Assess the current staffing, the proposed role and whether new-office rules apply. A future hiring plan can be relevant, but it does not universally establish that an established-office role is already primarily managerial. Describe what exists and what is projected, with credible support for the transition.
Do not turn a target organization chart into current evidence
Date the present and proposed charts separately. Identify who covers operational work until new hires arrive and how the applicant’s duties change during that period. Counsel should evaluate the appropriate filing basis and timing; a preferred start date or pending recruitment does not authorize the applicant to begin the US role.
The backward clock is the qualifying year, which must be continuous and must fall within the three years before the petition, so an employee who has already been working in the United States for an extended period may find the window closing. Filing immediately after closing often means the relationship evidence is unfinished and the acquired business looks like a new office, which brings a one-year initial approval instead of three. For a new office, the initial period lasts one year, the filing must show sufficient premises and financial ability to remunerate the beneficiary and commence doing business, and the business must develop enough to sustain qualifying management; the L-1A limit is seven years.