Documents proving the qualifying relationship, that both entities are actively doing business, and that the beneficiary worked abroad in a qualifying capacity for one continuous year within the preceding three. In practice that means share registers, incorporation records, the acquisition agreement, financial statements from both sides, payroll evidence and organizational charts.
The relationship is proved by records, not by description
The instinct is to write a persuasive letter about a family group and its history. Adjudication works from documents. Start with the ownership chain: certificates of incorporation for each entity, current share registers or membership schedules, and the purchase agreement and closing documents for the American operation, so that a reader can trace control from one company to the other without inference.
Add evidence that each entity is doing business as a real operating enterprise, which normally means financial statements, tax filings, customer invoices and payroll rather than a website. For the beneficiary, produce payroll records, employment agreements and a duties description covering the specific twelve-month period relied on. Finish with organizational charts for both sides, showing every direct report by position and function.
Where the American company has been trading for less than a year, the new-office evidence about premises and capacity becomes necessary as well. A chart drawn for the first time should reflect the payroll as it stands, not the structure the company intends to build.
- USCIS: L-1A Intracompany Transferee Executive or Manager
- USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2 Part L, Intracompany Transferees
- eCFR: 8 CFR 214.2(l), Intracompany transferees
- Department of State: 9 FAM 402.12, Intracompany transferees
- USCIS: employment authorization for certain spouses, Policy Manual Volume 10 Part B Chapter 2