Expeditious naturalization - 319(b) american company definition

[gnasa 3]

Hello,

Thanks in advance!

Can someone clarify for me what is meant by 'An employee of an American-owned firm or corporation engaged in the development of foreign trade and commerce for the United States;' for the purpose of 319(b) status on N-400 - expeditious naturalization.

The short story: My non-US wife will receive her green card soon (adjustment of status from student visa to green card) and I'm employed by a big multi-national company. We are soon to be relocated outside of the US for the next 2-3 years for my job. If possible, we'd like to get her naturalized to avoid any headache of maintaining US residency and possibly losing her green card. If it is any help, my employer is Schlumberger, I'm not sure if it is 'American-owned' by USCIS standards.

Thanks and regards

[warlord 72]

Hello,

Thanks in advance!

Can someone clarify for me what is meant by 'An employee of an American-owned firm or corporation engaged in the development of foreign trade and commerce for the United States;' for the purpose of 319(b) status on N-400 - expeditious naturalization.

The short story: My non-US wife will receive her green card soon (adjustment of status from student visa to green card) and I'm employed by a big multi-national company. We are soon to be relocated outside of the US for the next 2-3 years for my job. If possible, we'd like to get her naturalized to avoid any headache of maintaining US residency and possibly losing her green card. If it is any help, my employer is Schlumberger, I'm not sure if it is 'American-owned' by USCIS standards.

Thanks and regards

Interesting, it originally was a French corporation, but moved it's head Corporate offices to the US. See if you can make an Infopass and ask them what they think. Try and get all the details you can about the company (I just did a quick search on Wikipedia), but hopefully they will have a better description if that company will qualify since it's not really that clear if it is a US owned company or not present day...

[gnasa 3]

I've discovered some additional information about an "American firm"

from : http://jakarta.usembassy.gov/consular/acs_expeditious.html

A checklist for expeditious naturalization includes:

An official letter on letterhead from the U.S. Government agency, public international organization, a firm incorporated in the U.S. (or foreign subsidiary), or religious organization stating the following:

• The name, title, address, contact information and signature of the author;
  
• Affirmation and explanation that the USC’s employer is an agency of the U.S. Government, an American firm or corporation engaged in the development of foreign trade and commerce of the U.S. or a subsidiary thereof (an American firm is defined as being at least 51% owned by U.S. citizens), or a religious organization organized as a non-profit entity under Section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
  
• The nature of the employing entity’s business, activities, missions, or charitable works;
  
• The state under which the employer is organized, the date of incorporation, and that it is extant;
  
• The facts of the USC’s basis of hire (contract, regular employee, etc.) and employment (job title, detailed job description, date overseas assignment started, date overseas assignment expected to end).
  
• If the USC is employed by an “American firm or corporation,” evidence that the firm is at least 51% owned by U.S. citizens, i.e. annual reports, Securities and Exchange Commission filings, articles of incorporation, stock traded exclusively on U.S. stock exchange markets, stock ownership of subsidiaries, or other comparable evidence.
  
• Evidence of the USC’s actual employment abroad (paycheck stubs, airline tickets, employment contracts, lodgings, etc.).
  

Does anyone have any idea on how I would go about determining ownership (US citizen or not) of a publicly traded corporation (SLB is listed on NYSE, Paris SE, London SE, SIX Swiss Ex, etc.) ????? At this point, I think that it will be too difficult to determine/prove if I work for an "American company" as interpreted by USCIS, this will cause a naturalization application under the 319(b) status to be denied. Any advice? Thanks & Regards

[CaptainPenguin 5]

This sure seems like a grey zone, their HQ is in Houston (but so are the head offices for many foreign oil companies).

It seems like the company is still based in the Netherlands Antilles, at least on paper.

Company Facts19.When and where will the next annual general meeting of stockholders of Schlumberger Limited be held? The 2011 annual general meeting will be held in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. The date and precise location have not yet been established.

20.When was Schlumberger founded? The original Schlumberger business was founded in 1926 by the brothers Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger, two French engineers and physicists, to provide wireline logging services (electronic measurement of underground formations) for oil drilling operations.

21.When and where was Schlumberger incorporated? November 6, 1956 in the Netherlands Antilles

22.<a name="7984" style="color: rgb(79, 137, 191); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; ">Is Schlumberger a foreign corporation? Although Schlumberger is incorporated in the Netherlands Antilles, Schlumberger is not treated as a "foreign private issuer" under US securities laws, and files the same public filings as other US public companies.

