L1 VISA - NEED ADVISE

Hello everyone,
Need some advise on a L1 Visa. I have a Canadian business (2 years) with my spouse and I am planning to open a new business in the US and want to apply for the L1 visa.
I am in the process of securing a lease for the US business shortly and want to prepare the L1 application to bring to the POE.
Please advise what additional requirements are needed for the L1 besides being a Canadian Citizen and proving that I have ownership of both Canadian & US companies. Furthermore I will be managing the US business myself and hiring 2 employees. Do I need to show certain amount of employees for the Canadian business or is that irrelevant ?
Is it better to go to the POE or through USCIS ? Which POE has the best knowledge and experience with L1 visas in the Ontario area ?

BTW do you think it's better to use an attorney to prepare the L1 or can I do it myself ??

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks so much !!

The Cdn firm must remain intact and viable.

See your lawyer.

Hello everyone,
Need some advise on a L1 Visa. I have a Canadian business (2 years) with my spouse and I am planning to open a new business in the US and want to apply for the L1 visa.
I am in the process of securing a lease for the US business shortly and want to prepare the L1 application to bring to the POE.
Please advise what additional requirements are needed for the L1 besides being a Canadian Citizen and proving that I have ownership of both Canadian & US companies. Furthermore I will be managing the US business myself and hiring 2 employees. Do I need to show certain amount of employees for the Canadian business or is that irrelevant ?
Is it better to go to the POE or through USCIS ? Which POE has the best knowledge and experience with L1 visas in the Ontario area ?

BTW do you think it's better to use an attorney to prepare the L1 or can I do it myself ??

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks so much !!

-POE is better
-you can do it yourself only if you goto poe
-if you go to poe you will be given better more detailed reasons of denial, many lawyers take your money and dont get back to you or screw up your application or forget to file it completely.
-all the information is on the uscis website, lawyers are only needed for case law if your too lazy to research yourself. Ie. I might use a lawyer to apply for an eb-1 visa or niw simply because the category is so seemingly subjective and open to interpretation.
-canadian business must continue to operate
-Based on what you said Visa denied.
In order to be granted a visa USCIS or customs must believe that your canadian company will continue to operate. They will ask for financials and how many people you employ in canada. You said just you and your wife. Now if you move to the states, customs knows your wife is coming too. So essentially you plan to abadon the canadian company and hire 2 us employees. So you will have 4 us employees and 0 canadian employees. The L1 visa is meant for transferes who will return. If the canadian company employs no one, no chance of return, violate visa purpose, no visa.

The grand irony is that you should be doing the reverse. YOU should hire 2 canadian employees to show that there is a reasonable liklihood that u return to canada and no us employees to justify your presence. If there are 2 us emplyees customs will ask why are you needed there, why not just hire 1 qualified employee

Thanks for your reply however we do have 3 employees in the Canadian business already and none in the US company because it's a new company and will be hiring after we get the visa.

Plus I wouldn't abandon the Canadian company as it's viable and profitable so why do that...we have employees working there and my intention is to go back and forth. Why not have a business in both countries ??

I'm not sure about the POE as I've heard that they don't have enough knowledge on these type of visas....it's a bit more complicated then someone applying for a B1/B2 visa. The L1 involves financials, incorporations, business plans etc etc so I would think that USCIS would be more equipped to handle this type of visa instead of the POE.

They are 'equipped' at POE.

Thanks for your reply however we do have 3 employees in the Canadian business already and none in the US company because it's a new company and will be hiring after we get the visa.

Plus I wouldn't abandon the Canadian company as it's viable and profitable so why do that...we have employees working there and my intention is to go back and forth. Why not have a business in both countries ??

I'm not sure about the POE as I've heard that they don't have enough knowledge on these type of visas....it's a bit more complicated then someone applying for a B1/B2 visa. The L1 involves financials, incorporations, business plans etc etc so I would think that USCIS would be more equipped to handle this type of visa instead of the POE.

Well you could always carry a copy of the L1-visa requirements from the uscis website. If not just go to the us consulate in toronto and see what they say