Read the general business expansion overview
A new-office petition requires sufficient physical premises to have been secured. The useful question is how the actual space supports the proposed operation, not whether a lease looks impressive. Match premises evidence to the work, staffing and launch schedule before treating an address as a completed eligibility item.
Describe the operational use
Explain what will happen at the premises: management, customer meetings, equipment storage or delivery of services. Connect the expected people and activities to the space actually available. This does not create a universal square-footage rule; it makes the sufficiency question concrete for counsel using the business’s real requirements.
Review what the agreement provides
Identify the contracting entity, access rights, permitted use, commencement and any conditions affecting occupancy. A proposed lease, a signed agreement and usable premises are different facts. Ask counsel how a shared-space or other arrangement fits the case rather than assuming every virtual address qualifies or every flexible office fails.
Reconcile the premises with the plan
Check that budgets, hiring dates and equipment assumptions match the actual arrangement. If fit-out or permissions are needed, show their status accurately and identify who is responsible. Retain the supporting records; photographs or a mailing address alone should not be used to imply rights that the agreement does not provide.
Describe how the space will be used, not its dimensions
Premises evidence is often reduced to a floor area and a photograph, which answers a question nobody asked. What matters is whether the space suits the business described. Set out what will happen there: the activities conducted, the equipment installed, the number of people expected to work there over the first period, and the arrangements for anything the business needs that the space does not provide. Where the operation is largely conducted elsewhere — at client sites, in the field, remotely — say so and explain what the premises are for. A modest space that plainly fits the described operation is more persuasive than a substantial one whose purpose is unexplained.
Read the agreement for what it actually secures
The document behind the premises matters as much as the premises themselves, and arrangements vary widely in what they confer. Establish the term and any break rights, whether the space is exclusive or shared, whether it may be used for the intended activity under both the agreement and local requirements, what services are included, and whether the arrangement can be terminated at short notice by the provider. A flexible workspace membership, a sublicence, a lease and an arrangement with a related company are all different propositions. Where the agreement is conditional or not yet executed, present it as such. And check that the entity named in it is the entity the case concerns, since agreements are frequently signed by whichever company existed at the time.
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?Why does an L-2 spouse’s admission record matter for work?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.