GIP Expands Strategic Advisory for U.S. New Office L-1A Filings

Global Immigration Partners has launched an enhanced strategic advisory service for companies seeking to open a new office in the United States 🇺🇸 through the L-1A visa program, aiming to reduce filing risk and speed early-stage growth for multinational clients. The firm says the refined approach is built for corporate leaders planning U.S. expansion who need to show clear executive or managerial roles, a viable business plan, and timely progress toward operational milestones after approval.

The announcement comes as U.S. adjudicators apply tighter review to intracompany transfers involving start-up or early-phase operations. According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, businesses setting up a new branch or subsidiary have faced more questions about staffing plans, executive oversight, and whether the U.S. entity is more than a small support office. Global Immigration Partners says its new service focuses on those pressure points to improve decision-ready filings and reduce back-and-forth with examiners.

Key L-1A New-Office Requirements

Under the L-1A visa rules for a new office, several conditions must be met:

• The U.S. entity must be legally formed and active.
• The U.S. company must hold a qualifying relationship with the foreign company (parent, branch, affiliate, or subsidiary).
• The transferee must be placed in a true executive or managerial role within one year of petition approval.

Additional notes on validity and extensions:

• The initial approval for a new office is typically limited to one year.
• Extensions are possible and can reach up to seven years total if the company shows real growth and the role remains primarily managerial or executive.
• While demanding, the category remains a key path for cross-border leaders charged with launching or scaling U.S. operations.

Important: Adjudicators increasingly scrutinize whether early-stage roles are genuinely managerial/executive and whether the U.S. entity has sufficient organizational substance beyond a small support office.

What’s Driving the New Service

Global Immigration Partners framed the enhanced offering as a response to the tougher review environment. USCIS examiners have been asking more detailed questions about:

• Staffing plans and timelines
• Executive oversight and reporting structure
• Whether the U.S. entity is operating independently and generating revenue

The firm’s service aims to build petitions that anticipate and answer these questions up front.

Service Overview: Three Core Areas

Global Immigration Partners’ upgraded advisory offering centers on three decisive areas:

1. Comprehensive new-office business planning
   • Tailored plans for the first year and beyond, covering site leasing steps, hiring timelines, financial forecasts, and an organizational structure aligned with USCIS expectations.
   • Emphasis on documents that show how the U.S. entity will operate independently, generate revenue, and support executive management.
2. Manager/executive role documentation
   • Close guidance on defining and proving the executive or managerial nature of the transferee’s role.
   • Includes organizational charts, reporting lines, budget authority, decision-making scope, and evidence that the role will move away from day-to-day tasks as the team grows.
   • Goal: withstand scrutiny that early-stage roles are too “hands-on.”
3. Timing and extension strategy
   • Planning around the initial one-year validity of new-office L-1A approvals.
   • Establish milestones to support future extensions, including hiring direct reports, establishing client/vendor relationships, and implementing systems that demonstrate managerial focus.
   • Aligns initial petition evidence with extension-stage documentation so the story is consistent across the seven-year window.

The firm will provide hands-on support for petition preparation, business plan creation, compliance, and extension planning for new office L-1A filings. Global Immigration Partners stresses that thorough, early documentation helps clients answer likely USCIS questions and avoids vague claims that trigger requests for evidence (RFEs).

Practical Steps Under the Enhanced Advisory Model

Firms engaging the service can expect a structured approach with clear deliverables:

• Early entity review to confirm the qualifying relationship between the foreign and U.S. companies
• Evidence planning around office space, initial staffing, and executive oversight
• Role scoping to ensure the beneficiary’s duties meet statutory executive or managerial definitions
• A milestone timeline tying hiring and revenue targets to the extension window
• An evidence file that anticipates and addresses common adjudicator questions before they’re asked

Market Context and Impact

Global Immigration Partners positions the service as a practical answer to the common pitfalls multinationals face when moving senior leaders into the U.S. to build a foothold. Typical missteps include underestimating how quickly structure, staff, and decision-making authority must be demonstrated.

The broader policy climate increases urgency:

• Review standards for intracompany transfers have tightened, especially for lean teams or mixed executive/operational roles.
• VisaVerge.com reports more scrutiny when the role resembles a start-up founder “doing everything” rather than an executive supervising managers.

Global Immigration Partners focuses on building the record to address these concerns proactively.

Firm Credentials and Client Benefits

• The firm is established in business and investor-led U.S. immigration, with offices in Washington, D.C., London, and Rome.
• It highlights a strong track record in L-1 approvals and serves both large enterprises and mid-size firms entering the U.S. for the first time.
• Emphasis on early planning reflects a common theme: adjudicators want clear, credible detail and evidence that matches what the company is actually doing.

For employers, the concrete benefits include:

• Shorter processing timelines by reducing RFEs
• Better alignment between internal operations and immigration goals
• Smoother passage through the one-year checkpoint after new-office approval

Reference and Further Reading

Applicants and employers seeking official background can review USCIS guidance on the category at the agency’s site: USCIS L-1A guidance. That resource explains high-level criteria and how to show the intracompany relationship between U.S. and foreign entities.

Global Immigration Partners’ announcement focuses on turning those criteria into a detailed, practical record tailored to the new office fact pattern.

Consultations and Next Steps

The firm offers consultations for companies both at the planning stage and those preparing to file. Service elements include:

• Drafting and assembling exhibits
• Aligning compliance systems with growth and extension goals
• Ongoing extension planning and milestone tracking

For leaders tasked with U.S. expansion, the firm’s message is: assemble a strong record at the start, track measurable progress during the first year, and be ready to prove the role remains executive or managerial as the U.S. team grows.

The L-1A visa remains a core tool for placing trusted leaders in the U.S. market, but it demands disciplined preparation when a new office is involved. Global Immigration Partners says its enhanced advisory service aims to help clients meet that bar, reduce avoidable risk, and set the stage for both approval and sustainable growth.