DHS Holding Visa App 'In Limbo,' Restaurant Owner Alleges
Law360, New York (July 21, 2015) -- Newera Entertainment LLC has sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as part of an effort to compel the federal agency to take action on a pending I-129 visa application stuck "in limbo," according to a Friday filing in California federal court.
The restauranter in January filed a petition for a I-129 visa for a non-immigrant worker so L-1A status, which allows an entity to transfer an executive or manager from an overseas affiliate, could be conferred on Nikolay Doronin, who seeks to work as a vice president in a Newera office in the U.S., according to its complaint.
Doronin worked in Russia for AtomExpo LLC, a company with ties to Newera, the operator of a restaurant in Santa Clarita, California, called the TeaPot Cafe. According to its website, the cafe offers “fresh, healthy new American cuisine with an international flair.”
Newera adequately responded in April to a request from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for further information on Doronin, AtomExpo, Newera and the TeaPot Cafe, but has not heard from the federal agency since, according to the complaint.
“Plaintiff’s petition is in limbo with no foreseeable decision forthcoming,” wrote Newera, which argues that USCIS promises on its website that the I-129 L-1A petition process is supposed to take a month.
As Newera argues that it has exhausted its administrative remedies with the federal government, which has not responded in over three months to the company’s correspondence, it believes that the lawsuit in federal court was its last and best remedy, according to the complaint.
The TeaPot Cafe considers itself a restaurant that provides a fast-casual dining alternative and more than 35 varieties of teas, according to its website.
“As we were looking for places to eat with our family, we realized that establishments that catered to kids generally had unhealthy food without much for adults to eat,” its website reads. “And restaurants for adults often didn’t have interesting and engaging activities for kids.”
Matthew E. Roston, an attorney representing Newera, declined to comment.
Counsel for the government could not be reached on Monday for comment.
Representing Newera Entertainment LLC is Matthew E. Roston of Ross Rose & Roston LLP.
Counsel information for the federal government was not immediately available on Tuesday.
The case is Newera Entertainment LLC v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security et al, case number 2:15-cv-05452, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
--Editing by Emily Kokoll.