IN THIS GUIDE · Establish the qualifying history and the actual U.S. authority separately
Fix the qualifying employment period
Generally, establish one continuous full-time qualifying year abroad within the relevant preceding three-year period, assessed on the individual facts. Identify the actual employer, dates and duties. Brief U.S. trips need not break continuity, but their days do not count toward the foreign year. A résumé alone does not resolve reorganizations, changed employers or prior U.S. assignments. For an L-1A new office, the qualifying foreign year must have been managerial or executive. For an ordinary L petition, the qualifying foreign work may be managerial, executive or specialized knowledge; the U.S. duties must meet the requested classification. New-office L-1A specifically requires managerial or executive foreign employment.
Describe authority through actual decisions, not title
List the specific decisions the role controls, the people or essential function it directs, and who performs the underlying operational work. Hypothetical example: a manager at a Winnipeg-based operation holds a director title but personally handles most client deliverables. The proposed U.S. role needs the same factual scrutiny; a title cannot answer whether the work will be primarily managerial or executive.
Confirm the corporate relationship with documents, not branding
The foreign and U.S. entities must have a qualifying relationship as parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate. Assemble the effective ownership records, including any holding company or recent change, and keep them separate from marketing materials describing a shared brand or partnership. The relevant entities' actual business activity also needs evidence; a registered company is not the same as an operating one. The qualifying organization must conduct regular, systematic, continuous business in the United States and at least one other country during the required period. If the transferee owns or is a major stockholder of the company, also establish temporary U.S. services and a subsequent assignment abroad.
Treat a new U.S. office as a supported plan, not an assumption
For a new office, the evidence must show secured premises and a business capable of supporting the managerial or executive role within one year of approval; initial approval for a new office is limited to that one year. Describe planned staffing, financing and the beneficiary's expected duties honestly, and preserve the actual operating record so the extension filing can be built from what happened rather than a restated forecast. A new office is a U.S. operation doing business for less than one year; a newly assigned team in an established operation is not automatically a new office.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.