Read the general business expansion overview
A Mercier company opening in the United States should explain both the work needed to launch and the role the transferee will actually hold. A management title does not show who will perform the operation’s ordinary work. A first review should create a dated decision record, not simply collect documents: identify the legal question, the record that can settle it, the responsible person, and the next event that may change the answer. Hypothetical example: a harpsichord-restoration company leases a U.S. workshop and plans to transfer its foreign manager. The concrete decision is whether the proposed facts can be proved as they will exist on the filing or admission date, rather than as a hoped-for future arrangement. Where a document, payment, ownership right, or duty changes, update the comparison before relying on an earlier explanation.
Use the new-office criteria only where they apply
A U.S. organization doing business for less than one year is a new office for L purposes. The organization needs a qualifying corporate relationship and the required U.S. and foreign business; incorporation alone is not regular, systematic and continuous provision of goods or services. Date the actual activity instead of assuming every new address starts a new-office period.
Explain the L-1A staffing and responsibility plan
New-office L-1A needs sufficient premises, a qualifying continuous foreign year in managerial or executive work within the relevant three years and evidence the U.S. business will support that role within one year. Distinguish managing an essential function from personally performing it. No arbitrary employee count or task percentage replaces the actual assessment of the primarily managerial or executive role.
Keep another category and the extension evidence separate
New-office L-1B requires specialized knowledge, qualifying foreign employment, sufficient premises and financial ability to pay the employee and begin business. Initial new-office approval is limited to one year; extension evidence concerns actual operations and the continuing qualifying role. An owner or major stockholder also needs evidence of temporary U.S. services and a subsequent foreign assignment.
Start with primary records: executed agreements, bank or payroll evidence, corporate registers, and the current duty description. L work generally requires one continuous qualifying foreign year in the three years before transfer. L-1A has a general seven-year cap; L-1B has a five-year cap. A new office must show its qualifying role can be supported. A first review should identify which item is missing and whether it can be obtained before a material commitment is made.
Sequence the work deliberately: verify the controlling record, compare it with the proposed representation, then decide whether to proceed, revise the transaction, or obtain case-specific advice. A summary, title, payment receipt, or optimistic forecast cannot safely replace the record that answers the governing condition.
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.