- For the sponsoring company
- Have a qualifying relationship with a foreign company (parent company, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate) and
- Currently be, or will be, doing business as an employer in the United States and in at least one other country directly or through a qualifying organization for the duration of the beneficiary’s stay in the United States as an L-1.
- For the foreign national employee 
- Generally, have been working for a qualifying organization abroad for one continuous year within the three years immediately preceding his or her admission to the United States; and
- Be seeking to enter the United States to provide service in an executive or managerial capacity for a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations.

- Foreign employers may send executive or managerial level employees to the United States for the purpose of establishing a new office in the United States. In addition to the above requirements, the employer must show:
- The employer has secured sufficient physical premises to house the new office;
- The employee has been employed as an executive or manager for one continuous year in the three years preceding the filing of the petition; and
- The intended U.S. office will support an executive or managerial position within one year of the approval of the petition.

- Qualified employees entering the United States to establish a new office will be allowed a maximum initial stay of one year.
- All other qualified employees will be allowed a maximum initial stay of three years.
- For all L-1A employees, requests for extension of stay may be granted in increments of up to an additional two years.
- The maximum period of stay allowed on L-1A is seven years.

- Dependent Spouses and Children of L-1A nonimmigrants may qualify for L-2 status.
- Spouses of L-1A nonimmigrants are work authorized through the filing of the Application for Employment Authorization.  If granted, no restrictions apply as to where the L-2 spouse may work.

- Filing a blanket petition is available to certain organizations who wish to establish the required intracompany relationship in advance of filing individual L-1 petitions.
- Eligibility for blanket L certification may be established if:
+ The petitioner and each of the qualifying organizations are engaged in commercial trade or services;
+ The petitioner has an office in the United States which has been doing business for one year or more;
+ The petitioner has three or more domestic and foreign branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates; and
+ The petitioner along with the other qualifying organizations meet one of the following criteria:
⇒ Have obtained at least 10 L-1 approvals during the previous 12-month period;
⇒ Have U.S. subsidiaries or affiliates with combined annual sales of at least $25 million; or
⇒ Have a U.S. work force of at least 1,000 employees.