Do I need to work for my company abroad before applying for an L-1A?

Yes. You must have worked for the foreign company for at least one continuous year within the three years before the petition (or before your last admission to the U.S.), in an executive, managerial or specialized-knowledge capacity. For the L-1A specifically, your U.S. role must be executive or managerial.

How much do I need to invest for an L-1A new office petition?

There is no statutory minimum investment for the L-1A, unlike the E-2's substantial investment requirement. But USCIS must see that the U.S. office has secured physical premises and that the company has the financial ability to launch operations and pay you. Underfunded new office petitions are a leading cause of denials.

L-1A New Office · Non-Treaty Countries

The U.S. expansion route when your country has no E-2 treaty.

Q: Can Indian or Chinese citizens get an E-2 visa?

Not directly. India and China do not have an E-2 treaty with the United States, and neither do Brazil, Vietnam, Nigeria or Bangladesh. Nationals of these countries generally look to the L-1A intracompany transferee visa, which has no nationality requirement, or in some cases acquire citizenship of a treaty country first.

Q: How long is a new office L-1A approved for?

A new office L-1A is approved for one year initially. To extend, you must show the U.S. office is up and running and can support you in a genuinely executive or managerial role. Extensions are granted in increments of up to two years, with a seven-year maximum stay in L-1A status.

Q: Does the L-1A lead to a green card?

It can. The L-1A maps closely onto the EB-1C immigrant category for multinational managers and executives, which requires the U.S. entity to have been doing business for at least one year. Many of our founder clients plan the L-1A and EB-1C as a single strategy from day one.

India, China, Brazil, Vietnam, Nigeria and Bangladesh have no E-2 treaty with the United States — so the treaty investor visa is off the table. For founders who already run a real company at home, the L-1A new office visa is usually the strongest answer: open a U.S. office of your existing business and transfer yourself in to run it.

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Why the L-1A

No treaty? No problem — if you have a company behind you.

The E-2 gap

Nationality is the wall

The E-2 is only available to nationals of countries holding a qualifying treaty with the U.S. No treaty means no E-2 — regardless of how much you invest. India, China, Brazil, Vietnam, Nigeria and Bangladesh all fall on the wrong side of that line.

The L-1A answer

No nationality requirement

The L-1A intracompany transferee visa is open to executives and managers of any nationality. What it requires instead is a genuine, operating company abroad and a qualifying corporate relationship with the new U.S. entity.

The long game

A road to the green card

The L-1A pairs naturally with the EB-1C immigrant category for multinational executives and managers — a first-preference route with no labor certification. For many founders, L-1A today is the green card strategy for tomorrow.

How it works

What the L-1A new office petition actually requires.

The L-1A lets a company transfer an executive or manager from a foreign office to a related U.S. entity. When the U.S. entity has been doing business for less than one year, USCIS treats it as a "new office" petition and applies added scrutiny. Four elements decide these cases.

1. A qualifying corporate relationship

The foreign company and the U.S. company must be the same employer in legal substance: parent and subsidiary, branch, or affiliates under common ownership and control. In the typical founder scenario, your home-country company forms a U.S. subsidiary and owns a controlling stake in it. Getting the ownership structure right — and documenting control on paper, not just in practice — is foundational. Both entities must remain doing business for the life of your L-1 status; the foreign company cannot be wound down after you move.

2. The one-year employment rule

You must have worked for the foreign entity for at least one continuous year within the three years immediately before the petition is filed (or before your last admission to the U.S.), and that year must have been in an executive, managerial or specialized-knowledge capacity. For founders this is usually straightforward to satisfy but surprisingly easy to fumble in the evidence: payroll records, tax filings, organizational charts and board minutes need to tell one consistent story about what you did and who reported to you.

3. Real new-office substance

For a new office, USCIS must see that the venture is more than an idea. That means, at minimum:

Physical premises secured — a signed lease or purchase for real commercial space appropriate to the business. A virtual mailbox rarely carries a case.
Financial ability — enough committed capital for the U.S. office to begin operations and compensate you. There is no fixed dollar minimum, but underfunding is a leading reason new-office petitions fail.
A credible business plan — a hiring plan, financial projections and a market analysis showing that within one year the office will support you in a genuinely executive or managerial role, meaning you will be directing the organization or managing professionals or managers — not personally doing the front-line work.

