How to get an L1A visa and provide legal consulting in Hawaii as a Japanese lawyer?
Dolan Williams
LawyerThe short answer? Yes, you may get an L1A visa by establishing a qualifying entity in Hawaii. That's the short answer. Here is the long answer: The law requires the U.S. office to maintain a parent, subsidiary, or affiliate relationship with your Japanese firms and demonstrate the capacity to support executive-level operations within one year. Forming a professional law corporation would strengthen your petition by aligning with local legal practice requirements and enhancing credibility for immigration purposes. A new Hawaii office must show the capacity to support executive work within one year. A detailed business plan with growth projections would be essential. By doing something like a Hawai'i LLLC, it may be the easiest option because it provides a direct continuity of services and it's easier to demonstrate a qualifying relationship. Another option is to use your wife's consulting company. The requirements would be: - Her firm establishes a Hawaii subsidiary (no need for legal focus) - She obtains L1A as manager, then hires you - Simpler corporate structure if legal practice isn't mandatory initially There is also the route of a Foreign Legal Consultant. You would register as a Hawaii Foreign Legal Consultant to advise on Japanese law. This requires proof of good standing in Japan and a $25k security deposit, and you could combine it with L1A through an affiliated business entity.
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I would like to receive basic information regarding immigration from Japan to Hawaii. Current Situation a. As of [date], my family composition is: self ([age]), spouse (wife, [age]), and daughter ([age]). b. I hold a Japanese lawyer's license (Bengoshi) and a certified public tax accountant's license (Zeirishi). c. The businesses I currently operate in Japan are a law firm (unlimited liability partnership) and a tax accountant corporation (specializing in inheritance), both of which are jointly managed.d. My wife is the representative director of a consulting company where she is the 100% shareholder. Desired Outcome/Hopes a. I wish to obtain an L1A visa with the future goal of acquiring a Green Card. b. The planned business in Hawaii will involve
Hello there [Name]. My name is Dolan and I am happy to help. The short answer? Yes, you may get an L1A visa by establishing a qualifying entity in Hawaii. That's the short answer. Here is the long answer: The law requires the U.S. office to maintain a parent, subsidiary, or affiliate relationship with your Japanese firms and demonstrate the capacity to support executive-level operations within one year. Forming a professional law corporation would strengthen your petition by aligning with local legal practice requirements and enhancing credibility for immigration purposes. A new Hawaii office must show the capacity to support executive work within one year. A detailed business plan with growth projections would be essential. By doing something like a Hawai'i LLLC, it may be the easiest option because it provides a direct continuity of services and it's easier to demonstrate a qualifying relationship. Another option is to use your wife's consulting company. The requirements would be: - Her firm establishes a Hawaii subsidiary (no need for legal focus) - She obtains L1A as manager, then hires you - Simpler corporate structure if legal practice isn't mandatory initially There is also the route of a Foreign Legal Consultant. You would register as a Hawaii Foreign Legal Consultant to advise on Japanese law. This requires proof of good standing in Japan and a $25k security deposit, and you could combine it with L1A through an affiliated business entity.
Thank you for reply. I'd like to add several questions. Q1. I am going to work as Consultant to advise on Japanese Law. Is it necessary to register? Or is it possible to work as that being hired by the Company of my wife?
Q2. I want to know the difference between Establishment of LLLC and registration as FLC. (Is it necessary to deposit $25K if I choose establishment of LLLC?）
Q3. Are there any conditions the establishment of LLLC? I saw information stating that obtaining an L1A visa requires a parent-subsidiary relationship between a foreign company and the Hawaii entity. Can I be the sole investor (owner) of the LLLC as an individual?
Thank you! Q1. Yes To advise on Japanese law in Hawaii as a consultant, you must register as an FLC under Rule 14 of the Hawaii Supreme Court Rules if you wish to provide advisory services on foreign law professionally. You may be employed by your wife's company, but registration as an FLC is still required to legally offer such services, regardless of your employer. This registration ensures compliance with Hawaii law and allows you to advise on Japanese law to clients in the state.
Q2 Forming an LLLC in Hawaii allows you to set up a legal business entity to provide services, but it does not by itself authorize you to advise on Japanese law; for that, you must register as an FLC. For clarity's sake, registration as an FLC specifically permits you to offer advisory services on foreign law and requires a $25,000 security deposit, while simply establishing an LLLC does not trigger this deposit requirement unless you also register as an FLC. In other words, the LLLC is the business structure, while FLC registration is the professional license needed for legal consulting on Japanese law, and the $25,000 deposit applies only to the FLC registration.
Q3: To establish an LLLC in Hawaii, you must file Articles of Organization and meet state registration requirements, but there is no restriction preventing you from being the sole investor or owner as an individual However, for L1A visa eligibility, the U.S. LLLC must have a parent-subsidiary or affiliate relationship with your Japanese company, so individual ownership would not satisfy this requirement for the visa. The $25,000 deposit is only required if you register as an FLC and not simply for establishing an LLLC. My recommendation to form the LLLC is to use legalzoom.com. They help with this kind of work for the cheapest possible price.
