L-1 RFE responses

An L-1 RFE response must prove how the companies and the employee actually operate.

USCIS may question ownership and control, active business abroad and in the United States, one year of qualifying employment, the foreign or proposed U.S. role, staffing, specialized knowledge, worksite arrangements, or new-office viability. Corporate labels and job titles are not enough.

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Corporate and employment records for an L-1 request for evidence response — The corporate relationship, active business, staffing, duties, and beneficiary’s qualifying experience must align.

Eligibility framework

Separate the challenged L-1 elements

Map ownership, voting rights, control, and changes in the corporate chain across every relevant entity.
Distinguish existence from doing business through the regular, systematic, and continuous provision of goods or services.
Analyze the beneficiary’s actual duties abroad and proposed duties in the United States under the correct L-1A or L-1B standard.
Identify special new-office, extension, off-site employment, blanket, or change-of-structure issues raised by the notice.

Case preparation

Corroborate the company narrative

Use formation and ownership records, share registers, agreements, tax filings, financial statements, invoices, contracts, payroll, and operating records as applicable.
Place duty descriptions in the context of organizational charts, subordinate roles, reporting lines, budgets, authority, work products, and business activity.
For L-1A, show who performs operational work and why the beneficiary’s primary duties are managerial or executive rather than hands-on production.
For L-1B, explain what the claimed knowledge concerns, how it was gained, why it is special or advanced, and its value to the U.S. operation with objective support.

The qualifying relationship must be proved, not inferred

Parent, branch, subsidiary, and affiliate relationships turn on ownership and control. Similar names, common founders, cooperation agreements, or shared branding may not establish the required relationship without evidence of the legal and practical control structure.

If capitalization, ownership, or governance changed, the response should reconcile dates and documents rather than present only the current snapshot.

Job titles do not establish qualifying capacity

For L-1A, USCIS examines the beneficiary’s primary duties within the actual staffing and operations. Detailed duties must be supported by evidence showing authority, reporting relationships, and who performs the underlying nonqualifying work.

For L-1B, calling knowledge proprietary or specialized is not enough. The record should explain its content, depth, organizational context, acquisition, comparison with others, and the difficulty or cost of transferring it.

New-office and extension cases require a time-based explanation

A new-office petition is evaluated on the proposed premises, capitalization, business scope, organizational structure, foreign entity, and ability to support the qualifying position within the permitted period. An extension looks at what the U.S. operation actually became.

When growth differed from the initial plan, the response should document the real business trajectory, explain delays or changes, and show whether the current structure now satisfies the applicable standard.

Important

Facts and procedure determine the route.

Do not answer an L-1 RFE with revised titles and abstract duty percentages alone. The forms, support letter, payroll, tax and financial records, contracts, organizational charts, and actual work must tell the same story.

Official reference: USCIS Policy Manual: L-1 Documentation and Evidence

Questions clients ask

Issues to resolve before filing.

Can an organizational chart answer an L-1A RFE?

It is useful only when supported by credible staffing, payroll, job duties, authority, and business records showing how the organization functions.

Must the U.S. and foreign positions be identical?

Not necessarily. Each role must independently satisfy the applicable requirements, and the qualifying foreign employment and proposed U.S. capacity must be documented.

How is specialized knowledge proved for L-1B?

Through specific evidence of what the knowledge is, how it was acquired, why it is special or advanced, how it compares with others, and why it matters to the U.S. operation.

What changes for a new-office extension?

USCIS examines the operation after the initial period, including business activity, staffing, finances, organizational structure, and whether it supports the qualifying role.

Talk through the facts

Describe your situation and the decision you need to make.

For an initial inquiry, briefly describe:

The foreign and U.S. companies involved, their relationship, and the employee’s role.
The employee’s work history and any existing L-1 petition or decision.
The intended transfer date, current location and status, and any response deadline.

A short summary is enough. Send no passport numbers or confidential documents.

Initial contact does not create an attorney-client relationship. Case acceptance follows conflict and scope review.

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