Read the general business expansion overview
For a Bégin company, a committee charter needs to be connected with the person’s duties and the US operation’s real support. A first review should assemble the foreign employment timeline, corporate relationship documents, premises record, staffing plan and evidence of the proposed US role. The concrete decision is whether the operation can support a qualifying L-1 position after its initial launch period, not merely whether a new entity has been registered. Hypothetical example: An aquaculture equipment company leases a small workspace and plans to transfer its operations lead; the company must decide whether its hiring and revenue plan leaves that person primarily directing the office rather than performing routine installation.
Identify the role and foreign qualifying history
Explain what the applicant decides or directs and who delivers routine work. General L-1 foreign capacity may be managerial, executive or specialized knowledge; new-office L-1A specifically requires foreign managerial or executive service. Establish the continuous foreign year in the relevant three years, excluding US days without treating every trip as automatically interruptive. Match each claimed responsibility to a record: delegation documents, organization charts, contracts, payroll plans and examples of authority. Confirm the beneficiary completed one continuous qualifying foreign year in the three years before filing, using payroll and travel evidence to resolve time abroad. For L-1A new-office cases, the foreign role must have been managerial or executive; a generalized statement that the person was senior is not enough. The decision is whether the documentation tells a coherent story from prior role to planned US capacity.
Use operating facts rather than only corporate documents
Qualifying entities need the proper relationship and regular, systematic, continuous US and foreign business. New-office treatment concerns US doing business for less than one year. Sufficient premises are needed; L-1A must support the qualifying role within a year, while L-1B needs qualifying knowledge and the financial ability to pay and start operations. Initial new-office approval cannot exceed one year. Test the operating plan against the correct category before submitting it. A physical premises record, projected expenses and a realistic launch sequence should demonstrate actual readiness. L-1A must show that the operation will support a managerial or executive role within one year, whereas L-1B must establish specialized knowledge and financial ability to pay the beneficiary and begin business. Initial new-office approval is limited to one year. The reader must decide which evidence supports the applicable standard instead of borrowing a staffing test from the other category.
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.