L-1A Eligibility Requirements and Documentation

L-1A eligibility is based on three main questions: Is there a regulatory relationship between the companies, does the individual have the required foreign employment history, and is the U.S. assignment of an executive or executive nature? In new office applications, conditions are added that the organization can support the manager role within the first year. ¹

Proper intercompany relationship

Definitions of parent company, subsidiary, branch and appropriate subsidiary are evaluated through ownership and control. It is not enough to have partners from the same family or for companies to invoice each other. The corporate structure must be clearly linked to the definition of relationship on which the application is based. ¹

The share register, partnership agreement, share transfer documents and voting rights can support this analysis. If control cannot be inferred from ownership percentage alone, special management provisions are examined. In indirect ownership, the role of each intermediate company must be shown. ¹²

Appropriate working period in a foreign company

The general rule is at least one continuous year of employment with the eligible foreign organization within the relevant three-year period. Previous eligible employment and entry history in the United States may be important in examining this time period. A simple calculation that only counts three years from the application date is not sufficient in every case. ¹

In a normal intracompany transfer, the appropriate managerial, senior executive or special knowledge nature of the foreign assignment is evaluated. However, there is a special requirement regarding foreign manager or senior management experience in the new office L-1A application. It should not be assumed that foreign assignment requirements in L-1A and EB-1C are exactly the same. ¹³

Management qualification in the USA

Personnel manager; It is evaluated by factors such as managing appropriate employees or a department, exercising authority in personnel decisions and discretion over daily operations. First-line supervision alone may not be sufficient, except in cases such as the management of certain professional employees. ¹

In functional management, it should be explained that a basic function of the company is managed and that the person does not actually perform the operational work of that function. Not having a large number of direct personnel is not, in itself, a reason for rejection; but the actual management structure must be shown. ¹

Senior executive role

Senior management; It is evaluated with features such as directing the management of the company or an important element of it, determining goals and policies, wide decision discretion and being subject only to high-level general supervision. The title “CEO” or “president” does not replace these characteristics. ¹

In a small business, there may be a difference between the scope of the title and the daily workload. The case should show the true weight of the management role, rather than hiding the extent to which the person performs tasks such as sales, production, customer service or delivery. ¹²

Actual and ongoing activity

It is not enough to have the appropriate company structure only in registration. It is important to continue international activity with regular and systematic provision of goods or services. Having a company's bank account and address does not alone prove that it is doing business. ¹

Contracts, invoices, service records and personnel documents are available depending on the business model. Company name, date and activity must support each other in the documents. If there is work performed by third parties, the actual contract and distribution of duties should be disclosed. ²

Conditions specific to the new office

Appropriate physical space must be provided; The size of the business, its financing and organizational plan must be able to support the manager or senior executive role within a year. The financial means of the foreign organization and the planned needs of the US operation are evaluated together. ¹

There is no fixed investment amount or number of employees that will apply to every business. However, a plan that has no budget, no activities and leaves the entire operation to the applicant will not be suitable just because it is low cost. ¹

Consistency of documents and current status

Job descriptions, organizational charts, partnership documents and financial records should convey the same truth. Foreign language documents are submitted with the required English translation and statement of accuracy. A condition that did not exist at the time of application cannot be shown to have existed in the past just because it occurred later. ²

For an applicant from within the USA, the current stay and work authorization are also examined. Meeting institutional requirements does not mean that personal status issues are automatically resolved. ⁴¹