L-1 Visa Business Plan Requirements for a New Office
The L-1 regulation never asks a new office for a business plan by name, a minimum headcount or five-year projections. 8 CFR 214.2(l)(3)(v)(C) asks a new office for evidence that its operation, "within one year of the approval of the petition, will support an executive or managerial position". The extension asks whether the US entity "has been doing business", defined as "the regular, systematic, and continuous provision of goods and/or services". An office that has provided neither has nothing to document. Since 5 August 2026 USCIS guidance again lets officers deny a filing missing required initial evidence without a request for evidence, and filing fees ($1,495 for a small employer, $2,485 on paper for a regular petitioner) are generally non-refundable.
This is general information, not legal advice, and we are not immigration attorneys. This page covers L-1A new office petitions only; the L-1B list in 8 CFR 214.2(l)(3)(vi) is different. Your immigration attorney chooses the category and files the petition; we write the plan and model behind the evidence.
Does an L-1 visa require a business plan?
Not by name. The words business plan do not appear in 8 CFR 214.2(l), the Form I-129 instructions or Part L of the USCIS Policy Manual. What (l)(3)(v)(C) requires is evidence that:
The intended United States operation, within one year of the approval of the petition, will support an executive or managerial position
supported by information on the three items in the table below. The Form I-129 instructions (edition 09/09/26) make that list required initial evidence: "the petitioner must submit evidence to show the following".
USCIS's 2012 draft request for evidence (RFE) template for L-1A new office petitions does name the plan. Among suggested evidence it lists "A copy of the business plan for commencing the start-up of the new office in the United States" and adds: "The plan should include a timetable for each proposed action for the one year", a year it starts on the filing date. The same list names a feasibility study. The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) looks at the plan too, writing in a non-precedent decision of 5 August 2026: "In the case of a new office petition, we review the petitioner's business and hiring plans". None of the sources listed below asks for three-year or five-year projections.
What counts as a new office for L-1?
Under 8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii)(F) it is "an organization which has been doing business in the United States through a parent, branch, affiliate, or subsidiary for less than one year". Paragraph (l)(1)(ii)(H) defines doing business as:
the regular, systematic, and continuous provision of goods and/or services by a qualifying organization and does not include the mere presence of an agent or office of the qualifying organization in the United States and abroad
A new office is excused from that at filing: the USCIS Policy Manual says such a petitioner "does not have to be actively engaged in doing business at the time of filing the petition". The manual adds that the petition "must clearly indicate that the petitioner is requesting adjudication under the new office provisions".
What evidence must an L-1A new office petition include?
The evidence every individual L-1 petition carries under 8 CFR 214.2(l)(3)(i) to (iv), plus three things under (l)(3)(v), the third in three parts.
| Regulation | What it requires, verbatim | Where it lives in the plan |
|---|---|---|
| (l)(3)(v)(A) | "Sufficient physical premises to house the new office have been secured" | Premises: the lease |
| (l)(3)(v)(B) | Employment abroad "for one continuous year in the three year period preceding the filing of the petition in an executive or managerial capacity" | Beneficiary: foreign role, US authority |
| (l)(3)(v)(C)(1) | "The proposed nature of the office describing the scope of the entity, its organizational structure, and its financial goals" | Business description, US organizational chart, monthly projections |
| (l)(3)(v)(C)(2) | "The size of the United States investment and the financial ability of the foreign entity to remunerate the beneficiary and to commence doing business in the United States" | Use of funds, capitalization, beneficiary's salary, parent financials |
| (l)(3)(v)(C)(3) | "The organizational structure of the foreign entity" | Parent organizational chart and ownership |
If the beneficiary is an owner or major stockholder of the company, (l)(3)(vii) adds "evidence that the beneficiary's services are to be used for a temporary period and evidence that the beneficiary will be transferred to an assignment abroad".
How many employees does an L-1A new office need?
None of the sources listed below sets a minimum headcount for a new office. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(44)(C) a person is not a manager or executive "merely on the basis of the number of employees that the individual supervises or has supervised or directs or has directed", and staffing is read "in light of the overall purpose and stage of development of the organization, component, or function".
