An L-1 new office plan, written for the year that decides the case.
Two weeks. $1,500, fixed, and it comes off the price if you go on to build. Written to your attorney’s brief, for the petition now and the extension a year from now. English for the file, German in the conversation if that is easier.
Business consultancy, not a law firm. Your attorney owns the case.
What USCIS reads
Five questions. The plan answers each one.
A new office L-1 is approved for one year on a promise. The plan is organized so the officer finds each answer where they expect it, and so the extension can check the promise against what happened.
Premises. Space for the new office is secured, and it fits the business and its first year of growth.
The role abroad. One continuous year, within the last three, in an executive or managerial role with the company abroad. Whether yours qualifies is your attorney's call; the plan describes the role accurately.
A role that grows into management. Within a year of approval, the US office supports an executive or managerial position: its scope, its organization, the staff who take over the day-to-day work and the financial goals behind them.
The money. The size of the US investment and the parent company's ability to pay you and start doing business here.
The company abroad. Its structure and organization, and how the US office fits into it.
Plain-language summary of the new office rules for managers and executives (L-1A). For specialized knowledge (L-1B) new offices the core is premises and financial ability. Your attorney decides the category and what the file needs.
What's in the plan
Twenty-five to forty pages, in the order the file needs them.
01
Executive summary: the parent, the US office, the transferee, the investment, on one page.
02
The company abroad: history, ownership, organization chart, financial position.
03
The US entity and premises: entity, location, lease, and what the space supports in year one.
04
The transferee's role: duties abroad and here, who reports to whom, the decisions that are theirs.
05
Market and customers in the US: who buys, why now, and the evidence for both.
06
Operations: what the office does, with what, in what order.
07
Staffing: the organization chart at filing, month six and month twelve; hires, roles, timing, payroll; the point where the day-to-day work moves to the team.
08
Investment and funding: amounts, source, use of funds, and the parent's ability to pay the transferee.
09
Five-year projections: P&L, cash flow, balance sheet, with the assumptions written out.
10
Milestones to the extension: what will exist at month six and month twelve, and the evidence it leaves behind.
Appendix: the evidence list, organized the way the attorney wants it.
How it works
01
Intake.
A short form, then a ninety-minute working session with you, and with whoever knows the parent company’s numbers (plus your attorney’s brief, if there is one). Day one to three.
02
Draft.
The full plan goes to you and your attorney by day ten.
03
Revisions.
Your attorney’s notes, your changes, my rewrite. Two rounds are included, and anything the attorney’s review requires on top of that.
04
File.
Final version formatted for the petition, with the evidence appendix. First draft by day ten, final by day fourteen. Time the plan spends with your attorney for review doesn’t count.
Price
$1,500, and it comes off the 90-day build.
Includes the working session, the full plan, two rounds of revisions plus whatever your attorney’s notes require, and the formatted final. No hourly meter.
The extension is where new offices fail: an office that exists on a lease and nowhere else. The 90-day build ($18,000, paid in three parts, with the $1,500 credited in full) makes year one visible: US site and sales material, product or service live for the US market, first customers, and the evidence trail kept as it happens instead of reconstructed before the extension.
Austrian company? There is a page in German for you.
Who this fits
Founders and executives of an established company abroad opening its first US office, including German, Austrian and Swiss companies expanding here. The qualifying relationship between the companies and your year abroad are your attorney’s checklist, not mine; I coordinate with them and build the operating side.
Questions
Do I need an attorney before I start?
The US company files the petition, and in practice an attorney runs it. If you have one, the plan is written to their brief. If you don't yet, book a call and we'll sort out the order. I work with whichever attorney you choose, and I don't refer or take fees.
L-1A or L-1B?
The plan works for both. For a manager or executive (L-1A) it has to show the role growing into management within the year; for specialized knowledge (L-1B) the weight sits on premises and the ability to pay and start. Your attorney decides the category.
What happens at the one-year extension?
USCIS checks whether the office did what the plan said: staff hired, business running, the role now managerial. So the milestones in the plan are ones you can meet, and the 90-day build is there if you want year one to leave evidence.
Do you handle the corporate structure?
No. Entity, ownership and the qualifying relationship are your attorneys' work. I coordinate with them and write the plan around what they set up.
Can the plan be in German?
The petition needs English. The working session, the drafts we discuss and the notes can be German.
Do you guarantee approval?
No one honest does. I guarantee a plan that describes an office which exists and holds up.
How fast can you go?
First draft by day ten and the final by day fourteen is the normal pace. A week is possible when the attorney's deadline requires it and you can keep up.