Read the general business expansion overview
Hypothetical example: a structural inspection and engineering firm with a White City office wants to open its first U.S. location and send a bridge-inspection specialist who knows the firm's proprietary rating methodology, rather than a manager. New-office L-1B petitions are permitted and carry different evidence from a new-office L-1A: there is no requirement to show that a managerial role will be supported within a year, but the petition must still prove premises, the qualifying relationship, and the U.S. entity's financial ability to pay the specialist. Initial approval is one year, and the extension hinges on the office actually operating.
What a new-office L-1B must show
A new office is one that has been doing business in the United States for less than a year. For a specialized-knowledge transferee the regulation requires evidence that sufficient physical premises have been secured, that the specialist has one continuous year of qualifying employment abroad in the last three, that the qualifying relationship exists and the foreign firm will continue doing business, that the knowledge is specialized in the statutory sense, and that the petitioner has the financial ability to pay the specialist and begin doing business in the United States. The one-year business plan and organization-growth evidence demanded of a new-office manager are not required, which is why sending the specialist first can be the cleaner petition when the firm's initial U.S. work is technical rather than administrative.
Premises, funding and the knowledge claim
A signed lease for an office or shared engineering space, with the term and a floor plan, satisfies the premises requirement; a virtual office or a mailbox does not. Financial ability is shown from the Canadian parent's statements and a funding commitment to the U.S. entity, with bank records of the capital actually transferred. The knowledge evidence should document the firm's rating methodology: the manual, its revision history, the specialist's training and application records, and a comparison with the standard inspection guidance a U.S. engineer would already know. If the specialist will work at client bridge sites, address the offsite rule by showing that the firm, not the client, directs and supervises the work and that the placement provides the firm's specialized service rather than labour for hire.
The first year and the extension
Approval is limited to one year. At the extension the petitioner must show the U.S. office has been doing business for the previous year: contracts, invoices, payroll, tax filings and premises still in use. A specialist who spent the year doing sales rather than inspection work will have trouble, and so will an office with no revenue. Plan the first contracts before the petition so that operating evidence accumulates from month one. If the firm later wants a manager in the United States, an L-1A petition can follow, or the specialist's role may evolve; either needs its own petition. L-1B time counts toward a five-year cap, and toward the L-1A seven-year cap if the category later changes. The L-2 spouse may work; children may study but may not work.
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.