Below are just a few of the many success stories about Indian companies that our
speakers have helped launch and expand successfully in the United States.
We are honored that such distinguished speakers have agreed to share their knowledge
and wisdom with us during this very special workshop and to meet with you 1-on-1
to discuss your specific situation.
Our esteemed speakers and business experts will show how you can achieve 100% success
with your U.S. company’s business strategy and execution.
Comprehensive Strategies to help an Indian Apparel Manufacturer Successfully Set-Up
and Launch its Products and Brands in the U.S.
"New operations often require a comprehensive strategy covering multiple areas to
succeed. So, when an Indian apparel manufacturer planned to establish operations
in the U.S., here is how VisaPro helped them with branding, distribution, incorporation
and immigration strategies helping them launch their operations successfully. "
Background
Textile-India (T-India) is an Indian company engaged in manufacturing
and exporting beachwear, resort wear and casualwear apparel. Their activities range
from fabric printing and dyeing to processing, stitching, and exporting the finished
products to customers worldwide.
Buoyed by their successful exports to various markets
in Europe and Asia, T-India set its sights on the lucrative North and South American
markets. Aiming to be a major market player in the beachwear and casualwear markets
in the Americas, T-India management decided to establish operations in the U.S.
focusing on expansion of the business into the Americas by setting up their own
stores in over 100 cities and marketing apparels under their own brand.
Considerations
Successfully building a brand and setting up retail stores in the U.S. require precision
planning and substantial investment. Proper distribution channels need to be established,
branding strategies must be adopted to improve visibility and brand value, and tying
up with local channels is essential for successfully promoting the brand. When T-India
approached VisaPro seeking our assistance, the experts at VisaPro thoroughly reviewed
company’s situation and needs, evaluated all suitable options, and devised a comprehensive
strategy covering various areas like branding, distribution, incorporation and immigration
in order to facilitate T-India in successfully accomplishing their objectives with
minimum investment.
Setting up an Affiliate Company in the U.S.
As a first step towards accomplishing T-India’s goals, VisaPro helped T-India incorporate
an affiliate company, Textile-USA (T-USA) in the U.S. VisaPro’s
attorneys made sure T-USA ownership was structured in a manner that would facilitate
T-India’s transfer of employees from India to T-USA. VisaPro also guided T-USA on
various initial steps necessary to get the operations started in the U.S. like securing
office premises, opening a bank account, etc.
Branding and Distribution Support To Facilitate the Launch
Having established T-USA as an affiliate entity in the U.S., the next major challenge
before the group was to implement effective branding strategies and establish distribution
tie-ups and set the stage for successful launch of their brand. VisaPro effectively
assisted T-USA in this crucial phase of preliminary operations, helping T-USA identify
suitable sales partners, set up distribution channels, tie-up with local networks,
and implement the identified branding strategies to enhance visibility and familiarity.
VisaPro helped T-USA set the platform necessary for successful launch of its own
stores and create a commercial environment from where an Executive from India could
come to the U.S. and successfully oversee and manage the launch and growth of its
brands in the U.S. and North American markets.
Get full story at the workshop
Helping an Indian Engineering Design Company successfully enter the U.S. market
through an Acquisition
"There are a variety of entry options open to Indian companies that want to enter
the U.S. market. While many companies prefer to set-up new operations, acquisition
of an existing U.S. company may offer certain advantages when entering a new market.
So, when an Indian Engineering Design firm saw profitable opportunities in entering
the U.S. market through the acquisition route, here is how our experts helped them:"
Background
Design India (D-India) is an Indian Engineering Design firm providing
end-to-end solutions for the building design industry. With a state-of-the art studio
in Pune, D-India is engaged in providing Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Building
Information Modeling (BIM) services to international architecture and engineering
firms in India. After establishing successful operations in India, D-India’s senior
management saw it profitable to enter the U.S. markets to serve U.S. clients.
Choosing an appropriate Market Entry Strategy – The Considerations
When D-India approached VisaPro seeking support to realize their goals of entering
the U.S. market, our experts thoroughly analyzed their situation and needs. While
eager about the lucrative opportunities that the U.S. market provided, D-India was
particularly anxious about safeguarding its interests against any startup risks.
They wanted to start operations at the earliest and preferred to enter the market
with a client list ready to go.
After analyzing D-India’s need and requirements, our experts suggested that D-India
use acquisition of another company as an appropriate market entry strategy. Acquiring
an entity already in operation in the U.S. would enable D-India to start its operations
from day one and serve the already existing clients of the U.S. company being acquired.
