IN THIS GUIDE · Trace ownership and control when a trust appears in the corporate structure
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Identify the entities and rights rather than only the family names
Present the relevant ownership chain and the documents governing control. Distinguish a trustee, beneficiary, shareholder and company officer instead of assuming those labels give the same powers. Have the legal effect of the structure assessed; do not invent a universal rule that all trusts qualify or all trusts fail. Ask for the trust instrument, amendments, appointment records, share register and resolutions that show who may appoint, remove or direct decision makers. The decision is whether the evidence supports a specific qualifying relationship, not whether the family story sounds commercially plausible.
Connect the structure to actual operations
The case requires a qualifying parent, branch, affiliate or subsidiary relationship and continuing qualifying business in the United States and abroad. A trust document may address rights without proving the companies are operating. Explain each evidence type’s purpose and any pending ownership change. Pair structural records with invoices, payroll, tax filings, premises records and a concise description of each entity’s ordinary business. This prevents a dormant company or a proposed activity from being presented as continuing operations merely because ownership documents exist.
Assess the applicant’s work independently of the structure
Generally establish a continuous year of qualifying full-time foreign employment in the relevant preceding three years. The U.S. job must primarily involve qualifying managerial or executive duties. Being a beneficiary or holding a company office does not replace evidence of the applicant’s actual work and authority. Create a duty calendar for the foreign year and a U.S. organization chart that names subordinate managers, professionals or an essential function. The reviewer must decide whether the proposed position is primarily managerial or executive rather than primarily producing the company’s day-to-day service.
Explain authority and support in the proposed operation
Explain who performs the work being funded and what the applicant primarily manages. A US operation doing business for less than one year is a new office: sufficient premises and capacity to support the qualifying role within one year matter, and initial new-office approval is limited to one year. The first review should separate a governance title from the evidence of day-to-day authority: reporting lines, delegated approval limits, budgets, meeting records and the personnel performing operational tasks. A practice manager who will personally write most of the client deliverables is performing, not managing. Because the owner controls both entities, the file should demonstrate that the subsidiary has a genuine need for a manager, has staff to be managed, and can pay the offered salary. The useful record is often a reporting chart paired with budgets, delegations, calendars, and examples of decisions, rather than copied duty lists.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.