IN THIS GUIDE · Explain managerial authority when approvals are shared across the company
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Describe the actual managerial or executive work
L-1A requires primarily managerial or executive U.S. duties. A function manager operates at a senior level over an essential function and manages rather than principally performs its work. First-line supervision of nonprofessionals alone is insufficient. Identify the decisions the applicant makes and those genuinely reserved elsewhere without inflating the authority.
Establish the qualifying foreign employment
Generally the individual needs a continuous full-time foreign year within the relevant preceding three years. The ordinary L rule permits managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge foreign work, with the U.S. role assessed separately. Brief U.S. visits need not break continuity, but U.S. days do not count. An approval matrix does not replace this employment chronology.
Show the related active businesses and real support
The entities must have an actual parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate relationship through ownership and control. The group must regularly, systematically and continuously do business in the United States and at least one other country throughout the stay. Explain who performs operating work so the proposed manager’s responsibilities are understood in the real organization.
Retain the launch and owner-specific requirements
A U.S. organization doing business less than one year is a new office. L-1A then requires the foreign year specifically managerial or executive, sufficient premises and support for the qualifying role within one year of approval; initial approval is at most one year. An owner or major stockholder needs temporary U.S. service and a subsequent foreign assignment. Board approval of a launch does not by itself establish these conditions.
Describe managerial or executive capacity by function
The petition should state what proportion of the transferee's time will go to managing people or a function, setting policy, hiring and firing, and budget authority, and what proportion to hands-on operational tasks. The disputed point is almost never whether a foreign company exists; it is whether that company still provides goods or services on a regular, systematic and continuous basis. The strongest evidence that a role is primarily managerial or executive is documentary delegation: resolutions or written authorities granting hiring, spending and decision-making powers, organisational charts showing the functions and staff supervised, and records of decisions the beneficiary actually made. Directing an operation, setting its goals, controlling its budget and supervising other supervisors or professionals points one way; personally routing trucks, loading, and covering shifts points another, however senior the title. The managerial classification carries a seven-year maximum, a newly established operation is normally approved for a first year with evidence of premises and capacity, and continuation depends on what the operation actually becomes. A manager of the function decides which procedures the company will adopt, assigns audits to site safety coordinators or external consultants, approves training programs, signs off on regulatory submissions prepared by others and answers to the executive team for outcomes. Organization charts, budgets, delegation policies, payroll records and examples of prior decisions can show who sets goals, allocates resources and evaluates subordinate work. Before deciding to file, map every claimed supervisory responsibility to a dated delegation, organization chart, and the name of the person who carried out the underlying task.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-08. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.