The plan has to produce a position that meets the definition within one year of approval. Managerial capacity under 8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii)(B) turns on supervising supervisory, professional or managerial employees or managing an essential function, and (B)(4) adds that "A first-line supervisor is not considered to be acting in a managerial capacity merely by virtue of the supervisor's supervisory duties unless the employees supervised are professional". Executive capacity under (l)(1)(ii)(C) starts with directing the management of the organization or of a major component or function. So the staffing schedule has to show who the beneficiary will supervise or direct, and whether they are professionals, supervisors or managers.
Why is a new office L-1 only approved for one year?
Because the regulation caps the first approval and ties the extension to proof of doing business. For a new office, (l)(7)(i)(A)(3) says "the petition may be approved for a period not to exceed one year, after which the petitioner shall demonstrate as required by paragraph (l)(14)(ii) of this section that it is doing business".
Under (l)(14)(i) an extension "generally may be filed only if the validity of the original petition has not expired", so the clock that matters runs from approval. In a non-precedent decision of 13 April 2026 on a denied new office extension, the AAO wrote:
There is no provision in the regulations allowing for an extension of this one-year period. If a business does not have the necessary staffing after one year to sufficiently relieve the beneficiary from performing operational and administrative tasks, the petitioner is ineligible by regulation for an extension.
The 2012 draft template's timetable runs from the filing date, which comes first. We plan to that earlier clock by choice, not because a rule sets it.
What must you show at the one-year extension?
Five things, a different list from the filing list. (l)(14)(ii) requires:
- (A) "Evidence that the United States and foreign entities are still qualifying organizations as defined in paragraph (l)(1)(ii)(G) of this section"
- (B) "Evidence that the United States entity has been doing business as defined in paragraph (l)(1)(ii)(H) of this section for the previous year"
- (C) "A statement of the duties performed by the beneficiary for the previous year and the duties the beneficiary will perform under the extended petition"
- (D) "A statement describing the staffing of the new operation, including the number of employees and types of positions held accompanied by evidence of wages paid to employees when the beneficiary will be employed in a managerial or executive capacity"
- (E) "Evidence of the financial status of the United States operation"
For item (D), USCIS's 2012 draft extension template lists among examples of wage evidence "The U.S. entity's Quarterly Wage Reports for all employees for the last four quarters that were accepted by the state", alongside payroll summaries and W-2s, and allows other evidence instead.
On item (B), the Policy Manual says "there is no statutory or regulatory minimum level of business activity that must be conducted", though the business must be run in a way that needs a manager or executive. No sales figure is required, but an entity that has provided no goods or services by the time the extension is filed has nothing to put under item (B). So our plans schedule the first invoice before the first approval expires, and the model shows the cash that carries payroll until then.
How much does it cost to file an L-1A new office petition?
On Form G-1055 edition 10/07/26 the first filing costs $1,495 for a small employer and, for a regular petitioner, $2,485 on paper or $2,435 online. Those fees are generally not refunded on denial, and a denial can now come without a request for evidence.
On 5 August 2026 USCIS Policy Alert PA-2026-05 said that, where required initial evidence is missing, USCIS was updating its guidance "to restore USCIS officers' full discretion to deny such benefit requests" without first issuing an RFE or a notice of intent to deny (NOID). 8 CFR 103.2(b)(8)(ii) says "USCIS in its discretion may deny the benefit request for lack of initial evidence". The I-129 instructions list the (l)(3)(v) items as evidence the petitioner must submit, so a thin new office filing can be denied outright, and 8 CFR 103.2(a)(1)(v) says "Filing fees generally are non-refundable regardless of the outcome of the benefit request".
| Item (Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26) | Regular, paper | Regular, online | Small employer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form I-129, L petition | $1,385 | $1,335 | $695 |
| Asylum Program Fee | $600 | $600 | $300 |
| Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee, initial approval | $500 | $500 | $500 |
| First new office filing | $2,485 | $2,435 | $1,495 |
| Premium processing, Form I-907, if used | $2,965 | $2,965 | $2,965 |
| Extension filing: I-129 plus Asylum Program Fee | $1,985 | $1,935 | $995 |
| Both filings, no premium | $4,470 | $4,370 | $2,490 |
A small employer has "25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees in the United States, including any affiliates and subsidiaries". The $500 fraud fee applies when "Seeking initial approval of L nonimmigrant status for a beneficiary", so a same-petitioner extension does not carry it. The $4,500 Pub. L. 114-113 fee applies only to petitioners with 50 or more US employees, more than half in H-1B or L-1 status. Attorney and consular visa fees are not included.