[gnasa 3]

So at the InfoPass appointment requested to obtain info about the status of my wife's AOS (Note: do NOT put a "permanent address" on the application that is not within the USCIS district that you live in, it complicates and delays things) I asked what constituted an "American firm/corp" for the purposes of maintaining residency for naturalization purposes OR for expeditious naturalization under 319(b) status. The immigration officer cut me off before I finished my question, looked at us, and said we are NOT to apply for naturalization b/c my wife will have a conditional green card as we've only been married for ~1.3 years (this is assuming that the green card is granted of course) and you cant apply for naturalization until the conditional status is lifted, among other requirements. My understanding of naturalization under 319(b) status is that the green card status, whether conditional or permanent (10yr) doesn't matter, are they completely wrong and incorrect? The officer also stated that big multinational corporations like "IBM, United Airlines" etc... are interpreted as "American" if they're incorporated in the US. I do not feel that the immigration officer answered my question and provided incorrect information contrary to what I've been able to read/understand from the field adjudicator's manual. I also received the strong impression that they did not want to discuss this any longer, so I chose to abandon trying to learn more from the official about their requirements and procedures!

Does anyone know of an immigration attorney that is familiar with the expeditious naturalization application & process that I may discuss my situation with? I feel like our case is a perfect example of situation that expeditious naturalization is intended for; however, I'm having a difficult time determining if Schlumberger Technology Corp (my US employer - wholly owned by Schlumberger Limited) qualifies as an "American corporation" and what evidence would USCIS require.

[gnasa 3]

More info on "American firm/corp" from the Field Adjudicators Manual.

If the company you work for is incorporated in the US and its stock is traded solely in US based stock markets (find this out on it's 10-K form filed with SEC) than it is deemed American. Otherwise, it is up to the applicant to demonstrate that the company (in my case Schlumberger Limited) is American by determining the nationality of >50% of its stockholders are US citizens. I'm at a complete lose as to how I would determine nationalities of ~21,000 stockholders!! Any advice would be appreciated.

From SLB's 2009 10-K in it's annual report:

As of January 31, 2010, there were 1,196,589,089 shares of common stock of Schlumberger outstanding,

exclusive of 137,623,075 shares held in treasury, and approximately 21,151 stockholders of record. The

principal United States market for Schlumberger’s common stock is the NYSE, where it is traded under the

symbol “SLB”.

Schlumberger’s common stock is also traded on the Euronext Paris, Euronext Amsterdam, London and SIX

Swiss stock exchanges.

source: http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/AFM/HTML/AFM/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-26573/0-0-0-40554.html#0-0-0-1043

....a publicly-held corporation may be deemed an “American firm or corporation” if the applicant establishes that the corporation is both incorporated in the United States and trades its stock exclusively on U.S. stock exchange markets. If the applicant is unable to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the employer is both incorporated in the United States and trades its stock exclusively on U.S. stock markets, then the applicant must meet the requirements of Matter of Warrach , 17 I&N Dec. 285, 286-87 (Reg. Comm. 1979). As such, the nationality of the firm would be determined instead by the nationality of those who own 51 percent or more of the corporation. Id . The reasoning in this decision may also be applied in determining the nationality of a publicly-traded foreign corporation, where such a determination is required and not in conflict with existing law and/or regulations pertinent to the classification sought.

....

Attachment 2 addresses a question from the Buffalo District Office regarding applicants for naturalization under section 319(b) of the INA. The question involved here stems from the definition of the phrase “American firm or corporation” as it is used in section 319(b). In the instance presented at the Buffalo district, a complete history of the corporate ownership found that the ultimate owner of the alien spouse’s company was a foreign corporation, incorporated abroad, and more that 50 percent of the company’s stock was owned by foreign nationals. In situations such as this, Counsel found that the spouse’s company is not an Ameri can firm or corporation, thus making the alien spouse ineligible for expedited naturalization under section 319(b).

In light of this opinion by the General Counsel, it will henceforth be policy for district adjudications officers to adjudicate section 319(b) expedited naturalization requests based upon the ultimate ownership of the American firm or corporation. It will be incumbent upon the applicant to outline the corporation’s ultimate ownership if the applicant is seeking an expedited naturalization based upon the provisions of section 319(b).

