IN THIS GUIDE · Show who performs the function that the transferee will manage
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Separate managing procurement from doing the purchasing
In a hypothetical transfer, the employee establishes purchasing policy, approves exceptions and oversees a cross-company process, while other staff place routine orders. Identify those staff and their responsibilities with real records. A function manager needs to manage an essential function at a senior level with appropriate discretion; the applicant cannot qualify simply by being the most experienced person doing that work. Personnel-management cases likewise require the applicable authority, and first-line supervision of nonprofessional staff alone does not establish managerial capacity.
Establish the qualifying international employment history
Prove a continuous full-time year abroad within the relevant three-year period and the qualifying parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate relationship. US days do not count toward the foreign year, although brief trips do not automatically interrupt continuity. For ordinary L-1A, the foreign year may have been managerial, executive or specialized knowledge; the US assignment must meet the claimed managerial or executive requirements and need not copy the foreign capacity. The group must continue regular, systematic and continuous business in the United States and abroad.
Treat a new office as a separate evidence framework
If the US organization has been doing business for less than one year, assess the new-office rules. New-office L-1A specifically requires a managerial or executive qualifying foreign year, sufficient premises and a supported plan for the US managerial or executive role within one year of approval. Initial approval is limited to one year. Show how the function will be staffed and supported instead of assigning all purchasing work to the transferee and calling future recruitment certain.
Keep authority evidence aligned with actual operations
Use approval limits, delegation records, function budgets and examples of discretionary decisions to explain the proposed role. Distinguish a policy that exists on paper from authority the employee exercises. If support staff leave or another executive takes over the decisions, update the account. Ownership does not establish qualifying employment, and an owner or major stockholder must address the temporary services and subsequent assignment abroad required by the applicable rule.
Ask what the general manager will actually direct
Executive capacity means directing the management of the organization or a major component, setting goals and policies, exercising wide latitude in discretionary decision-making, and receiving only general supervision from higher executives, the board or shareholders. The managerial classification carries a seven-year maximum, a newly established operation is normally approved for a first year with evidence of premises and capacity, and continuation depends on what the operation actually becomes. A personnel manager supervises other supervisors or professional employees and controls hiring, firing and performance. Managerial capacity can rest on directing an essential function rather than on supervising a headcount, and in a matrixed structure that is frequently the more accurate description of what the position actually does. The decisive record may be the organization chart together with payroll, job descriptions, budgets, and examples of delegated work. Match the business plan, budget, hiring sequence, and service contracts to the point at which the transferee will direct managers, professionals, or a managed function. If vendors or contractors perform a function, identify who controls their work and who remains accountable for the component, because that evidence helps test whether the applicant truly directs management rather than personally performs the operation.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-08. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.