Describe the full business cycle
Hypothetical example: a foreign company performs customer delivery during part of the year and maintenance, contracting and planning during another part. Document the activities and staff responsibilities throughout. Do not equate a quiet period with either proven ongoing business or automatic cessation; explain what actually occurs. Hypothetical example: a commercial-laundry group says its foreign operation remains active between hotel contracts because it repairs machines, negotiates linen supply, and trains route staff. The file should connect those claims to invoices, schedules and accountable personnel. A narrative that merely repeats “year-round” gives the reviewer no way to distinguish continuing business from preparation for later work.
Establish the applicant’s qualifying employment
Record duties and dates supporting one continuous qualifying year abroad within the relevant three-year period, with individual timing assessed. Distinguish employment from occasional participation or ownership. A full-year job title should not conceal gaps or changes in the actual relationship. Rebuild the calendar from payroll, tax, leave and supervision records, then identify the employer that held the qualifying relationship throughout. The required foreign service is one qualifying year counted during its statutory three-year window. Interruptions need a dated account rather than concealment within a continuous-looking résumé.
Show the proposed managerial or executive role
Explain authority and who performs underlying work in the United States. For a new office, sufficient premises and an operation supporting the L-1A role within one year are required, with initial approval limited to one year. A projected busy period does not replace evidence of the operation and role across the actual plan. A parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate connection must link the U.S. petitioner to an active foreign employer, with both sides doing business. Client-site work must remain under petitioner control and cannot be a labour-for-hire placement. The L-1A maximum is seven years. For an established office, show who carries out day-to-day production and what discretionary authority remains with the transferee. For a new office, measure the initial one-year plan against premises, funding, hiring sequence and credible workload. L-1A time is generally capped at seven years, so the planned American position and timing must be set without assuming indefinite renewals.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.