Read the general business expansion overview
A new-office plan can describe a future structure while the applicant’s current records show hands-on work. Explain the difference openly and apply the correct role-specific standard.
Compare today’s delivery work with the future position
Create two descriptions: the applicant’s actual foreign work and the proposed U.S. job after the launch. Use existing payroll, duty records and reporting relationships for the first; identify real recruitment and delegation plans for the second. Do not relabel hands-on foreign delivery as management to fit a future title.
Choose the branch that the evidence can support
For a new-office L-1A case, the qualifying foreign year must itself have been managerial or executive, and the U.S. operation must support a managerial or executive position within one year of approval. Identify sufficient premises and the resources that will take operational tasks off the proposed manager. If the assignment is L-1B, establish specialized knowledge instead, together with sufficient premises and finances to pay the employee and start business; it does not inherit the L-1A management build-out test.
Audit dates before presenting the launch forecast
Count the required continuous full-time foreign year within the relevant preceding three years, subtracting days spent in the United States; brief trips need not break continuity but those days do not count. Record when the U.S. organization actually began doing business. Less than one year of such business triggers new-office treatment and an initial approval no longer than a year, regardless of how recently the plan was rewritten. Show the qualifying relationship and continuing business in the United States and abroad.
What else is on your mind?
Does being a business owner or director qualify me for L-1A?What employment history should an L-1 transfer review cover?What makes a new-office L-1A case different?Why does an L-2 spouse’s admission record matter for work?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.