Affiliation through common ownership qualifies where the same individuals own and control both entities in approximately the same proportion. Neither company needs to own shares in the other. The relationship must be shown with corporate records, and both entities must be actively doing business rather than merely registered.
Common ownership counts, approximate proportions matter, paperwork decides
The qualifying relationship can take several forms, and the one that surprises owners is affiliation. Two companies with no shareholding between them qualify where the same group of persons owns and controls each of them in approximately the same proportion. That word approximately does real work: a modest difference is tolerable, while a structure in which one owner holds a third of the Canadian company and three quarters of the American one is a different arrangement wearing a familiar name.
Corporate records settle it. Registers of members, the shareholders agreement, any unanimous shareholder agreement, evidence of who exercises voting control, and the incorporation documents of each company are the starting set. Separately, each entity must be doing business, which means the regular and continuous provision of goods or services.
A dormant American company incorporated to receive the transfer does not satisfy this, and a company whose only activity is holding a lease will be examined closely.
- USCIS: L-1A Intracompany Transferee Executive or Manager
- eCFR: 8 CFR 214.2, Special requirements for admission, extension and maintenance of status
- USCIS Policy Manual: Volume 2, Part L, Intracompany Transferees
- USCIS Policy Manual: Volume 10, Part B, Chapter 2, employment authorization for certain spouses
- USCIS: Form G-1055, Fee Schedule