An existing company would present D-India with a platform to launch their services
into the U.S. market using the infrastructure, network and contacts already built-up
by the existing U.S. company.
Acquiring a U.S. company– The Challenges
While acquisition of an existing company was identified as the most suitable market
entry strategy for D-India, the process of acquiring a U.S. company is never simple
or easy. The process of acquiring a company involves consideration of numerous parameters
– from identification of the right company, to correct valuation, tax implications,
and finally, appropriate documentation to safeguard oneself from undiscovered liabilities
and undesirable consequences.
Acquiring an U.S. company– The Implementation
To help D-India accomplish its objectives of acquiring a suitable U.S. entity and
profitably enter the U.S. market, our experts supported D-India diligently through
every stage of the acquisition process. Our experts helped D-India identify a suitable
business for acquisition in the U.S. and aided D-India in conducting proper due-diligence
to carefully evaluate the company. VisaPro’s experts also advised the company during
the negotiations process to arrive at a mutually beneficial arrangement and supported
D-India with all the necessary formalities to complete the transaction successfully.
Thus, our experts ensured that D-India was thoroughly supported during the entire
process of acquisition.
Off-shore Business in India driven by the U.S. company
A key advantage that D-India witnessed following the acquisition was in the flow
of off-shore business to the company in India, primarily driven by the clients and
business of the U.S. company. Following the acquisition, D-India had access to established
U.S.-based clientele and a significant order-book, enabling it to outsource much
of the work to its off-shore center in India. Having an off-shore team in India
develop a bulk of the work resulted in significant savings for D-India allowing
it to maintain a competitive advantage in pricing by passing on part of the benefit
to its clients, ensuring success and profitability of both the Indian and the U.S.
operations.
Get full story at the workshop
Helping an Indian Pharmaceutical Company Expand its U.S. Operations
"Just like establishing a new business, even expansion plans have their own share
of challenges! When an Indian pharmaceutical company faced obstacles while wanting
to expand a new division in the U.S. to make inroads into newer markets and have
it managed by one of its Indian Executives, here is how VisaPro helped them successfully
achieve it:"
Background
Pharma India (P-India) is a large Indian pharmaceutical
company developing and manufacturing innovative and affordable products for both
the domestic and international markets. To facilitate global operations, P-India
has subsidiaries in the U.S. and Europe. Its U.S. subsidiary, Pharma-USA (P-USA),
is actively engaged in successfully marketing its products throughout the North
American market.
As part of its expansion plans, P-India identified a lucrative market opportunity
for “Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients” and “Solid Oral Dosage Forms” in the North
American market and decided to set up a new division in the U.S. under its subsidiary,
P-USA. P-India’s management team had determined that the creation of the new division
at P-USA would lead to significant growth opportunities for the company.
Transferring a P-India Executive to P-USA to manage the new division - The Challenges
To manage and develop the new division being set-up in the U.S., P-USA and P-India
needed to transfer a senior manager at P-India who had significant managerial experience
as well as advanced knowledge of their organization’s products, processes, business
priorities, marketing procedures and operations from India to the U.S. To this extent,
P-USA identified an Assistant General Manager - Business Development at P-India
to come to the U.S. and work as its Senior Regional Business Manager. The Senior
Regional Business Manager would manage and develop its new division for marketing
and distributing its APIs and Solid Oral Dosage Forms in the North American marketplace
and securing strategic partnerships and alliances with U.S. based pharmaceuticals
companies.
When P-USA approached VisaPro seeking help to transfer the identified executive
from P-India to P-USA, VisaPro attorneys quickly reviewed the circumstances to identify
the challenges the situation presented. The transfer of an employee under an L-1
to manage a new division raised some issues. While both P-India and P-USA employed
a considerable number of employees and had significant operations and revenue, P-USA
did not have a significant number of employees working in the new division. Thus,
the task of establishing a managerial or executive role for the proposed employee
in his U.S. role became challenging.
Transferring a P-India Executive to P-USA to manage the new division- Strategy and
Implementation
VisaPro’s attorneys worked closely with P-USA to gather facts that would clearly
articulate the managerial and executive nature of proposed transferee’s role in
the U.S. To help overcome the absence of a significant number of employees in the
new division, VisaPro’s attorneys adopted a strategy to utilize the strength of
the existing operations of both P-India and P-USA and highlight how the new division
is envisioned by the large entities as a significant step in their expansion plans.
