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BALDWIN · L-1A FIELD GUIDE

Do shared-service charges count as proof that the US role is managerial?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

They may help explain support, but an accounting allocation alone does not establish actual work or managerial capacity.

Compare charges with delivered support

Identify the service, people involved and records showing the work performed. Separate those operating expenses from government fees, legal preparation and household relocation. A larger internal charge does not buy eligibility; the evidence should show how the support allows the transferee to perform the qualifying role.

Government charges are published in the USCIS fee schedule and change; the company should check the current figures for Form I-129 and any fraud-prevention or supplemental fees that apply to L petitions rather than rely on a number from a previous transfer. The business schedule should identify premises, insurance, systems, staffing, inventory or service delivery, professional advisers, and working capital, together with the assumptions behind each figure. Recruitment advertising or interim wages abroad may show a genuine handover, yet they do not prove that the American operation has premises, personnel, capital, or work sufficient to support a primarily managerial or executive position. L-1A requires a primarily managerial or executive American role plus one continuous year of qualifying foreign employment in the previous three years with a related parent, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate; a salary increase supplies none of those elements.