What your L-1 business plan has to show
Our L-1A new office plan and model carry:
- A twelve-month timetable from the filing date, action by action, with the month of the first invoice marked.
- A staffing schedule by month: each employee by name, title, duties, education and salary, as the template asks, and when the beneficiary's reports become professionals, supervisors or managers.
- Projections that pay that payroll, with the beneficiary's salary funded from capital the foreign entity can show it has.
- Use of funds tying the US investment to premises, equipment, people and working capital.
- Both organizational charts: the foreign entity now and the US entity at the end of year one.
- The extension file, started on day one: wage reports or payroll records, bank statements, invoices and year-end financial statements.
Our immigration plans carry five years of financials as standard; that is our practice, not a USCIS requirement.
Our immigration business plans are published at $1,900 Essential, $2,400 Standard and $3,200 Premium, fixed, and the separate feasibility study the template names starts at $3,900. We never charge a percentage of anything you borrow, invest or raise. See also our E-1 visa, E-2 visa and EB-5 business plan guides and the immigration business plan overview.
Business Plan Firm is the US practice of Avvale, a London consultancy. We have written 1,000+ plans for 500+ founders across 30+ countries, and our clients have raised $500M+.
How we verified this
Every quotation was checked character for character against raw source text retrieved on 10 October 2026.
- 8 CFR 214.2(l) and 8 CFR 103.2, for the new office, extension, initial evidence and fee rules: current text at the Legal Information Institute (214.2, 103.2). The official govinfo.gov annual edition is revised as of 1 January 2025, so we checked (l)(14)(i) against 89 FR 103054 (effective 17 January 2025) and 103.2(a)(1) against FR Doc. 2026-16313 (effective 11 August 2026).
- 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(44), for headcount and stage of development: Legal Information Institute.
- USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part L, current as of 2 October 2026: Chapter 6 for doing business, Chapter 8 for new office petitions.
- USCIS Policy Alert PA-2026-05, 5 August 2026, for denial without an RFE or NOID: uscis.gov.
- USCIS draft RFE templates (draft for comment, not regulations): L-1A new office, posted 5 January 2012, for the business plan and timetable; new office extension, posted 4 April 2012, for wage evidence.
- AAO non-precedent decisions of 13 April 2026 and 5 August 2026, for how the AAO treated the one-year period and the plan.
- Form I-129 instructions, edition 09/09/26, for required new office evidence and the small employer definition: uscis.gov.
- Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26, for every fee: uscis.gov.
Not verified, so not on this page: processing times; RFE, approval or denial rates; consular visa fees; premium processing availability on your filing date; whether USCIS finalized or still uses the 2012 draft templates.
Frequently asked questions
Is a business plan required for an L-1 visa?
Not by name. 8 CFR 214.2(l)(3)(v)(C) requires evidence that a new office will support an executive or managerial position within one year of approval. USCIS's 2012 draft RFE template for L-1A new office petitions lists a business plan among suggested evidence.
What do you have to show at the L-1 new office extension?
Five things under 8 CFR 214.2(l)(14)(ii): that the entities are still qualifying organizations; that the US entity has been doing business for the previous year; the beneficiary's past and future duties; a staffing statement with evidence of wages paid; and the US operation's financial status.
How many employees does an L-1A new office need?
No primary source we checked sets a minimum headcount for an L-1A new office. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(44)(C) a person is not a manager or executive merely on the basis of the number of employees supervised, and staffing is read against the organization's stage of development.
Can USCIS deny an L-1 petition without a request for evidence?
Yes. USCIS Policy Alert PA-2026-05 of 5 August 2026 restored officers' full discretion under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(8)(ii) to deny an L-1 petition missing required initial evidence without first issuing a request for evidence (RFE) or notice of intent to deny (NOID).
What does it cost to file an L-1A new office petition?
On Form G-1055 edition 10/07/26, the first L-1A new office filing costs a small employer $1,495 and a regular petitioner $2,485 on paper or $2,435 online. Premium processing adds $2,965. Attorney and consular fees are extra, and filing fees are generally non-refundable.
This page summarizes the sources listed above as retrieved on 10 October 2026. It is general information, not legal or immigration advice, and creates no attorney-client relationship. Retain qualified immigration counsel and confirm current requirements with USCIS before acting.