Read the general pathway comparison overview
A U.S. branch and a U.S. subsidiary are different legal arrangements, and the difference appears in the documents each route relies on. Decide the structure on business, tax and legal grounds first, then ask how each immigration route reads it. There is no universal rule requiring a separately incorporated U.S. company, so the useful preparation is an accurate description of what exists today and what is proposed.
Describe the entities exactly as they are
Identify whether the proposed U.S. operation is a branch of the same legal entity or a separate company, and obtain the actual registration and ownership documents. For a subsidiary claim, the qualifying ownership and control relationship must be demonstrated; calling an entity a subsidiary does not establish it. Hypothetical example: a company first registers a U.S. branch and later creates a separate entity to receive its contracts. Preserve both structures and the effective dates, then have the reviewer assess the qualifying relationship rather than assuming the new label settles it.
Ask what each route needs from the structure
L-1 turns on a qualifying relationship between the entities and one continuous year of qualifying employment abroad for the individual within the relevant three-year period, together with a proposed role assessed as managerial, executive, or resting on specialized knowledge — special knowledge of the organization's product, service, research, equipment, techniques or management and its application internationally, or an advanced level of knowledge of its processes and procedures, not general familiarity with the work. E-2 examines the treaty nationality of the investor and of the enterprise, the investment itself, and whether the business is a real operating enterprise the investor will develop and direct.
Check who actually employs and pays the person
Payroll, the employment contract, who directs the work day to day, and the entity a client contracts with can point at different companies. Record what is true now rather than what a reorganization would make true, and mark planned changes clearly as planned. Take the corporate, tax and employment questions to advisers in those fields, because a structure chosen only to suit an immigration description can create obligations elsewhere that nobody costed. Ask which documents would need updating if the structure changed after the plan is set, and who would notice that a change had happened.
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?How should an owner compare L-1 and E-2?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.