Thank you for your answer in detail. Related to Q3, can you tell me how to research the founder of [company]? And I want to know the condition or limitation of founder of LLLC. In Japan, here is the entity of "Bengoshi Hojin", which is the Professional Corporation entity. If this entity could be establish LLLC, it would be the solution to meet "parent-subsidiary" relations.
I check Japanese Law by myself, so I'd like to know the regulation in Hawaii.
And I want to know the benefit of LLLC compared wit LLC. It seems that the structure below is simple and suits this case. What do you think about it? 1. I join my wife's company as manager or director. 2. After 1 year from my join, my wife's company establish the LLC in Hawaii, and nominate me as the representative in Hawaii. 3. Each of I and my wife challenge L1A visa as manager with the presentation below /The LLC's business is consulting about asset management in Japan. / As soon as my registration of FLC is finished, LLC will start marketing of Legal and Tax advises to Japanese Community, and thus , the LLC intend to expand business.
I wonder how detailed business plan is needed to get the L1A visa as manager of the new entity. Is it enough, or not?
and....if you can, may I know your fee from this Legal Chat? In Japan, there is no service like this.
No problem! Let me address each one: 1. To your first question regarding question 3: To research [company]'s founder, review its articles of organization through Hawaii’s Business Registration Division - https://hbe.ehawaii.gov/documents Hawaii imposes no restrictions on LLLC founders’ nationality or entity type at all as a Japanese person or company can establish a Hawaii LLLC as a subsidiary, satisfying the L1A visa’s parent-subsidiary requirement if ownership/control is clearly documented.
To your other follow-up, an LLLC) in Hawaii is a specialized form of LLC designed specifically for law practices, offering limited liability protection, continuity of existence, and easier capital raising, while also meeting professional regulatory requirements for legal services. The structure you propose can work for L1A visa purposes, provided the parent-subsidiary relationship and managerial roles are clearly documented. An LLLC is flexible, easy to manage, and offers pass-through taxation, but does not have the professional oversight required for other corporate entity types. If you register as an FLC after the LLLC is established, you can expand the business to provide legal and tax advice to the Japanese community. Overall, your plan is fine here legally. As far as the details of the business plan, it should include an executive summary, organizational charts, five-year staffing and financial projections, a clear description of the qualifying relationship between the U.S. and foreign entity, and a plan showing how the U.S. office will support managerial roles within one year.It should also outline your market analysis, marketing and sales strategy, and operational plan, ensuring the narrative demonstrates business viability and your executive responsibilities. If you are wondering if your plan requires some specific menu of items that would result in some denial of some kind, the answer is no. Jus make it detailed, but you must use your best professional judgment to determine whether it is robust enough. To your final question, i believe it's $49.99 USD a month for the chat, but I do not handle the billing. Thanks so much!
Thank you for your response. I'm having trouble understanding the structure of an LLLC, so could you please explain it to me? My understanding is that an LLLC is an LLC designed for providing legal services, and that there are no restrictions on who can be an investor in an LLLC. However, from the perspective of Japanese law, it's hard for me to grasp that investors in a legal service corporation don't have to be lawyers. For example, it seems odd that a wife's company could be an investor. Is my understanding correct that anyone can establish an LLLC, but to actually provide legal advice to clients, one must be a registered attorney (including FLC registration)? If so, I would immediately assume the role of co-representative of my wife's company, operate as a manager for one year, and then establish a subsidiary LLLC with myself as the representative. Following that, I would proceed with applying for an L1A visa.
Thank you for your continued questions. It's smart to consider all angles to maximize your chances of success with the L1A visa. Regarding the LLLC's investors, if having a Japanese Professional Corporation (弁護士法人 - Bengoshi Hojin) as the investor, rather than a regular Japanese stock company (株式会社 - Kabushiki Kaisha), would strengthen your L1A visa application, then yes, that is definitely something to explore.
Excellent! Should you handle the question, please come back here!
I have another question regarding compensation. I chose and purchased the annual plan of $149, from the options of $49 per month or $149 per year. While I'd be very grateful to have the right to chat with you for a year, I'm wondering how much compensation you are receiving. I feel like you might be working for free. I'm also starting to develop legal-related services in Japan, and if there are such paid chat services in the U.S., I'm thinking of importing them to Japan. Therefore, I'd like to know how much of the fees we pay are distributed to individual attorneys, including you, and whether you consider it sufficient compensation (or if you simply view it as a "front-end service").
Sure thing! I'll be happy to address that. An LLLC in Hawaii is a professional entity formed to provide legal services. Only a licensed attorney (including those registered as a Foreign Legal Consultant or "FLC") can provide legal advice. However, there is no legal restriction on who can invest in or own an LLLC. Hawaii’s professional responsibility rules may require that those who control or manage the firm be licensed lawyers. So while your wife’s company could technically invest, you’d still need to meet professional licensing rules to practice law through that entity. Your summary is mostly correct, in that anyone can form an LLLC, but to offer legal services, the person doing so must be licensed (like with FLC registration). If you plan to manage the company first, then become an FLC and form your own LLLC later, that structure is legally workable and could support an L1A visa if properly documented. As far as compensation, I receive a portion and I think it's $149 for the year. Most of the payment goes to the platform..