Read the general business expansion overview
A French River employee moving from a knowledge role into management should identify whether the receiving organization is a new office before relying on the ordinary L-1A foreign-employment rule. A promotion alone cannot remove a category-specific condition.
Build the role chronology without changing historical titles
Record the duties actually performed abroad, their dates and the proposed effective date of management authority. Establish the required continuous full-time foreign year within the relevant three years. U.S. days do not count, although qualifying brief trips need not interrupt continuity. Ordinary L-1A may rely on managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge foreign employment, but a new-office L-1A requires the qualifying foreign year specifically to be managerial or executive. Do not describe a past knowledge role as management merely because the future assignment changes.
Identify the actual U.S. operating history and role support
A new office concerns a qualifying U.S. organization doing business for less than one year, not just a new lease or team. Its L-1A evidence needs sufficient premises and an operation that will support managerial or executive duties within one year of approval. Show who will perform the operating work once the applicant manages. If the actual proposal is L-1B, establish qualifying knowledge and the separate premises and financial ability to pay and commence business requirements.
Keep the continuing transfer conditions in the plan
Initial new-office approval is at most one year. Verify the parent, subsidiary, affiliate or branch relationship and continuing U.S. and foreign business. Owners or major stockholders need appropriate temporary-services and subsequent foreign-assignment evidence. A later promotion or delayed handover does not automatically extend the authorized period or cure an unsupported foreign-employment record.
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.