IN THIS GUIDE · Support a duty allocation with real work rather than a convenient percentage
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Describe the activity before assigning a category
Explain what the applicant does, the decision authority involved and who carries out the resulting work. A task called review may involve directing others or personally completing an operational check; the label alone cannot distinguish them. Do not count the same time twice under overlapping headings. Use a representative week, not only an unusually strategic one. Messages, decision logs and organization charts show who carries routine work and can expose a percentage created from labels instead of from the applicant’s actual activities. Use the same activity labels in the supporting records, so a reviewer can test the allocation without reconstructing it from a polished summary. For a sample of recurring decisions, retain the request, delegated instruction and resulting approval. Those records distinguish genuine oversight from a person who must complete a transaction personally because no separate operating layer is available.
Relate the duties to the qualifying role
The position must primarily involve qualifying managerial or executive work. For an essential-function manager, identify the function, senior-level authority and discretion, and show management rather than performance of the function. For personnel management, explain the actual supervised roles and authority instead of using a percentage as a substitute. Name the employees, contractors or subordinate managers who perform each operating layer. If a lean launch requires hands-on delivery for a period, describe that fact and assess it instead of relabeling delivery as supervision. Where supervision is claimed, record the hiring, evaluation, budget or work-allocation decisions that demonstrate it. A title or reporting line cannot replace evidence that the proposed role directs the work of others.
Keep the international transfer evidence complete
Generally establish a continuous year of qualifying full-time foreign employment in the relevant preceding three years, a qualifying corporate relationship and continuing qualifying operations in the United States and abroad. A polished duty table does not establish the company connection or the applicant’s foreign year. Explain the proposed U.S. work as it will actually occur. Build a dated corporate and employment timeline before drafting the role. L-1A generally requires one continuous qualifying year abroad during the three years before the request, and the seven-year maximum period should be considered when planning a longer transfer.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.
