IN THIS GUIDE · Show how the manager directs the U.S. operation while the business continues abroad
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Describe the primary U.S. managerial or executive work
L-1A requires primarily managerial or executive duties. A function manager works at a senior level over an essential function and manages rather than principally performs its work. First-line supervision of nonprofessionals alone is insufficient. Explain the real authority and operational support instead of treating travel between offices as evidence of management.
Count the qualifying foreign employment accurately
Generally one continuous full-time foreign year within the relevant preceding three years is required. Under the ordinary rule the foreign capacity may be managerial, executive or specialized knowledge, with the U.S. role assessed separately. Brief U.S. visits need not break continuity, but U.S. days do not count toward the year. Keep an actual individual chronology rather than relying on the employment anniversary alone.
Document the related active operations
Establish the actual parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate relationship through ownership and control. The group must do business regularly, systematically and continuously in the United States and at least one other country throughout the stay. A foreign registered address or occasional return trip is not evidence of all the required operations.
Apply launch and owner conditions where they belong
A U.S. organization doing business less than one year is a new office. L-1A specifically requires the foreign year managerial or executive, sufficient premises and support for the qualifying U.S. role within one year of approval; initial approval is capped at one year. An owner or major stockholder needs temporary U.S. service and subsequent foreign-assignment evidence. The travel plan cannot replace those substantive conditions.
Ask what the general manager will actually direct
The strongest evidence that a role is primarily managerial or executive is documentary delegation: resolutions or written authorities granting hiring, spending and decision-making powers, organisational charts showing the functions and staff supervised, and records of decisions the beneficiary actually made. A production manager who supervises fourteen people, sets shift schedules, approves purchases and disciplines staff is doing managerial work. If the applicant performs hands-on work, identify it and explain who handles the remaining execution tasks. An executive directs management, sets goals and policies, exercises wide latitude in discretionary decision-making, and answers only to general supervision from owners or a board. Share registers, articles of incorporation, purchase agreements and, where the structure is layered, a chart naming every intermediate holding company are what establish parent, subsidiary or affiliate status. Doing business means the regular, systematic and continuous provision of goods or services, so a dormant American shell that has been holding land since the purchase will not satisfy it. Match the business plan, budget, hiring sequence, and service contracts to the point at which the transferee will direct managers, professionals, or a managed function. Supervising professional employees supports a managerial showing, while a first-line supervisor of routine work does not qualify merely by holding a supervisory title, so the level of discretion genuinely exercised is the point rather than the position on a chart.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-08. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.