Proving That the U.S. and Foreign Businesses Are Doing Business

Date of Information: 11/11/2026

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An Operating Business, Supported by Records

An L-1 petition must establish more than the existence of related companies. The evidence must also address their business activity in the United States and abroad. A corporate registration proves that an entity was formed; it does not, by itself, prove that the entity is operating.

For L-1A planning, keep three questions distinct: Are the businesses legally related? Are the required operations actually doing business? Does the organization support the employee’s claimed executive or managerial role? The same records may help answer several questions, but proving one does not automatically establish the others.

What Does “Doing Business” Mean?

The regulation defines doing business as the regular, systematic, and continuous provision of goods or services by a qualifying organization. An office or agent alone is insufficient. The qualifying organization must conduct business in the United States and at least one other country during the transfer, subject to the U.S. new-office accommodation. International trade between those operations is not itself required. See 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(l)(1)(ii)(G)–(H).

Explain what each relevant entity actually provides, to whom, how the work is performed, and over what period. Then connect that explanation to dated commercial and financial records. A website, business license, bank account, or lease may support the account, but those items alone do not demonstrate continuing delivery of goods or services.

Are Actual Sales Required?

Actual operating activity is ordinarily required; direct sales to outside customers are not the only way to establish it. The legal standard concerns the provision of goods or services, rather than a particular sales invoice, payment method, or revenue total. A company that is still only preparing to provide anything generally must rely on the applicable U.S. new-office rules rather than characterize preparation as established operations.

A company may perform real services for another company in its multinational group even when the related company signs the customer contracts and collects the customer payments. In Matter of Leacheng International, Inc., 26 I&N Dec. 532, 534–536 (AAO 2015), the AAO held that regular, systematic, and continuous services to related companies can establish doing business. Although the case involved an EB-1C immigrant petition, its reasoning expressly interprets the nearly identical L-1 definition similarly and discusses the L-1 regulatory history. The case does not create an EB-1C new-office exception.

Example: A U.S. subsidiary performs ongoing marketing, customer coordination, and shipping services for its foreign affiliate, which is the seller named on customer invoices. The subsidiary can document its service agreement, work performed, staffing, correspondence, and financial arrangements. The absence of direct customer sales by that subsidiary does not by itself defeat the doing-business showing. A service agreement without evidence of actual performance, however, leaves the activity unproven.

For an ordinary sales business, invoices and payments remain useful evidence. If payment is deferred, connect the agreement and billing terms to records of actual delivery or services. USCIS permits varied evidence; the presentation should show continuing performance over time, rather than assume a signed contract, an unpaid invoice, or a large bank balance proves the entire requirement. See USCIS Policy Manual, Chapter 8, Evidence of Doing Business.

Proving the U.S. Business Is Operating

Build the evidence around the business model and the period relevant to the petition. Useful records may include:

  • Customer activity: Executed agreements, purchase orders, dated invoices, receipts, and evidence of recurring customers or projects.

  • Performance: Shipping and delivery records, completed work, project reports, customer acceptance records, service logs, or other evidence that the promised goods or services were actually supplied.

  • Payments and finances: Business bank statements, transaction records, financial statements, and applicable tax filings that can be reconciled with the reported activity.

  • People and facilities: Payroll and wage records, relevant contractor agreements, personnel records, and evidence of the premises and equipment used in the operation.

An unperformed contract can establish a commitment or pipeline; it does not necessarily prove that services have already been delivered. A capital contribution can establish funding without establishing customer revenue. Explain what each document proves rather than treating all money entering an account as sales.

For a service business, the proof may center on work performed and customer payments. A manufacturer or distributor may also use production, inventory, shipping, customs, and delivery records. Select evidence that fits the actual operation; every business does not need every type of document.

Proving the Foreign Business Is Operating

Apply the same practical inquiry abroad. Identify the qualifying foreign entity, the goods or services it provides, the period covered, and the people responsible for its work. Relevant evidence may include foreign tax filings, annual reports, financial statements, payroll, customer agreements, invoices, payment records, purchase orders, and delivery or shipping documents.

