EB-1C Visa Business Plans

EB-1C is an employment-based immigrant classification for qualifying multinational managers and executives. A qualifying U.S. employer files Form I-140 for a beneficiary who has the required employment abroad with a related organization and will work permanently in a managerial or executive capacity in the United States. Approval can support permanent residence, subject to visa availability and completion of adjustment or consular processing.

No. Unlike EB-1A, EB-1C requires a qualifying U.S. employer to file the immigrant petition. The petitioner must have the required corporate relationship with the foreign employer, have been doing business in the United States for at least one year, and intend to employ the beneficiary in a qualifying permanent managerial or executive position.

The U.S. petitioner and foreign employer must generally have a qualifying parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate relationship involving common ownership and control. The relationship must be documented through corporate formation records, share ownership, operating agreements, organizational charts, financial records, and other reliable evidence. A licensing, franchise, vendor, or cooperation agreement without qualifying ownership and control is generally insufficient.

The beneficiary generally must have worked outside the United States for a qualifying related organization for at least one year during the relevant three-year period. The qualifying foreign work must have been managerial or executive. Where the beneficiary is already working for the U.S. petitioner, the calculation may relate to the period preceding the person’s most recent lawful nonimmigrant admission to work for the qualifying organization.

The U.S. petitioner must generally have been doing business in the United States for at least one year before filing the EB-1C petition. “Doing business” ordinarily means the regular, systematic, and continuous provision of goods or services. Merely forming a company, maintaining an office, owning assets, or completing isolated transactions may not establish the required level of active business.

An executive generally directs the management of the organization or a major component, establishes goals and policies, exercises wide decision-making discretion, and receives only general supervision from higher-level executives, a board, or owners. A manager generally manages the organization, a department, a function, or professional employees and exercises qualifying authority over personnel, budgets, operations, or an essential function.

A function manager manages an essential function of the organization at a senior level rather than primarily supervising employees. The petition should clearly identify the function, establish why it is essential, explain the beneficiary’s authority and discretionary decision-making, and show who performs the function’s routine operational work. Calling someone a function manager without this detailed organizational evidence is not enough.

Company size alone is not determinative, but the organization must realistically support the claimed managerial or executive role. USCIS considers the reasonable needs of the business, its stage of development, staffing, professional employees, contractors, revenue, complexity, and division of responsibilities. If the beneficiary primarily performs the company’s routine services or production work, the position may not qualify despite an executive title.

Staffing helps demonstrate who carries out the organization’s operational work and why the beneficiary’s primary duties are managerial or executive. The plan should include current and projected positions, reporting lines, job duties, qualifications, payroll assumptions, and hiring dates. An ambitious organizational chart unsupported by payroll, revenue, workload, implementation milestones, or credible financial projections may receive limited weight.

An EB-1C plan commonly includes the multinational group, qualifying relationship, foreign and U.S. operations, ownership, products or services, U.S. market, operating history, management structure, beneficiary’s foreign and proposed U.S. roles, staffing, job descriptions, growth milestones, and financial projections. The plan should remain consistent with tax filings, payroll, contracts, organizational evidence, company records, and the petition letter.

USCIS does not prescribe one universal business-plan format for every EB-1C petition. A plan can nevertheless be valuable for a developing or recently expanded U.S. organization because it connects the business operations, organizational structure, staffing, beneficiary duties, and financial capacity. It supplements rather than replaces evidence that the petitioner and beneficiary satisfy the statutory and regulatory requirements.

L-1A is a temporary nonimmigrant classification for qualifying intracompany managers and executives. EB-1C is an immigrant classification that can support permanent residence. Although the categories use related concepts, EB-1C has separate requirements, including a U.S. petitioner that has generally been doing business for at least one year and a permanent qualifying position. L-1A approval does not guarantee EB-1C approval.

No. EB-1C does not require the employer to obtain permanent labor certification through the Department of Labor. The U.S. employer must still file Form I-140 and establish every EB-1C requirement. After petition approval, the beneficiary proceeds through adjustment of status or immigrant visa processing when a visa is available and all other requirements are met.

A qualifying spouse and unmarried children under 21 may generally seek permanent residence as derivative beneficiaries when an immigrant visa is available. Age-out and Child Status Protection Act questions should be evaluated promptly if a child is approaching 21. Each family member must complete the appropriate adjustment or immigrant-visa process and remain otherwise eligible.

Yes. We can coordinate with counsel while developing the corporate, operating, organizational, staffing, market, and financial components of the plan. Immigration counsel remains responsible for legal eligibility, the qualifying-relationship analysis, foreign and U.S. job classifications, evidentiary strategy, forms, and filing.

Our EB-1C business plans start at $1,500 USD. Plans are typically 35–45 pages and generally completed within 7 business days after all required corporate, ownership, management, staffing, market, operational, and financial information is received. Unlimited revision support is included for factual corrections, attorney feedback, consistency, and final refinement.