[dovand 0]

I need help on "The facts of your spouse’s employment, the basis of your spouse’s hire (contract, permanent employee, etc.), and the length of your spouse’s overseas employment"

I am a consultant (contract) for a qualifying US organization. Will they approve if I am a contract employee. Please help

[mbeavers 0]

gnasa:

I am very interested to know what you found on this. I am also employed by SLB and am in the exact same situation except my wife is now ready for apply for citizenship (>3 years continuous residence in the US). If you are still around, please look me up in ldap, you should be able to find me using my username.

Regards

[mickster 0]

gnasa:

I am very interested to know what you found on this. I am also employed by SLB and am in the exact same situation except my wife is now ready for apply for citizenship (>3 years continuous residence in the US). If you are still around, please look me up in ldap, you should be able to find me using my username.

Regards

Gnasa and Mbeavers

I am in the same boat - I work for SLB MEA and am pursuing a petition for immigration/green card/ citizenship for my wife and I'd of course like to take advantage of 319 b expeditious process. So far I have established SLB is a BVA company - I am wondering if you have had any luck on the stock ownership angle - if you are still around please contact me here or thru ldap and my username.

Thanks, Good Luck and Best Regards

mg

[CoffeeBeans 1]

More info on "American firm/corp" from the Field Adjudicators Manual.

If the company you work for is incorporated in the US and its stock is traded solely in US based stock markets (find this out on it's 10-K form filed with SEC) than it is deemed American. Otherwise, it is up to the applicant to demonstrate that the company (in my case Schlumberger Limited) is American by determining the nationality of >50% of its stockholders are US citizens. I'm at a complete lose as to how I would determine nationalities of ~21,000 stockholders!! Any advice would be appreciated.

...

Can't you just ask your employer ? Like the company legal counsel, investor relations officer, CFO, etc ? I would think these folks should know if your company is considered an American company or not.

Just a thought

Cheers

[CoffeeBeans 1]

I saw on USCIS site, N-470 application - which is for a permanent resident alien who must leave the United States for certain employment purposes and wishes to preserve his or her status as an immigrant in order to pursue naturalization.

Could this be something you can consider ? Note : I did not read the qualification criteria for N-470 nor read your entire thread in details, so not sure if N-470 is a potential solution to your issue.

Cheers

[TinTin and Samby 11]

You may be focusing too much on the definition of American Ownership and not enough on the much more restrictive requirement of the Nature of the Business that the Firm is engaged in. This special avenue to expedite Naturalization is not available to simple Ex-Pat employees of large MultiNational ("American") firms like IBM, HP, Ford, etc, etc. It is only available to overseas based employees of Firms that are specifically "engaged in the development of foreign trade and commerce of the U.S.".

Schlumberger is an Oil Field Services Provider in the Petroleum Industry. It would not meet this definition.

Warm Regards,

Samby

[gnasa 3]

Gnasa and Mbeavers

I am in the same boat - I work for SLB MEA and am pursuing a petition for immigration/green card/ citizenship for my wife and I'd of course like to take advantage of 319 b expeditious process. So far I have established SLB is a BVA company - I am wondering if you have had any luck on the stock ownership angle - if you are still around please contact me here or thru ldap and my username.

Thanks, Good Luck and Best Regards

mg

Hi MG,

I couldn't find you in LDAP. Anyway, I haven't been able to determine the citizenship of a majority of SLB Limited stockholders. I guess I've given up on 319(b).

Cheers

gkramer

[NickD 202]

Just posted this in another thread, to go any deeper than what is said, feel you will need the advice from a good immigration attorney.

"INA 319(b) Expedited Naturalization If you are married to a US citizen working for certain organizations overseas, you may be able to naturalize without having resided at all in the United States. This is sometimes called “expedited” naturalization and is authorized under section 319(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The purpose of INA section 319(b) is to allow people to reside abroad with their USC spouses. Without the law, legal permanent residents might abandon their permanent residence by spending too much time out of the country, or their USC spouses might be deterred from working overseas in the US interest.

319(b) Requirements

To qualify:

1. You must be a legal permanent resident married to a US citizen.

2. Your spouse must work for one of the following organizations:

• the United States Government
• an American institution of research recognized by the Attorney General
• an American firm or corporation engaged in foreign trade or commerce, or a subsidiary thereof
• a public international organization, such as the United Nations or subsidiary body

or, must work as

• a minister or missionary of a religious denomination having a bona fide organization in the United States

3. Your spouse must be “regularly stationed” abroad. USCIS has interpreted that to mean that your spouse will be working abroad for at least a year from the time of your interview.

4. After your spouse’s overseas employment ends, you must intend to take up residence in United States."