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MARKSTAY-WARREN · GOLD CARD FIELD GUIDE

Can the replacement start US work when the company signs the transfer memo?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

The memo alone provides no immigration permission. The replacement needs the actual required processing, eligibility determination and visa or status steps before relying on a right to live or work in the United States.

Tie the employment plan to confirmed events

Distinguish the employer’s appointment date from vetting, visa availability and the immigration decision. General statements about expedited processing are not an individual guarantee. Ask the company what arrangements depend on the employee already having permission, and keep family travel decisions separate. A transfer fee or reused contribution cannot establish a promised move date.

The parts of the process that cost nothing but time, meaning the admissibility review, the family eligibility check, the cross-border tax opinion and a careful reading of the official program page, can begin before the business sale closes. Because published terms of a developing program may change, re-verify them at each decision point from the official program information, and involve a licensed U.S. immigration attorney alongside the commercial advisers rather than after them. A planning estimate needs the applicant's current eligibility, document readiness, and availability facts and still cannot be guaranteed; official material describing the process in weeks is a description rather than a promise.