Read the general pathway comparison overview
Use the itinerary to identify the activity, then assess the company transfer and investment as separate cases. Frequent visits do not establish the employment history, corporate relationship or invested capital required by either route.
Identify which organization the traveller would serve
Hypothetical example: an employee plans a customer visit while also negotiating an unrelated business purchase. An L proposal needs the actual parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate relationship and continuing U.S. and foreign business, not just a customer contract. The requested U.S. role must fit managerial or executive L-1A capacity or specialized-knowledge L-1B work. Under the general rule, the qualifying foreign year may involve any of those capacities, but it must normally be continuous and full-time within the relevant preceding three years. Brief U.S. trips do not necessarily break continuity; exclude their days from the foreign-year count.
Identify what the purchase would actually commit
For E-2, the applicant needs relevant treaty nationality and an enterprise at least 50% owned by relevant treaty nationals. The individual must develop and direct it through at least 50% ownership or other qualifying operational control. Substantial lawful capital must be committed at risk in a real, nonmarginal enterprise. Its capacity must go beyond a minimal living for the investor and family or provide a significant economic contribution; future capacity generally should be realizable within five years of normal business activity. A schedule of visits supplies none of the missing ownership, capital or operating evidence.
Resolve conflicting assumptions before booking the work trip
Ask who would employ the traveller on the proposed dates, what tasks would be performed and which agreement supports them. Do not use the employer’s staff to describe how an unrelated purchased business will operate unless a genuine arrangement exists. Identify an unsettled transaction term as unsettled rather than writing the itinerary around an assumed closing. The eventual permission must cover the actual activity; commercial urgency cannot combine the most convenient facts from two different proposals into one qualifying case.
What else is on your mind?
Does being a business owner or director qualify me for L-1A?What employment history should an L-1 transfer review cover?What makes a new-office L-1A case different?How should an owner compare L-1 and E-2?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.