IN THIS GUIDE · Prove the corporate relationship rather than relying on family ownership language
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Read ownership and control precisely
Hypothetical example: two relatives independently own businesses that cooperate. A personal relationship alone does not establish a qualifying parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate arrangement. Use the actual corporate evidence. Collect incorporation records, ledgers, share certificates and documents showing the right to appoint or remove directors. The inquiry is not whether relatives cooperate, but whether the entities meet a qualifying relationship through ownership and control. A first chart should identify each owner and each voting right.
Assess the individual’s U.S. capacity
L-1A requires primarily managerial or executive duties. Explain real authority and operating support; a function manager manages the essential function rather than principally performing it. A family-owner title is not the duties analysis. Break the U.S. role into decision-making, supervision, staffing and hands-on production. This lets the parties decide whether the person will primarily direct a function or mainly perform its ordinary work. Organization charts and job descriptions should agree with the actual operating plan.
Retain the qualifying foreign year
Generally one continuous qualifying foreign year in the relevant preceding three years is required. The general foreign capacity may be managerial, executive or involve specialized knowledge. Continuing U.S. and foreign business and the qualifying relationship remain necessary. Create a date-and-location chronology before drafting the petition. Payroll, travel records, work authorization and company records should show the qualifying foreign employment, while periods spent in the United States are separately identified. This prevents an attractive title from obscuring an unsupported year.
Preserve owner and new-office requirements
Owners or major stockholders need the applicable evidence of temporary U.S. services and a subsequent foreign assignment. New-office L-1A specifically requires foreign managerial or executive employment, sufficient premises and support for the role within one year of approval; initial approval is limited to one year. For a new office, pair the premises evidence with a credible first-year staffing and revenue plan. The decision is whether the operation can support a managerial or executive role within that first year, rather than merely whether a lease and start-up funds exist. An owner must also preserve the applicable temporary-service and later foreign-assignment evidence.
Establish the qualifying foreign year and active organizations
The foreign employment generally must include one continuous qualifying year within the relevant preceding three-year period, assessed on the individual facts. U.S. days do not count toward that foreign year; a trip should not automatically be treated as breaking continuity. The qualifying organization must do business in the United States and at least one other country during the relevant period, through regular, systematic and continuous provision of goods or services rather than registration alone. Hypothetical example: a Corman Park veterinary-diagnostics company wants its laboratory director to open a related U.S. testing unit. The director chooses between a record showing authority over hires, budgets and laboratory leads, and a plan showing her personally processing every sample. The lease, projected staffing and foreign employment chronology decide whether the proposed L-1A story is coherent.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.