Read the general business expansion overview
An Esquimalt transferee’s invitations to board meetings may provide context without establishing the role required to lead a new US operation. The first review should produce a dated new-office file: corporate relationship, qualifying foreign employment, secured premises, funding, projected hiring and a description of what the transferee will manage after launch. The company must decide whether the business is ready to support that role within the first year or is still only an idea with a future lease and future staff. L-1 requires one continuous qualifying year abroad during the preceding three years. The relevant maximum stay is generally seven years for L-1A and five years for L-1B.
Identify decisions and operational support
L-1A requires primarily managerial or executive duties. Explain actual authority and who carries out delivery. A board-observer label or first-line nonprofessional supervisory title does not independently establish the classification. Identify the function, the strategic decisions assigned to the transferee and the qualified people or service providers who will do ordinary production. The useful distinction is between managing the function and personally performing it. For an L-1B proposal, identify the company-specific knowledge and why it is advanced or proprietary in the organization’s context; difficult technical work alone is not the full test. The role description and first-year staffing plan should not point in opposite directions.
Document the first-year business proposal
A new L-1A office needs sufficient premises and support for the qualifying role within one year. For L-1B, establish qualifying knowledge, sufficient premises and financial ability to pay and commence business. Initial new-office approval is limited to one year. Hypothetical example: an Esquimalt theatre-rigging company plans a US service office and proposes its technical director as L-1A. The draft plan shows him inspecting every installation personally because no supervisors or contractors are retained until late in the year. The company must decide whether to fund and document sufficient operational support before filing or present a more limited plan that accurately fits the role. The lease, capital contribution, signed contractor terms, hiring timetable and authority matrix settle whether he will direct the operation rather than be its sole rigger.
Keep the foreign history accurate
A continuous qualifying foreign year within the relevant three years and a qualifying organizational relationship are necessary, with continuing US and foreign business. Do not backdate future decision powers into the foreign employment record. Reconstruct the foreign year from payroll, tax records, travel history and contemporaneous duties before drafting the US position. Work days in the United States do not count toward the foreign employment requirement, even when the employer sent the person on short assignments. A qualifying parent, branch, affiliate or subsidiary relationship must be supported by the corporate record throughout the relevant period. If a reorganization changes ownership or control, determine whether it affected the qualifying relationship instead of assuming the company name alone decides it.
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.