Read the general business expansion overview
A North Hatley business preparing a US launch should describe how the Canadian operation continues and how the new US duties will be supported. The first review should generate a first-year evidence calendar: the foreign employment dates, ownership proof, premises date, opening expenses, planned hires, monthly operating records and extension deadline. The immediate decision is whether the enterprise can support the stated L-1 role within that year or whether filing should wait until the premises, funding and operating plan reflect the position that will actually exist.
Show continuity and the qualifying history
The group needs the qualifying relationship and regular, systematic, continuous business in the US and another country. The relevant foreign year must be continuous within the applicable three-year period; US days do not count, while a trip does not automatically break it. For a new-office L-1A case, the foreign employment must have been managerial or executive. Explain how work is covered after departure rather than relying on an empty box in the chart. Count the foreign qualifying year before drafting the role description. The employee must have worked for the qualifying organization abroad for one continuous year in the three years preceding the petition or admission, in the required capacity. Payroll, tax records, leave information and travel history are better proof than a retrospective title letter. The corporate chart must match share certificates and governing records. If the foreign business loses the staff or revenue that supports it after the transfer, a polished U.S. plan does not answer the broader qualifying-business question.
Use the actual age of US operations
New-office treatment concerns US doing business for less than one year, not simply a recently signed document. L-1A needs sufficient premises and support for a primarily managerial or executive position within a year. L-1B needs qualifying knowledge, premises and financial capacity to pay the employee and commence business. Initial new-office approval is limited to one year; projected staffing does not guarantee renewal. For the U.S. launch, match each prediction to a record that exists now: a lease or other secured premises, a budget, bank funds, signed vendor arrangements and an identified hiring sequence. Then ask what the transferee will personally do in months one through twelve. L-1A requires a role that becomes primarily managerial or executive; L-1B requires the claimed specialized knowledge plus financial ability to pay and begin operations. The decision may be to hire earlier or alter the launch schedule, rather than describe operational work as senior management. Hypothetical example: a North Hatley manufacturer of water-quality testing instruments wants to open a U.S. repair and calibration unit and send its product-support director. The company has a qualified Canadian parent, but the director spent four months in the United States last year training a distributor. She must decide whether the remaining foreign employment still provides one continuous qualifying year in the three years before filing; payroll, I-94 history and travel dates settle that calculation. The planned U.S. role also matters. If she will calibrate every instrument herself for the first year, a managerial L-1A description is not credible. The company can instead pursue an L-1B theory if her documented knowledge of the proprietary calibration sequence is specialized, secure a real repair space, show funds to pay her and commence business, and plan the first-year extension evidence. It should also account for the five-year L-1B cap or seven-year L-1A cap before choosing the category.
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.