Read the general business expansion overview
A Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil company may have registration, lease, order and service dates in its launch file. Identify what happened on each date before describing the U.S. operation’s period of doing business. A first review should produce a dated activity chart and a separate eligibility checklist instead of selecting whichever event gives the most convenient anniversary. It must confirm the qualifying corporate relationship and the transferee’s continuous foreign year in the relevant three-year period. L-1A is generally capped at seven years and L-1B at five years, although initial new-office approval cannot exceed one year. Decide which activity date the records truly establish, then test premises, staffing, and the proposed role against the applicable rule.
Create a chronology of actual activity
For each event, identify the document, the entity and the goods or services actually involved. A deposit or order can precede performance; registration and an address alone do not establish regular, systematic and continuous business. Mark an unresolved activity date as unresolved rather than choosing the date that produces a preferred timeline. Hypothetical example: a specialty cork-composite manufacturer signs a premises lease before it begins selling or performing services. The decision is whether the file supports a particular activity date, not whether the lease alone proves operations. Invoices and performance records resolve the sequence.
Apply the relevant new-office conditions
Place a separate eligibility column beside the activity timeline. The new-office framework applies to a U.S. operation doing business for less than one year; it is not a choice of registration dates. For L-1A, attach proof of the continuous foreign managerial or executive year within the relevant three years and explain how sufficient premises and the launch plan support a qualifying U.S. role within one year. For L-1B, identify the specialized knowledge, qualifying continuous foreign year, sufficient premises and the enterprise’s financial ability to pay the employee and begin operations. An attractive timeline cannot fill a missing requirement. Keep the source document beside the conclusion so a later reader can see why the point was accepted or deferred.
Connect the chronology with the actual case record
Keep the first version of the chronology and record why a later document changes it. For example, distinguish a signed order from delivery and distinguish the customer’s payment from the company’s performance. This is an evidence exercise, not a rule that one document always fixes the start date. Preserve proof of the qualifying corporate relationship and required business in the United States and another country. Initial new-office approval cannot exceed one year; the extension file should reconcile the forecast with actual operations. An owner or major stockholder also needs evidence of temporary U.S. services and a subsequent foreign assignment. Do not let a label decide the issue when the contemporaneous facts point elsewhere.
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.