Read the general business expansion overview
A Saint-Charles-de-Bourget company planning a new US office should explain the actual division of decisions between the transferee and headquarters. The first review should produce a launch sequence: qualifying relationship, foreign employment history, premises, budget, projected staffing and the position that the transferee will hold after the first year. The company must decide whether the evidence supports a new-office filing now or whether a missing lease, financial record or role plan makes the proposed date premature.
Connect the proposed role with genuine operational support
New-office treatment concerns US doing business under one year rather than incorporation age alone. Sufficient premises are required. L-1A needs support for primarily managerial or executive work within one year; L-1B needs financial ability to pay and commence business. The initial period is limited to one year. Explain headquarters approvals and the applicant’s real discretion without claiming powers a pending policy has not granted. For L-1A, show how the role will become primarily managerial or executive as the operation grows; for L-1B, show financial ability to pay and begin business. A business plan is strongest when it matches signed premises, credible budgets and an organizational chart. Incorporation papers alone do not show an operating office, and a future hiring intention does not itself establish the requested capacity.
Prove the foreign history and continuing organizations
The organizations need the qualifying relationship and regular, systematic, continuous US and foreign business. Establish the continuous qualifying foreign year in the relevant three years, excluding US days without assuming each trip interrupts continuity. General foreign capacity may be managerial, executive or specialized knowledge; new-office L-1A specifically requires foreign managerial or executive employment. An urgent launch cannot waive the qualifying year or substitute for actual work authorization. Hypothetical example: A forensic-document imaging company has incorporated a US subsidiary but has only a coworking mailing address and no equipment plan. Its director must decide whether to secure premises and document launch funding before filing, because a new office needs sufficient premises and an initial approval period is limited to one year. The director also needs one continuous qualifying foreign employment year during the three years before the relevant filing or admission.
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.