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CANDIAC · L-1A FIELD GUIDE

Does negotiating large contracts establish L-1A management?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

Not by itself. Explain the actual managerial or executive role, authority and support. A high-value transaction can involve substantial individual execution work.

Describe the function rather than the contract value

Identify what the applicant manages and how others perform underlying work. The business importance of procurement does not replace the requirement to explain the actual nature of the proposed duties.

USCIS recognizes two kinds of manager: one who manages people, usually professionals or other supervisors, and one who manages an essential function of the organization at a senior level. The regulation requires one continuous year of employment abroad, within the three years before the petition, in a managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge capacity. For an established-office case, assess the genuine qualifying foreign capacity and the distinct US managerial or executive position. Multiple sites help only if the transferee is chiefly setting policy, approving budgets, directing subordinate managers or professional staff there, or managing an essential function at a senior level with discretion, rather than personally covering the floor. The regulation requires the foreign entity to be doing business, meaning the regular and systematic supply of goods or services, so the petition must show what is still running rather than pass over the closure in silence.