Read the general business expansion overview
A Saanich company should describe launch troubleshooting and operational support accurately while establishing the proposed role’s primarily managerial or executive character. The concrete decision is whether to file with a lease that only commences after approval and a support plan built on contractors, or to delay filing until the premises are signed and at least the first employee offers are documented. That choice sets what the extension officer will be able to verify at month twelve.
Identify actual duties and support
Show who performs underlying work and what authority belongs to the applicant. A first-line supervisor of nonprofessional workers does not qualify by title alone, and planned support should not be presented as completed.
Apply the new-office conditions
L-1A needs sufficient premises and support for the qualifying 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.
Complete the international record
Prove the qualifying corporate relationship and continuous qualifying foreign employment year within the relevant three-year period. The group must continue US and foreign business. Update actual performance when launch duties outlast the forecast.
Hypothetical example: a dental laboratory’s conditional lease and contractor plan
Hypothetical example: a Saanich dental laboratory that produces crowns and implant components for clinics wants a US production site and proposes its production manager for L-1A. Two facts complicate the file. First, the landlord has offered a lease whose start date is conditional on the petition being approved, so on filing day the company holds an offer, not premises. Second, the launch plan staffs the site with two ceramists engaged as independent contractors and a courier service, with no employees until month eight. Neither fact is fatal, but each shifts what the petition must prove. A conditional lease should be paired with evidence that the space is secured for the company’s use: the signed offer, the deposit receipt, and a landlord confirmation that the unit is reserved. Contractor support can be described honestly, but the file must show what the manager will direct, what decisions she makes about their output, and when employees will replace them, because at extension the officer will compare that plan with payroll, invoices and the actual organization chart.
Which record decides each point
Premises are decided by the lease and its commencement clause, not by a letter of intent. Capacity is decided by the intercompany funding already transferred to the US account and the twelve-month budget it supports. The manager’s role is decided by who signs off on the contractors’ work and who they answer to, shown in engagement agreements and approval records. The qualifying year is decided by Canadian payroll for the continuous twelve months within the three years before filing, with US business-visitor days excluded. Remember the ceiling: L-1A time is capped at seven years in total, and L-1B at five, so a year spent as a hands-on launch manager still counts against that limit.
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.