Read the general business expansion overview
A new-office budget should distinguish resources available for premises, payroll and operations from money already spent elsewhere. The relevant role and business requirements cannot be replaced by a combined funding total.
Separate money already spent from resources available to launch
Prepare a reserve schedule that distinguishes past training expenditure from funds available for premises, wages and operations. Match it to the actual organization and ownership evidence. A new office concerns U.S. doing business for less than one year; incorporation alone does not demonstrate regular, systematic, continuous goods or services. Keep the employee’s record separate from the budget and generally establish a continuous full-time qualifying foreign year within the relevant preceding three years. A large training investment cannot substitute for either the employment record or the enterprise’s real activity.
Use the budget to answer the correct role question
For new-office L-1A, identify sufficient premises and the foreign managerial or executive employment, then explain how the funded operation can support the U.S. managerial or executive position within one year of approval. Show what each planned expense contributes to that support. For L-1B, the relevant account instead establishes specialized knowledge, sufficient premises and financial ability to pay the employee and begin business. Do not present money committed to unrelated expenditure as available twice. A salary allocation documents a resource; it does not establish the duties or knowledge that make the role qualify.
Compare expenditures with the work they actually supported
Initial new-office approval is capped at one year. During operations, retain the payment record and evidence of what was obtained: premises access, genuine services, staff or other resources. Compare the applicant’s actual duties with the support forecast and explain any shortfall honestly. An extension assessment needs that real operating account. Spending the allocation is not itself evidence that the role became qualifying, and a budget revision does not extend immigration permission.
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.