Connect those records to the specific legal entity. If a trade name, related company, distributor, or payment processor appears on a document, explain the relationship and why the record demonstrates the qualifying entity’s activity. Provide complete certified English translations of foreign-language documents submitted to USCIS.

A registration that remains active while the business has stopped operating is insufficient. Likewise, a single old contract or financial statement may not adequately establish current, continuing activity. Use a coherent set of records covering the relevant period.

Document the International Business Plan

An L-1A expansion should fit a broader, verifiable business and immigration plan. Document how the U.S. operation will develop while the required foreign operations continue. Identify who will manage the foreign business during the transfer, who will deliver its products or services, and how its staffing and funding will be maintained.

Our practical recommendation is to preserve operating records as the work occurs and review them against the plan regularly. Keep dated records of sales, performance, payments, hiring, expenses, and leadership duties. Explain discrepancies and changes rather than relying on a new narrative assembled shortly before an extension is due.

Does the Same Foreign Company Have to Stay Open?

At least one qualifying organization abroad must continue doing business throughout the beneficiary’s L-1 stay. USCIS explains that it need not be the identical foreign organization that originally employed the beneficiary. That flexibility does not eliminate the need for a continuing qualifying international organization. A dormant foreign entity, agent, or holding company alone is insufficient to establish the required ongoing foreign activity. See USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part L, Chapter 6, Section B.

Before closing, selling, merging, or reorganizing a foreign operation, identify the qualifying foreign business that will remain, document its activity and relationship to the U.S. employer, and review whether an amended petition or other action is needed. Do not assume that keeping a company registered preserves L-1 eligibility.

The New-Office Exception on the U.S. Side

A qualifying U.S. new-office petition may be filed before U.S. sales or services begin. Existing sales or an employee already making sales in the United States are not prerequisites. Secured premises alone, however, do not establish eligibility. The petition must meet the new-office requirements, including the L-1A showing that the intended operation will support an executive or managerial position within one year of approval. See Does the U.S. Business Have to Be Operating Before an L-1 Petition Is Filed?.

The U.S. startup accommodation does not permit all qualifying foreign operations to become inactive. At the new-office extension stage, the company must establish actual U.S. business activity over the preceding year, continuing qualifying organizations, and the other required evidence concerning duties, staffing, wages, and finances.

How Much Business Activity Is Enough?

USCIS states that there is no statutory or regulatory minimum level of business activity for this requirement. There is no universal revenue figure or customer count that resolves the inquiry. Nevertheless, the level of activity, organizational structure, and actual duties must support the claimed executive or managerial position. Meeting the doing-business requirement alone does not establish L-1A eligibility.

A young business’s modest revenue does not automatically answer the case either way. Explain its operations and stage of development with records, and separately explain who handles the underlying operational work and what the beneficiary primarily manages or directs.

Make the Evidence Easy to Follow

For an established operation, a useful presentation follows representative transactions from customer agreement or order, through delivery or performance, to invoice and payment. Supplement examples with records showing activity across the relevant period. Explain differences in billing and payment dates, deposits, refunds, currencies, or accounting treatment where needed.

Avoid relying on a single isolated transaction, unsupported forecasts, or a collection of documents with no explanation of which company performed the work. Reconcile the narrative with bank records, financial statements, tax filings, and staffing evidence. The objective is a clear account of genuine, continuing operations.

Dive Deeper:

The following planned subpages will examine these questions in greater detail; links will be added as they are published:

  • Regular Provision of Goods or Services Compared with Merely Registering a Company or Opening an Office

  • Contracts, Invoices, Payments, Payroll, Tax Records, and Other Evidence of Actual Operations

  • Maintaining Qualifying Foreign Operations During the U.S. Expansion

Return to the L-1A overview for the employee and position requirements.

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