Read the general business expansion overview
A Sooke company should explain when routine responsibilities have truly moved away from the proposed transferee and which support remains planned. The decision that shapes the petition is who will perform the estimating, scheduling and purchasing in the United States during the first twelve months. If the transferee will perform some of that work at launch, the petition must describe it honestly and show the authority, resources and hiring or contracting plan that will support a primarily managerial role within one year. Putting support in place before filing can strengthen the record, but it is not a categorical prefiling requirement.
Describe the primary role
L-1A requires primarily managerial or executive duties. Identify who performs operations and decisions retained by the applicant. First-line supervision of nonprofessional workers does not qualify by title alone.
Meet the first-year conditions
New-office L-1A requires sufficient premises and support for the qualifying role within one year. L-1B requires qualifying knowledge, sufficient premises and financial ability to pay and commence business. Initial new-office approval is limited to one year.
Keep the qualifying group record complete
A continuous qualifying foreign employment year within the relevant three-year period, qualifying organizations and continuing US and foreign business are required. A future delegation plan does not establish that staff already carry out the work.
Hypothetical example: a timber-frame builder sends the estimator who runs the office
Hypothetical example: a Sooke timber-frame home builder wants to open a design-build office in a US state where it already has two signed contracts. The owner's daughter has run estimating and scheduling for the Canadian company for six years and is the obvious person to send. Her Canadian title is operations manager, but she still prepares every quote herself and orders every material package. The plan is to hire a US estimator and a site coordinator "once the first two houses are framed". Read against the L-1A standard, that plan has a gap: for at least the first months she would be doing the estimating, not directing someone who does it. The petition needs evidence that the US entity has secured premises for the office, that funds are committed to hire the two positions, and that her authority over hiring, pricing and subcontractor selection is real rather than inherited from her father. A family relationship neither helps nor hurts; the duties and the support do.
Sequence the launch around the one-year window
A new-office L-1A is approved for one year and can only be extended on proof that the office is actually operating and staffed so that the transferee's work is primarily managerial or executive. The sensible sequence is to sign the lease, open the US payroll and post or contract the support roles before filing, then keep hiring records, invoices and organization charts as the year runs. Time in L-1A status counts toward the seven-year maximum for managers and executives, and any earlier L-1B time counts within its own five-year limit, so a founder's family member should not treat the first year as a free trial.
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.