4. An executive or managerial role — proven, not asserted

The most common denial theme in founder cases is the officer's suspicion that a two-person startup cannot need an executive. The answer is a staffing plan and organizational design that shows how day-to-day tasks are handled by employees or contractors while you set strategy, control budgets and make the decisions that matter. We build that record deliberately, because it is also the record your extension — and eventually your EB-1C green card petition — will stand on.

Timeline and duration

A new office L-1A is granted for one year initially. Extensions are available in increments of up to two years, to a maximum of seven years in L-1A status. USCIS premium processing is available, which commits the agency to act on the petition within 15 business days — so a well-prepared case can move from filing to decision in a matter of weeks. The real timeline driver is usually the setup work before filing: entity formation, lease, capitalization and the business plan. Budget two to four months to do it properly.

The first extension is effectively a second merits review: USCIS will want to see that the office did roughly what the business plan promised. We draft the initial plan with that future audit in mind.

Side by side

L-1A new office vs. E-2 treaty investor.

Factor	L-1A New Office	E-2 Treaty Investor
Nationality	Any nationality	Treaty-country nationals only — India, China, Brazil, Vietnam, Nigeria and Bangladesh do not qualify
Company abroad	Required — an operating foreign entity that continues doing business	Not required — a personal investment can suffice
Prior employment	1 continuous year in the past 3, in an executive/managerial capacity	No prior employment requirement
Investment	No fixed minimum, but the office must be funded and premises secured	A "substantial" investment, at risk and committed
Initial period	1 year (new office)	Up to 5 years visa validity, depending on reciprocity
Maximum stay	7 years in L-1A status	Indefinitely renewable while the business operates
Green card path	Strong — maps onto EB-1C after 1 year of U.S. operations	None built in; requires a separate strategy (e.g., EB-5, EB-1)
Spouse work rights	Yes — L-2 spouses are work-authorized	Yes — E-2 spouses are work-authorized

How we work

A clear path from first call to approval.

Consultation

We assess your company, your role and your goals, and confirm the L-1A is your strongest route — or tell you honestly if it isn't.

Strategy & Plan

Entity structure, capitalization, premises, and a business plan engineered for both the initial petition and the one-year extension.

Build & File

A meticulous, evidence-rich petition designed to anticipate every officer's question — with premium processing where speed matters.

Approval & Beyond

RFEs, the one-year extension, family visas, and the EB-1C green card strategy — managed as one continuous plan.

Common questions

What founders from non-treaty countries ask.

Can Indian or Chinese citizens get an E-2 visa?

Not directly. India and China do not maintain an E-2 treaty with the United States — nor do Brazil, Vietnam, Nigeria or Bangladesh. Nationals of these countries generally look to the L-1A, which has no nationality requirement, or in limited cases pursue citizenship of an E-2 treaty country first, a slow and expensive workaround that consular officers examine closely.

Do I need to work for my company abroad before applying?

Yes. You must have been employed by the foreign entity for at least one continuous year within the three years before filing, in an executive, managerial or specialized-knowledge role. For the L-1A specifically, your U.S. position must be executive or managerial, and the record needs to prove it — payroll, tax filings, org charts and evidence of your actual authority.

How long is a new office L-1A approved for?

One year initially. To extend, you must show the office is genuinely operating and can support you in an executive or managerial role. Extensions come in increments of up to two years, with a seven-year cap on L-1A status — which is why we plan the EB-1C green card step early.

How much money do I need to put into the U.S. office?

There is no statutory minimum, unlike the E-2's substantial-investment test. But the petition must show secured physical premises and the financial ability to launch operations and pay you. What "enough" means depends entirely on the business model — a consultancy and a manufacturing operation are judged very differently.

Does the L-1A lead to a green card?

It can, and for many founders that is the point. The L-1A maps closely onto the EB-1C immigrant category for multinational managers and executives, which becomes available once the U.S. entity has been doing business for at least one year. We routinely design the L-1A petition so the EB-1C evidence is already being built.

Go deeper

Related resources

L-1 Visa Overview L-1A New Office vs E-2 EB-1C Manager / Executive E-2 Treaty Investor EB-5 Immigrant Investor

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Tell us about your company and your goals. You'll get an honest assessment of whether the L-1A is your strongest option — and a clear plan if it is. No obligation.

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Official government resources: USCIS: L-1A Intracompany Transferee

Related guides: L-1 visa services · L-1A new office vs. E-2