Read the general business expansion overview
New-office plans often assume the existing company will carry salaries and premises until U.S. revenue arrives. That assumption is only as good as the foreign company's own accounts. Before the plan is settled, compare what the first year requires, month by month, with what the financial records show the company can supply, and identify who has the authority to commit those funds and in what form.
Put the plan and the accounts side by side
List the first-year costs — premises, salaries including the transferee's, equipment, professional fees — against dated financial statements, bank records and any credit facility already drawn. Hypothetical example: a company's statements show profitable trading but strongly seasonal cash and a line of credit near its limit, so the months the plan needs support are the months the company has least available. Note which support would be a decision of the company and which is a shareholder's personal intention, because those are different commitments and are evidenced in different ways. Where a figure is a projection rather than a record, say so on the page.
Describe resources rather than reaching for a threshold
There is no fixed investment amount and no fixed headcount for an L-1 new office. The evidence should make the plan understandable on its own facts: what the operation will do, what premises are secured, since a new office calls for sufficient physical premises, who will perform the operating work, and how the applicant's salary would actually be paid. For an L-1A proposal, the evidence must support that the operation will support a managerial or executive role within one year of approval. State plainly what is already arranged and what is only intended, and keep the two apart in the plan itself.
Plan for the year-end conversation now
Initial new-office approval is limited to one year, and a later request looks at the operation as it actually developed: whether it is doing business, its staffing, the duties performed, its finances, and whether qualifying organizations continue — noting that qualifying operations abroad may continue through another qualifying entity rather than the original employer. Keep the original plan and record material changes with dates and reasons as they occur, rather than rewriting the plan afterwards. Confirm the individual timing questions, including the one continuous year of qualifying foreign employment within the relevant period, with the person managing the filing.
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.