (with all addenda, attachments, exhibits, additional statements)
- Agreement with worldwide coordinating organization (when the U.S. sponsoring company and the person's former company overseas are both partnerships that market accounting services under the same internationally recognized name)
The U.S. sponsoring employer must have been doing business for at least 1 year in the United States and it must have conducted business in at least 2 countries (one is the U.S.)
The U.S. sponsoring employer must have been doing business in the United States for at least 1 year and also must have been conducting business in at least one other country other than the United States. Doing business here means that the company is active in providing regular, systematic, and continuous goods or services. A shelf company or a mere presence of an agent or office is not enough to satisfy the “doing business” requirement.
The U.S. sponsoring employer must also need to have the ability to pay for the offered wage of the person at the time of their priority date.
Effective and Qualifiable Items (Multinational Company Doing Business)
Below are some general guidelines as to what usually satisfies the “multinational company doing business for at least 1 year in the United States” requirement under an EB1c green card petition.
- Doing business means that the company is active in providing regular, systematic, and continuous goods or services.
- The U.S. sponsoring employer can still qualify as “doing business” in the United States even if it is only doing business with its affiliates and subsidiaries. In other words, the U.S. sponsoring can qualify as doing business by selling products or services to its affiliates or subsidiaries and not directly to any outside third-party customers.
- The U.S. sponsoring employer must be a U.S. legal entity (not a foreign entity) under the EB1c green card petition.
- A self-incorporated U.S. company with only one owner or employee may still be able to qualify as a U.S. sponsoring employer under the EB1c green card petition if the company can prove it is a legal entity that is separate and distinct from its owners or stockholders, and that is has a qualified relationship with the overseas employer.
Non-Effective Items (Multinational Company Doing Business)
Below are some general guidelines as to what items are usually considered non-effective or less-effective in satisfying the “multinational company doing business for at least 1 year in the United States” requirement under an EB1c green card petition.
- A shelf company or a mere presence of an agent or office in the United States is not effective.
- An overseas company that has an unincorporated branch office in the United States cannot be a U.S. sponsoring employer under the EB1c green card petition. This is different from L1 visas where it is possible for a branch office of an overseas company that satisfies the qualified relationship requirement to be a U.S. sponsoring employer as long as it is registered as a foreign corporation that operates in the United States.
- Sole proprietors cannot be a U.S. sponsoring employer under the EB1c green card petition.
Documents to Prepare (Multinational Company Doing Business)
Commonly used documents to prove that U.S. sponsoring employer is a multinational company that has been doing business for at least 1 year in the United States under an EB1c green card petition includes but is not limited to:
- Letter from an authorized official of the U.S. sponsoring company that states the company has been doing business for at least 1 year.
- Documents that show legal formation of the U.S. sponsoring company doing business for at least 1 year and the legal authorization for it to continue to do business in at least 2 countries:
(1) Legal formation of organization and the legal authorization to do business:
- Articles of incorporation
- Operating agreement
- Partnership agreement
- Local business license
- Certificate of good standing
(2) Has the necessary facilities, equipment, staff to do business:
- Leases of the business premises
- Purchase contracts/agreements
- Federal income tax returns
- Employer's quarterly federal tax returns (Form 941)
- Payroll records
(3) Provides goods or services regularly and systematically:
- Invoices
- Sales contracts
- Import/export licenses
- Contracts/agreements with shipping and receiving companies
- Documents that show the U.S. sponsoring employer has continuing ability to pay the offered wage as of the priority date:
- Employer's annual report
- Federal income tax return
- Audited financial statement
The overall emphasis on the documents and requirements/criteria of an EB1c green card petition is on the job positions that the person held and was offered must consist of primarily executive or managerial job duties, and that the U.S. sponsoring employer and the overseas employer must have a qualified relationship.
The requirements for an EB1c green card petition are extensive and while ticking the boxes of requirements sounds simple enough, figuring out what items should be included and strategizing how the petition is presented is not. It is common practice and strongly encouraged to obtain an attorney for employment-based green card petitions.
For people who qualify for the EB1c green card petition (Multinational Executive or Manager), it is possible that the person can also qualify for an EB1a green card petition (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) which is less restrictive as it can be self-sponsored (where the person can pay and start the green card petition by themselves) and it does not require a specific U.S. employer just proof that the person will continue to work in their field of expertise.
For people who do not qualify for the EB1c green card petition yet, the closest alternative would be filing a National Interest Waiver (NIW) with an EB2 green card petition. The EB2 National Interest Waiver green card petition would require the person to have at least a master’s degree (or its equivalent) or have exceptional ability (lower standard than the extraordinary ability in the EB1a green card petition) in the sciences, arts, or business, and the person would also need to show that their work will be able to benefit the United States significantly.
Other alternatives would be the more commonly used employment-based green card petitions such as the regular EB2 green card petitions (Advanced Degree) and the EB3 green card petitions (Professional, Skilled, Other Workers). These types of employment-based green card petitions usually require a sponsoring U.S. employer and a PERM Labor Certification.
If you have an EB1c green card (Multinational Executive or Manager) immigration question, please fill out our contact us form or send us an email with some basic information about your background and your immigration needs. We will do our best to respond within 48 hours.
How we can help?
Kylie Huang Law’s immigration attorney will help identify whether the EB1c green card is the appropriate immigrant visa category for the client’s professional background. We will work closely with our client to prepare a convincing case for their EB1c green card petition and we will also strategize on how the EB1c green card petition should be presented to achieve the best chances of approval. It is strongly advised and common practice to retain an immigration attorney for an EB1c green card petition due to the complexities in the immigration process and visa requirements.
What does the typical process look like to retain (hire) us?
- Step 1:
- Step 2:
- Step 3:
- Step 4:
- Step 5:
- a.
- b.
- c.
- Step 6:
- Step 7:
- Step 8:
- Fill out the form (with some basic information on what your immigration needs are)
- Sign up and log into the client portal to schedule an appointment online
- Attend scheduled appointment (typically a phone call or zoom meeting)
- Retainment (signing a contract to hire us)
- Start processing case
- Gathering required documents
- Preparing paperwork
- Confirming contents of documents that will be submitted
- Filing the case
- Following up on the status of the case
- Close the case when a final determination is issued
- Step 1:
- Step 2:
- Step 3:
- Step 4:
- Step 5:
- a.
- b.
- c.
- Step 6:
- Step 7:
- Step 8:
- Fill out the form (on what your immigration needs are)
- Sign up and log into the client portal to schedule an appointment
- Attend scheduled appointment (typically a phone call or zoom)
- Retainment (signing a contract to hire us)
- Start processing case
- Gathering required documents
- Preparing paperwork
- Confirming contents of documents that will be submitted
- Filing the case
- Following up on the status of the case
- Close the case when a final determination is issued
- Step 1:
- Step 2:
- Step 3:
- Step 4:
- Step 5:
- a.
- b.
- c.
- Step 6:
- Step 7:
- Step 8:
- Fill out the form (on what your immigration needs are)
- Sign up and log into the client portal to schedule appointment
- Attend scheduled appointment (typically a phone call or zoom)
- Retainment (hire us)
- Start processing case
- Gathering required documents
- Preparing paperwork
- Confirming content of documents that will be submitted
- Filing the case
- Following up on the case status
- Close the case when a final determination is issued