IN THIS GUIDE · Show who actually holds authority, not just who holds the title
Connect employment history to the qualifying entities
Generally, one continuous year of qualifying employment abroad within the relevant three years before the transfer must be established. Set out dates, the specific employing entities, and duties clearly, including any prior U.S. work or travel for counsel to weigh. A tidy résumé narrative does not resolve a timing question created by a reorganization or a change of employer — the underlying corporate records do. Ordinary L-1A can rely on qualifying managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge employment abroad; the intended U.S. work must be managerial or executive. The qualifying organizations must continue doing business in the United States and another country during the relevant stay.
Describe authority through actual decisions, not a title
Hypothetical example: a Windsor-area applicant holds a 'General Manager' title, but a co-owner who is not transferring actually makes the hiring, firing, and budget decisions day to day. Identify who genuinely directs the function the applicant claims to manage, and who performs the operating work instead. The title cannot stand in for evidence that the U.S. role will be primarily managerial or executive in substance.
Establish the corporate relationship with actual documents
The foreign and U.S. organizations must have a qualifying relationship — parent, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate. Gather the effective ownership records and be ready to explain any intermediate holding entities or recent changes. A commercial partnership or shared marketing is not the same as a qualifying legal relationship, and each organization's real business activity needs to be shown, not assumed from its registration.
Treat a new office as a proposal to be evaluated on its own terms
For an L-1A new office, the evidence needs to show secured premises and an operation capable of supporting the qualifying role within one year of approval. Initial new-office approval is limited to at most one year. Describe staffing plans and financial capacity honestly, and keep the actual business record for the extension stage — a forecast should read as an expectation, not as something already accomplished. The new-office definition concerns a qualifying U.S. organization doing business for less than one year; the qualifying foreign year for new-office L-1A specifically must have been managerial or executive.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.