Based on the information gathered, VisaPro helped P-USA successfully prepare a convincing
petition, underlining how the nature of duties to be performed by the transferee
in the U.S. is managerial and executive in nature, especially the importance of
overseeing the strategic business development and transactional initiatives, including
evaluation of business strategies, and significance of having a senior executive
from India to set up and manage the new division on its way to profitability and
growth. The comprehensive package prepared by VisaPro’s attorneys addressed every
possible query that could come up, resulting in the identified senior executive
from P-India successfully obtaining an L-1A visa to come to the U.S. and manage
P-USA’s new division.
Get full story at the workshop
Helping an U.S. Engineering Company establish profitable operations in India
"When a U.S. Engineering company saw a profitable opportunity in setting up operations
in India, here is how our experts helped them realize their goal:"
Background
Engineering USA (E-USA) is a U.S. based company which delivers
custom solutions for customers’ industrial installation demands. They support utility
power plants, cement plants, steel mills, manufacturing units, mining, and subway
operators with their industrial installation solutions. Having delivered critical
solutions to clients for more than 30 years, the company is recognized and competes
worldwide as an industry leader.
To increase their global presence and to provide cost effective and timely solutions
to their clients in the Asia-Pacific region, E-USA wanted to set-up operations in
India, partnering with a local entity. They planned to set up a plant in India that
would mirror their U.S. operations and produce engineering equipment based on the
design principles and methods perfected by them over the years.
Setting up Joint-Operations in India
To help E-USA accomplish its objectives of setting up a profitable plant in India,
the VisaPro experts set out to assist E-USA identify an Indian entity that had the
capabilities and know-how that were essential for E-USA to successfully set up joint
operations in India. Once the suitable Indian entity was found, our experts helped
E-USA finalize arrangements with the company and help establish joint-operations
in India under the name Engineering-India (E-India).
Training E-India Employees in the U.S.
As planned, the E-India plant mirrored the U.S. operations of E-USA. It was therefore
necessary that employees of E-India plant be well-trained in the proprietary manufacturing
processes and procedures employed by E-USA, including those in some highly specialized
knowledge areas that were critical to designing and manufacturing their equipment.
E-USA realized it would need to bring certain employees of E-India to the U.S. to
train at the U.S. facility.
E-USA approached VisaPro to find out if there was a way to accomplish the above
knowing that there would be visa issues involved. VisaPro’s attorneys, upon considering
all the involved, concluded that the H-3 Trainee visa would be most suited for E-USA
to bring employees of E-India to the U.S. to enable them participate in a training
program involving the practices and processes employed by the U.S. company.
Get full story at the workshop
Helping An Indian Transportation and Logistics Company Establish a Successful Business
in the U.S.
"The list of Indian companies setting up successful businesses in the U.S. is not
restricted to a few industries like IT, Pharmaceuticals, or Manufacturing. Many
different kinds of companies from India have been able to set up successful businesses
all over the United States.When a 6 year old Indian transportation and logistics
company wanted to expand its operations into international markets, here is how
VisaPro’s experienced business and legal teams helped them accomplish their objectives:"
Background
Logistics-India’ (L-India) is a diversified Indian transportation
and logistics company providing a whole range of transportation and logistics services
designed to meet the demands of their customers.
Within 6 years of incorporating in India, L-India was already a highly profitable
business having set up and created a nationwide network of offices in India. At
this point, the company saw great opportunities in expanding its operations into
international markets. As a first step, L-India wanted to open offices in the U.S.
to better serve their existing clients and expand from there.
Setting up the office
To help realize their company’s expansion plans, VisaPro’s expert team first helped
L-India set-up its 100% owned branch office in the U.S., ‘Logistics-US’ (L-US).
In setting up the U.S. company, VisaPro helped L-US locate an office premises and
conduct preliminary regulatory compliance work. Once the branch office was physically
established, VisaPro helped L-US file for and obtain the necessary licenses and
other official documents to start and conduct a fully-owned branch office of a foreign
corporation in the U.S. With all the necessary paperwork in place, the remaining
major challenge left for L-US was to figure out how to manage and guide the new
operations in the U.S.
Helping the CEO from L-India go and work at L-US
For effective implementation of the business and marketing plans envisaged for the
U.S. office, L-US wanted the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of L-India
to come to the U.S. and fill the vacant position of President at least until the
U.S. operations were stabilized.
