A qualifying relationship between the entities, one continuous year of qualifying employment abroad in the past three years, and a primarily managerial or executive U.S. role. Both companies must also be doing business.
Relationship, trading, year, role
The relationship comes first: parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate, proved through incorporation records and share registers rather than through an organizational chart drawn for the occasion. Both entities must be doing business, which means regularly providing goods or services rather than holding a registration. The employment year comes next, and must be continuous, full-time and with the foreign entity or another qualifying organization, evidenced by payroll.
Where an employee has been paid by a related administrative company, that company's own place in the ownership chain has to be established before the year can be relied on at all. The role comes last: directing the organization or a component of it, supervising professional or supervisory staff, or managing an essential function, with the discretion that goes with it. Where the office is new, approval runs for one year, and total L-1A stay is capped at seven years.