How U.S. Launch Teams secure the L-1 visa
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You will build and manage the new US team, department, or key function. You will hire and direct US professionals (e.g., founding engineers, sales staff, or operations leads). Your primary role is directing the launch, or being an individual contributor with company specific knowledge.
Manager: you have full authority to hire, fire, and set pay for the new US team. You have influence either in managerial capacity or specialist knowledge towards US operations.
You will execute the US business plan and make high-level strategic decisions for the new entity. You will establish and execute US strategy or build the go-to-market function.
Your newly established US office (e.g., a new Delaware C-Corp) and your foreign entity are parent, subsidiary, or affiliates.
You were employed full-time by the foreign entity in a managerial or executive role for at least one continuous year within the last three years.
Launching a US office is often a high-stakes L-1A/B petition, but we have numerous examples of success.
The key is to demonstrate future managerial or specialist capacity through a credible, detailed business and organisation plan. We focus on the metrics of your launch: your authority to hire US staff, your control over the US budget, and your strategic role in establishing the new entity, not just making the first sale or writing the first line of code.
Your evidence is the corporate structure: the secured US office space (we review leases and floorplans), and the comprehensive 1-year immigration specific business plan.
Launching a US office is often a high-stakes L-1A/B petition, but we have numerous examples of success.
The key is to demonstrate future managerial or specialist capacity through a credible, detailed business and organisation plan. We focus on the metrics of your launch: your authority to hire US staff, your control over the US budget, and your strategic role in establishing the new entity, not just making the first sale or writing the first line of code.
Your evidence is the corporate structure: the secured US office space (we review leases and floorplans), and the comprehensive 1-year immigration specific business plan.
Proving You Are a "Manager" or “Specialist
Your primary challenge is proving your role is managerial / specialist. You will need a detailed business plan and organizational chart to prove that your primary function is to direct the US entity, set strategy, and establish why your knowledge is specialised and required in the US market.
Establishing the "Viability" of the New Office
Your challenge isn't just proving your role, but proving the new office itself is a bona fide operation backed by sufficient investment and a realistic plan.
This involves showing a clear financial runway, a defined product-market fit for the US, and a physical location. Your initial L-1A/B is for only one year for new US entities, and your extension will depend entirely on proving you met these launch goals and successfully grew the
We pre-vet our attorneys with strong track records, so you don’t have waste months finding a good one.
Founding GMs, Country Directors, and Launch Teams trust us to handle their L-1 visas.
Work with 15+ years of combined extraordinary visa knowledge. We are confident in your approval.
The L-1 visa for launch teams is typically used when an overseas company wants to send a small number of key employees to the United States to help open, establish, or scale a related U.S. office. It is not a general team relocation visa. Each employee must independently qualify under the L-1 manager or specialist rules, and the U.S. and foreign companies must have a real qualifying relationship such as a parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate.
Yes, but not as a blanket concept just because the company is expanding. USCIS allows intracompany transfers only where each employee has worked abroad for the qualifying organization for at least one continuous year within the prior three years and is coming to the U.S. in a qualifying L-1 role. In practice, that usually means a carefully selected launch team of managers and specialists.
The strongest launch-team candidates are usually senior operators coming in an executive or managerial capacity under L-1A, or highly valuable employees with company-specific specialized knowledge under L-1B. That often includes regional leaders, country managers, implementation leads, product specialists, technical deployment experts, and other core personnel whose knowledge is difficult to replace locally. USCIS separates these categories clearly: L-1A is for managers and executives, while L-1B is for specialized knowledge workers.
L-1A is used for executives and managers who will direct the U.S. business, a major function, or a key team. L-1B is used for employees with specialized knowledge of the company’s product, service, research, systems, techniques, or management. For launch teams, L-1A is often the route for the senior person building the U.S. operation, while L-1B is often the route for the specialist needed to transfer internal know-how into the new market.
Yes. USCIS allows new-office L-1 filings, but the standard is stricter. The petitioner must show that the U.S. office has a qualifying relationship with the foreign company and that, within one year of approval, the U.S. operation will support an executive or managerial role. This is why new-office L-1 cases need a credible business plan, real operating structure, and a serious explanation of how the U.S. entity will grow.
The core evidence usually includes proof of the corporate relationship between the U.S. and foreign entities, proof that both entities are or will be doing business, documents showing the employee’s one year of qualifying foreign employment, and clear proof of the U.S. and foreign job duties. For new-office cases, the evidence must also show that the intended U.S. operation can support the proposed role within the required timeframe, and has physical office space ready to support the relevant U.S. business.
No. This is where many companies get it wrong. L-1 is not designed for general hiring needs or bulk team transfer. Each person must independently satisfy the L-1 standard as a manager or irreplaceable specialist, and USCIS looks closely at whether the employee is truly managerial, executive, or specialized in a company-specific way. A strong launch-team strategy usually starts with identifying the few people who are genuinely essential to the U.S. buildout.
Launch-team L-1 cases are operationally sensitive because they sit at the intersection of immigration strategy, business expansion, org design, and evidence planning. Beyond Border helps structure these cases in a way that clearly explains why the U.S. office needs those specific people, why the foreign and U.S. entities qualify, and how the team’s roles fit the legal standard. Where documents are ready, the petition can also be prepared on a fast-moving timeline designed for companies entering the U.S. market.
