L-1 Qualifying Relationship Evidence

Stock ledgers, membership registers, share certificates, capitalization tables, partnership records, and corporate registers can establish ownership.

A qualifying L relationship must be established through ownership and control, not merely through business cooperation or similar branding. The filing should identify the legal owners of the US and foreign entities and document the ownership percentages with reliable corporate records. Stock ledgers, membership registers, capitalization tables, share certificates, partnership records, corporate registers, and acquisition documents may be relevant. Where ownership changed over time, the record should explain the effective dates so USCIS can determine that a qualifying relationship existed during the periods material to the petition.

Voting rights, governance provisions, board rights, operating agreements, shareholder agreements, and other records can affect the control analysis.

Control is a separate concept from simple ownership percentage and should be analyzed with the governing documents. Voting rights, veto rights, board appointment powers, shareholder agreements, operating agreements, partnership agreements, and other governance provisions can determine who actually directs the entity. A majority ownership position often supports control, but the regulations also recognize situations in which a party with less than half the ownership may in fact control an entity. The evidence should therefore show both the economic ownership and the legal mechanisms through which control is exercised.

The filing should show the percentage owned and how control of the subsidiary is exercised.

A parent and subsidiary relationship must fit the regulatory definition rather than a general business understanding of those terms. The regulations recognize several ownership and control structures, including direct or indirect majority ownership, half ownership with control, certain 50-50 joint ventures with equal control and veto power, and less than half ownership where the parent in fact controls the subsidiary. The filing should identify the percentage owned, whether ownership is direct or indirect, and the governance rights supporting control so the claimed relationship can be evaluated against the specific definition.

A claim that companies share owners should be supported by records showing the relevant ownership percentages and control.

Affiliate status generally requires common ownership and control by the same parent, individual, or qualifying group under the regulatory definition. Shared directors, family ties, contractual cooperation, common branding, or overlapping customers do not by themselves establish an L affiliate relationship. When the companies are owned by the same group of individuals, the ownership and control proportions should be sufficiently aligned with the regulatory standard. The petition should provide ownership records for both entities and explain any differences in percentages, voting rights, or governance that could make the relationship unclear.

Branch registration and corporate records should make clear that the U.S. or foreign establishment is not a separate unrelated company.

A branch is an operating division or office of the same legal organization in a different location. The evidence should therefore show that the US or foreign branch is not a separately owned company merely doing business under a related name. Registration certificates, headquarters records, accounting records, organizational documents, and tax or licensing materials can help demonstrate that the branch is part of the same legal entity. If local law requires separate registrations or identifiers, the petition should explain how those records fit within the single legal organization rather than creating an unrelated entity.

Where holding companies or several subsidiaries sit between the entities, an ownership chart should be supported by the records for each relevant level.

Indirect ownership should be traced through every material level between the US petitioner and the foreign employer. A summary ownership chart is useful, but it should be supported by the corporate records for each intermediate holding company, subsidiary, partnership, or other entity. The percentages should mathematically reconcile from one level to the next and should match governing agreements, registers, and prior filings. Missing an intermediate entity can prevent USCIS from verifying the claimed relationship even when the ultimate owners are the same, so complex structures should be documented from end to end.