Intracompany classification
L-1A Intracompany Transferee — Manager or Executive
L-1A carries the highest RFE rate of any major employment classification. Three elements must each be independently documented: a qualifying corporate relationship between the foreign and US entities, one continuous year of qualifying employment abroad within the preceding three years, and managerial or executive capacity in both the foreign and US roles. New office petitions add a fourth burden — evidence the US entity will support a managerial role within one year.
Governing standard
Qualifying relationship, one continuous year abroad, managerial or executive capacity
8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii)(A)–(C)
- Denial rate after RFE
- 29.4%
- Median processing
- 74 days
- Form
- I-129
- Initial RFE rate
- 32.6%
- Median exhibit pages
- 195
- Manual assembly
- 12 hrs
- On Docket Build
- 30 min
Statutory criteria
What the record has to establish.
Each element below is a mapped criterion in the Docket Build criteria pack, with its citation and the evidence types that satisfy it.
Qualifying corporate relationship
(l)(1)(ii)(G)
- Share registers
- Ownership charts
- Audited financials
- Board resolutions
One continuous year abroad in three
(l)(1)(ii)(A)
- Payroll records
- Tax filings
- Employment letters
- Travel history
Managerial or executive capacity abroad
(l)(1)(ii)(B)
- Org charts with headcount
- Duty breakdown
- Subordinate job descriptions
Managerial or executive capacity in the US
(l)(1)(ii)(B)
- US org chart
- Staffing plan
- Duty breakdown with time allocation
New office viability (if applicable)
(l)(3)(v)
- Business plan
- Premises lease
- Capitalisation evidence
- Hiring plan
Failure modes
What actually draws a request on a L-1A.
Compiled from the request language our customers record on their own matters and from published AAO decisions in this classification.
Full RFE trends hub- Organisational chart with no headcount or with unnamed positions
- Duty descriptions that are operational rather than managerial
- Payroll gaps inside the qualifying year abroad
- Ownership chart that does not reconcile to the share register
- New office petition with a business plan that does not support a manager within one year
Document checklist
What a complete filing carries.
Full printable checklist →Corporate relationship
Ownership and control chart
Showing percentage ownership at every tier
Share certificates and share register
For both entities, translated where required
Audited financial statements
Two most recent years for both entities
Incorporation documents
Certificates and constitutional documents
Qualifying employment abroad
Foreign payroll records
Covering the full qualifying year, month by month
Foreign tax filingswhere applicable
Corroborating the payroll record
Foreign employment letter
Duties, dates, headcount managed and reporting line
Travel history
Passport stamps and I-94s establishing time outside the US
Capacity evidence
Foreign and US organisational charts
With names, titles and headcount at each level
Subordinate job descriptions
Establishing that subordinates are professional or supervisory
Duty breakdown with time allocation
Separating managerial from operational duties
New office petitions
Business planwhere applicable
Financial projections, staffing plan and market analysis
Premises leasewhere applicable
Sufficient physical space for the projected operation
Evidence of capitalisationwhere applicable
Funds transferred and available to the US entity
Also intracompany
Related classifications.
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