Get full story at the workshop
Supporting an Indian Entertainment Company successfully organize shows in the U.S. with Indian performers from India
"When ABC India Pvt. Ltd. (ABC-India), an Indian company with operations in a range
of fields from marketing communications to event management and production, approached
VisaPro seeking help to realize what they saw as a profitable business opportunity
in bringing the best entertainers and cultural performers from India to the U.S.
to perform in events across the country, here is how VisaPro made sure they realized
the opportunity:"
Setting Up a U.S. Subsidiary
As ABC-India wanted to regularly put shows on in the U.S., the
first step that VisaPro took was assisting ABC-India establish a U.S. subsidiary,
ABC, Inc. (ABC-US).
Immediately after the company formation in the U.S. was complete, ABC-US identified
a profitable opportunity in arranging and organizing a series of live shows in the
U.S. featuring comedians and performing artists from India. The live program was
based on a successful and highly popular Indian television show. The television
show featured popular comedians from the television industry who were household
names in India, supported by a regular musician, coming up with creative acts and
competing against each other to entertain the audience. The comedians, who had built
a rapport with and following among the average television viewers in India, regularly
portrayed a selection of characters that they came to be uniquely identified with.
In response to the huge success of the television show, live performances of the
group were organized in many cities across India, which also became very successful.
ABC-US saw an exciting opportunity in bringing the show and its talented performers
to the U.S. and having them perform in live shows there. ABC-US wanted to feature
performances at various venues in 10 U.S. cities, starring the same popular comedians
and performers from television show and stage shows in India.
Enabling the Performing Artists from India to travel to the U.S. – The Challenges
With most of the arrangements for organizing the show having been made, the last
and major challenge left for ABC-US, which was then a relatively new entity in the
U.S., was in ensuring that all the performing artists could travel to and perform
in the U.S. Engaging closely with ABC-US, VisasPro’s attorneys began to work diligently
to devise an effective strategy for the client.
Get full story at the workshop
Helping an Indian Trading Corporation overcome peculiar challenges in establishing
operations in the U.S.
"Oftentimes, companies in certain types of industries, due to the very nature of
their business and practices come across challenges while seeking to establish or
expand operations in the U.S. that most other companies do not normally face. So,
when an Indian trading corporation faced unusual challenges that posed obstacles
to realizing their plans for successfully establishing and expanding their operations
to the U.S., here is how VisaPro helped them overcome to the challenges and accomplish
their objectives:"
Background
Trade-India (T-India), based in Goa, is an international trading
corporation engaged in the trading of various forms of metal scrap and is also a
supplier of high quality steel to mills and foundries throughout the world. After
building successful operations that spanned the globe, T-India wanted to set-up
operations in the U.S. in order to source scrap metal from the U.S. T-India owners
surmised that a physical presence in U.S. would significantly enhance their profitability,
while strengthening their credibility and reputation among international buyers.
Having an entity in the U.S. would also facilitate their expansion into other sectors
effectively.
Setting Up a U.S. Affiliate
When T-India approached VisaPro detailing its plans and seeking assistance, VisaPro’s
team analyzed the company’s situation. First, VisaPro’s team helped T-India incorporate
a U.S. entity, Trade–USA (T-USA). While incorporating the U.S.
entity, our experts made sure that T-India and T-USA would be “affiliates” so as
to facilitate the transfer of employees from T-India to T-USA on the L-1 visa. Our
experts also helped T-USA secure an office premises and complete preliminary formalities
to bring T-USA into existence.
The Challenges
With T-USA having been established as an affiliate of T-India in the U.S., the next
task before T-USA was to ensure the successful transfer of an identified employee
from T-India to T-USA in order to start up operations. VisaPro’s attorneys decided
that a New Office L-1 would be the appropriate visa category that would enable T-USA
to accomplish their desired goals. T-USA/T-India decided that the Senior Vice-President
- International Business Development of T-India should be transferred to T-USA to
act as Chief Operations Officer (COO) on a New Office L-1. However, successfully
obtaining a New Office L-1 for the identified T-India employee, in this situation,
brought up many challenges.
To be eligible to seek an L-1A visa, the employee being transferred must have been
engaged as an Executive or Manager in the overseas entity for a period of at least
one year out of the past 3 years. And, generally, USCIS utilizes the number of people
reporting to the beneficiary, as demonstrated by the organizational structure, in
establishing the executive or managerial nature of the duties carried on by the
beneficiary. Companies engaged in trading typically are not manpower intensive and
hence face challenges with immigration, especially for the transfer of executives/managers.
This necessitates special analysis and strategic planning to address these matters
in the petition filing. Hence, establishing the executive or managerial nature of
the identified T-India employee’s role became a significant challenge to overcome.
