Multinational Executives and Managers

Companies that have been established in the United States for at least one year and that are established in at least one other country may sponsor certain managers and executives for permanent residence without first obtaining a labor certification for the position. To prove eligibility under the Multinational Manager and Executive category, the U.S. employer must file Form I-140 with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), with evidence that the sponsored employee worked for the company as a manager or executive outside the United States for at least one year during the three years preceding the filing of the petition. If the employee is already in the United States in valid nonimmigrant status, the petitioning employer must prove that the employee worked with the company abroad as a manager or executive for a full year during the three years immediately preceding the employee’s entry to the United States in legal status. In addition, the employer must show that a qualifying relationship existed between the employee’s foreign employer and the U.S. employer while the employee worked abroad. Finally, the employer must show that the employee has been offered a managerial or executive position with the company in the United States.

Legal Requirements

To prove that an employee has worked or will work in a managerial capacity, an employer must show that the employee:

• 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;
• If another employee or other employees are directly supervised, has the authority to hire and fire or recommend those as well as other personnel actions (such as promotion and leave authorization) or, if no other employee is directly supervised, functions at a senior level within the organizational hierarchy or with respect to the function managed; and
• Exercises direction over the day-to-day operations of the activity or function for which the employee has authority.

To prove executive duties, the employer must prove that the employee has performed or will perform the following duties:

• 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.

Qualifying Relationship Among Employers

During the period that the employee worked for the company abroad, the foreign employer and the petitioning U.S. entity must have maintained a qualifying corporate relationship such that the transfer of the employee to the United States may be considered a transfer within a single company. The entities among which the employee transfers must have common ownership and control to qualify for use of the multinational manager or executive immigrant visa category. To prove this, the petitioning U.S. employer must show that it is the same company as the overseas employer or that it is the parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of the overseas employer.