Read the general business expansion overview
A new-office plan whose revenue rests on one signed customer needs an explanation, not a larger number. The initial review looks at the qualifying corporate relationship, one continuous year of qualifying foreign employment within the relevant three-year period, sufficient physical premises, and, for L-1A, an operation that must support a managerial or executive role within one year of approval. No revenue formula replaces that.
Show what the forecast actually rests on
Identify the contract behind the projection: the parties, the signature date, the term, any volume commitment, and the cancellation rights each side holds. Say whether it runs to the U.S. entity or the foreign one, because that changes what is funding the U.S. operation. If the forecast assumes performance to full term while either party may end the agreement on notice, write that beside the projection rather than presenting the number on its own.
Explain the capacity to deliver
Hypothetical example: a company whose owner lives in Saint-Eustache opens a U.S. office and projects the first year from one customer agreement. Set out who performs the work, which hires are planned and when, what premises and equipment exist, and what would fund the first year if the order shrinks. For L-1A, the evidence must make the proposed managerial or executive capacity understandable in the real business context; there is no fixed headcount to reach.
Record changes instead of rewriting the plan
Initial new-office approval is limited to one year. Keep the original plan and log material changes with their dates — a delayed hire, a reduced order, a customer that leaves — together with the documents showing them. At extension the actual operation matters, and the qualifying foreign operations must continue doing business, which may occur through another qualifying entity rather than the original employer. Confirm individual timing with the person managing the filing.
Premises are secured before the plan is written, not after
Put the steps in the order the evidence needs them. Securing sufficient physical premises comes early, because the petition addresses them, because a lease carries a signature date that cannot be backdated, and because the space available shapes the hiring plan rather than the other way round. The plan is written against what exists. The forecast is written against the plan. A single customer contract sits inside the forecast, not underneath the whole case. Hypothetical example: a specialty food-processing plant signs a U.S. lease sized for the volume in its projection, then loses the volume commitment and holds premises priced for an operation it no longer expects. Note too that initial new-office approval is generally limited to one year, so the sequence has a deadline inside it: what is described at the outset is measured against what actually exists when an extension is considered. Where a step can be delayed cheaply, delay it; where it cannot, get the assessment first.
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.