There must be continuing qualifying business outside the United States, but it need not always be the same foreign entity that employed the beneficiary. The replacement operation must be a genuine qualifying organization with the required relationship.
Do not rely on a dormant shell
Preserving a registration, bank account or mailing address does not establish regular business activity. Before closing or selling the original business, map the remaining group and its operations. Counsel should assess relationship continuity, employment changes and amendment requirements.
The principal’s managerial role in the United States must also remain qualifying; maintaining a foreign company alone does not sustain the whole case. A dormant entity is unlikely to serve, since the qualifying organization is generally expected to be doing business, and doing business means the regular, systematic and continuous provision of goods or services rather than the maintenance of a registration. Establish what would genuinely continue: identifiable customers, recurring work, invoices issued, receipts banked, and someone performing the activity.
Then consider the honest trajectory, because a foreign operation that is winding down slowly is a different proposition from one that is stable, and the difference matters most at extension. Alongside this, the other requirements continue to apply: a qualifying relationship between the entities, one continuous year of qualifying employment abroad within the preceding three years, and a managerial or executive role in the United States. Keeping the foreign business alive addresses one requirement, not the set.