Read the general business expansion overview
A launch plan should explain what the transferee will personally do and what genuine support will be available. L-1A management and L-1B specialized knowledge need different evidence.
Write down the work remaining with the transferee
Start with recurring services the applicant will perform at launch and the tasks genuinely intended for delegation. Record the actual organizations and generally a continuous full-time qualifying foreign year within the relevant preceding three years. Separately date the U.S. business activity: a new office has been doing business for less than a year, and registration alone is not regular, systematic, continuous provision of goods or services. A plan to stop performing tasks later should not be rewritten as proof that the employee already manages them.
Choose the role test before describing future support
A new-office L-1A case needs foreign managerial or executive employment, sufficient premises and an operation capable of supporting the U.S. managerial or executive role within one year of approval. Explain who will perform the recurring services and what support makes that feasible. For L-1B, establish specialized knowledge, sufficient premises and finances to pay the employee and begin business instead. Teaching others or personally applying knowledge is not automatically a managerial role, and the specialist should not be relabelled to avoid the actual knowledge analysis.
Check whether delegation happened and what it changed
Keep genuine assignment records showing who performed the work after the intended handoff. A function manager primarily manages an essential function rather than personally executing it; a forecast alone cannot establish that later reality. Retain operating and staffing evidence and explain incomplete delegation. The first new-office approval cannot exceed one year, and a delayed handoff does not add time or guarantee an extension. The later file should describe what developed, not just repeat what the organization hoped to achieve.
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.