And, this was in addition to all the “normal” challenges inherent in the L-1 visa
process.
Get full story at the workshop
Helping an IT Company CEO stuck in India due to a visa denial get back to the U.S.
to continue to manage U.S. Operations
"The recent shift to tightened adjudications of L-1 cases, particularly in India,
has created a new set of hurdles for international companies. So, when an Indian
IT company was faced with a serious situation arising out of denial of a visa for
its CEO to go and manage its relatively new operations in the U.S. here is how VisaPro
strategized and helped them:"
Challenges while seeking Extension of Stay on a New Office L-1:
The New Office L-1 is generally granted for an initial period of one year in order
to enable the foreign national Executive or Manager to come to the U.S. and establish
operations. To seek an extension of stay beyond the first year while on the New
Office L-1, the Executive or Manager must show that during the first year the operations
in the U.S. the entity had grown sufficiently to a level that justified the continued
presence of the foreign national Executive or Manager, to discharge Executive or
Managerial functions in the U.S.
One year is not 12 months!
While theoretically the New Office L-1 provides a foreign national Executive or
Manager one year to come to the U.S, as a practical matter, an Executive or Manager
may find that the time actually available to him to accomplish all that required
is considerably less than one year. This is due to many factors. Once the petition
is approved, the Executive must obtain an L-1 visa at an American Consulate or Embassy
to be able to travel to the U.S. and seek admission on the L-1 visa. The Executive
or Manager must then travel to the U.S. and start building the operations. Then,
in order to remain in the U.S. to continue to build the business, the necessary
extension petition must be filed at least a few months before the period of one
year granted comes to an end. All this and more mean that the Executive or Manager
has considerably less than one year to accomplish the task of growing operations
to a level that justifies his continued presence and enable him or her continue
to remain in the U.S. to manage U.S. operations.
To facilitate an extension of stay of T-US’s CEO on the New Office L-1 beyond the
initial period of one year, VisaPro helped T-US successfully prepare and file a
comprehensive extension petition on his behalf, articulating how T-US’s operations
have become active and have reached a stage that justified his continued presence
in the U.S. to manage and guide the U.S. operations.
Denial of the L-1 Visa by the U.S. Consulate and USCIS’s Issuance of a Notice of
Intent to Revoke
After the approval of the extension petition that facilitated T-US’s CEO to continue
working in the US, he planned a brief trip to India. As the initial New Office L-1
visa granted to him had expired, he needed to apply for a new visa supported by
the extension petition approved by the USCIS to enable him travel back to the US
and resume work in the U.S.
A visa interview at the consulate may not often go as planned, notwithstanding a
prior USCIS approved petition supporting the applicant’s case. Sometimes the U.S.
Consulate may deny the application because they do not feel the petition should
have been approved. Sometimes, due to an applicant’s natural anxiety and stress
that such interviews can create, the applicant may be unable to clearly articulate
his or her qualifications for the visa type applied for. Something similar happened
in this case. During the visa interview, the Consular Officer decided that the applicant
(T-US’s CEO) would not actually be functioning in an Executive capacity in the U.S.
and refused to issue him a visa.
After refusing to issue an L-1 visa to T-US’s CEO, the Consulate returned the petition
to USCIS for review and revocation. Based on the Consular official’s reference,
USCIS issued T-US a ”Notice of Intent to Revoke” (NOIR) citing the consular officer’s
concerns and requesting additional evidence from T-US to demonstrate that the beneficiary
indeed qualified for a position that was Executive in character.
The end result of all these developments meant that T-US’s CEO was stranded in India
after what was supposed to be a brief trip and unable to return to the U.S. to effectively
manage the U.S. operations.
Successful Response Strategy and Overcoming a Consular Denial
When T-US received USCIS’s NOIR, VisaPro’s attorney’s thoroughly reviewed the situation.
After considering all the materials on hand, VisaPro’s experienced attorneys recommended
that re-fling the L-1 petition would be more advantageous over responding to the
NOIR.
VisaPro’s attorneys worked closely with T-US to help thoroughly document how the
beneficiary’s role was executive in nature, and to prepare and file a new petition
seeking T-India’s CEO’s presence in the U.S. Keeping in mind the previous objections
raised by USCIS in the NOIR, the package addressed every concern or query that the
authorities had raised and traversed beyond the normal parameters to effectively
establish how the CEO’s role in the U.S. could not be anything else but Executive
in nature. The extensive package submitted by VisaPro resulted in the approval of
the L-1 petition for notwithstanding the earlier revocation.
Get full story at the workshop