Read the general business expansion overview
Hypothetical example: a La Pêche craft distillery is sending its co-owner and chief operating officer to open a U.S. distribution and tasting-room office. A new-office L-1A petition is approved for one year, not three, and the extension filed near the end of that year must show that the office is doing business and that she is functioning as a manager or executive. The initial petition should be written with the extension in mind, because the plan it describes is what USCIS will measure the office against twelve months later.
The initial year and its evidence
A new-office petition requires evidence that sufficient physical premises have been secured, that the beneficiary has been employed abroad for one continuous year in the last three as an executive or manager, and that the U.S. office will support an executive or managerial position within one year, shown by the proposed nature and scope of the office, its organizational structure and financial goals, the size of the investment and the foreign company’s ability to pay her and begin U.S. operations. The lease for the tasting room and warehouse, the transfer of start-up capital to the U.S. subsidiary, state alcohol licensing applications, distributor agreements in negotiation and a staffing plan with dates are the exhibits. Approval is for one year, and the family’s L-2 status matches it.
What the extension must show at month ten
The extension petition, filed before the year ends, must establish that the U.S. and foreign entities are still qualifying organizations, that the U.S. office has been doing business for the previous year, its staffing including the number of employees and their duties, and the financial status of the operation, together with evidence that her duties have been and will continue to be managerial or executive. Concretely: U.S. tax filings, payroll records for the tasting-room manager and sales representatives hired, the licences granted, sales invoices to distributors, bank statements and financial statements, and an organizational chart showing her directing staff rather than pouring samples. A staffing plan that promised four hires and produced one requires an explanation and a revised, credible plan.
After the extension: the seven-year horizon and the exit
Once extended, L-1A continues in two-year increments to a total of seven years, and the multinational-manager immigrant category becomes available after the U.S. office has been doing business for at least a year, which the extension evidence itself establishes. The co-owner should decide early whether the family intends to stay, because the immigrant petition should be filed with ample L-1A time remaining. The status ends early if the distillery in La Pêche stops operating, if the subsidiary is sold outside the group, or if her role becomes that of a salesperson. Her spouse holds L-2 with employment authorization incident to status, and each child’s L-2 ends at 21 whatever the office achieves.
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.