Read the general business expansion overview
A Tantramar company should mark the date on which its expansion plan stopped matching the team actually available. Then explain how departures affect the proposed transferee’s work and the support on which the new-office case relies.
Trace each removed position to the work left behind
Begin with the old organization chart and identify departures, vacancies and reassigned duties. Explain who handles the missing work now and which replacement arrangements are only planned. For L-1A, assess whether the applicant would still primarily manage or act as an executive after these changes. A smaller team is not automatically fatal, but retaining the old job descriptions can conceal a material shift into operating work.
Reassess the evidence against the new-office period
Determine whether the US organization has been doing business for less than one year before applying these new-office rules. The L-1A plan needs sufficient premises and support for the managerial or executive role within one year of approval. Its qualifying foreign year must be managerial or executive; ordinary L-1A cases may also use qualifying foreign specialized-knowledge employment. An L-1B new office requires its own qualifying knowledge showing, adequate premises and the financial ability to compensate the beneficiary and commence business. Initial approval for a new office is capped at one year. A revised hiring forecast does not lengthen that period.
Confirm what remains unchanged and what needs new evidence
Retain proof of the qualifying group connection and a continuous full-time qualifying foreign-employment year within the relevant three-year period. Track days spent in the United States separately: they do not count toward the foreign year, but brief trips do not automatically break its continuity. Show how U.S. and foreign business will continue with the actual workforce. Give the case reviewer both the earlier plan and the current explanation so the change can be assessed, rather than submitting a replacement chart that obscures when responsibilities shifted.
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.