Read the general business expansion overview
A Highlands company should explain the actual relationship and continuing business after selling part of an operation, alongside the proposed US office. A different problem arises before the office question: which twelve months count as the continuous year abroad. Time spent in the United States, even on business visits for the same employer, does not count toward it, so the transferee must decide which year to rely on and document it.
Identify the effective group
Use the completed transaction and current operating evidence. An asset sale does not produce one automatic result in every case, and a historical chart is not proof of the post-sale arrangement.
Support the applicant’s role
L-1A requires primarily managerial or executive duties with real operational support. First-line supervision of nonprofessional workers does not qualify by title alone. Establish the continuous qualifying foreign year within the relevant three-year period.
Meet the first-year conditions
The qualifying group must continue US and foreign business. A new L-1A office needs sufficient premises and support for the role within one year; L-1B needs qualifying knowledge, sufficient premises and financial ability to pay and commence business. Initial approval is limited to one year.
Hypothetical example: business trips and a leave inside the qualifying year
Hypothetical example: a Highlands medical-device distributor plans a US office and proposes its sales lead as the L-1A manager. Over the last three years she worked for the company throughout, but spent five months in the United States on business-visitor trips preparing the launch and took a four-month parental leave. Periods physically in the United States do not count toward the one continuous year of qualifying employment, although brief trips do not necessarily break continuity; a leave during which employment continued is assessed on the actual employment record. The company should identify a twelve-month window within the three-year look-back in which she was employed abroad in a qualifying capacity, supported by payroll, travel records and a description of her managerial duties during that window. If no clean year exists, filing early only produces a refusal. The new office itself still needs secured premises, the financial ability to begin operating and a plan under which she will primarily manage within the first year.
Sequence the record
First reconstruct the travel history from passport stamps and expense records, because it decides the qualifying year. Then confirm the parent-subsidiary relationship and that the Canadian company will keep operating after any transaction. Then secure premises and funding for the US entity, and write a first-year staffing plan. Initial approval is for one year; L-1A time is capped at seven years and L-1B at five. Her spouse, admitted as L-2, would be employment-authorized incident to status, while L-2 children would not be.
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.