U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to affirm that a sole proprietorship may not file an L-1, intracompany transferee petition on behalf of its owner and to clarify that a petitioning organization that fails to timely file an extension of an approved blanket L-1 petition is not required to wait before submitting a new blanket petition.
Policy Highlights
- A sole proprietorship may not file a petition on behalf of its owner because the sole proprietorship does not exist as a distinct legal entity separate and apart from the owner. The update distinguishes a sole proprietor from a self-incorporated petitioner (such as a corporation or a limited liability company with a single owner), where the corporation or the single member limited liability company is a separate and distinct legal entity from its owner, which may petition for that owner; and
- The failure to timely file an extension of the blanket petition does not trigger the 3-year waiting period before another blanket petition may be filed.
This guidance, contained in Volume 2 of the Policy Manual, is effective immediately.
Posted in: Immigration
posted on: October 27, 2023