Read the general business expansion overview
A Langford company should show the transferee’s actual authority and work instead of using a department budget as the complete managerial explanation. The decision that follows is where the manager will actually sit: a signed lease for identifiable space that the US entity controls, or a desk arrangement that can be cancelled monthly. Choose the premises evidence before the petition is drafted, because the first-year plan, the staffing timeline and the extension request all rest on it.
Describe duties and support
L-1A requires primarily managerial or executive duties. Identify who performs operations; first-line supervision of nonprofessional workers does not qualify by title alone. A payment approval is only one part of the record.
Meet the first-year conditions
New-office L-1A needs sufficient premises and support for the qualifying role within one year. L-1B needs qualifying knowledge, sufficient premises and financial ability to pay and commence business. Initial approval is limited to one year.
Complete the qualifying transfer
Prove the corporate relationship and continuous qualifying foreign employment year within the relevant three-year period. The group must continue US and foreign business. Use actual support rather than a budget-only inference.
Hypothetical example: a coworking desk as the only premises
Hypothetical example: a Langford geotechnical-software company plans to send its delivery lead to establish a US office and proposes a month-to-month coworking membership as the premises. The manager will hire two support engineers within the first year and direct client onboarding. The company should ask whether that membership shows sufficient physical premises secured for the new office, or merely shows that a desk could be rented. A membership cancellable on thirty days’ notice, with no space assigned to the US entity, gives an adjudicator little to connect to the staffing plan. A better sequence is to secure a lease or licence for identifiable space in the US entity’s name, obtain the landlord’s confirmation, then match the space to the number of people the plan says will work there. The same record supports the one-year extension, when the company must show the office actually operating and the manager primarily managing rather than delivering the software personally.
Sequence the extension evidence from day one
Because a new-office L-1A is approved for one year, the file that matters most is the one assembled at extension. From the first month, keep hiring records, payroll for US staff, the organizational chart as it actually exists and evidence that the manager directs the work of others or manages an essential function. L-1A time is capped at seven years and L-1B at five, so a manager who spends the first year mostly writing code is spending limited time on duties that may not support renewal. Decide early which duties will move to hired staff and record when each move happens.
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.