IN THIS GUIDE · Verify a related-company transfer through documents, not a family or business referral
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Confirm the employment history independent of the introduction
Hypothetical example: the owner of a Selkirk company is invited to help run a related U.S. operation after a conversation with a business partner. Assemble the actual dated employment record, including duties and the identified employing entity, rather than relying on the partner's description of the applicant's role and tenure. Generally, identify a continuous full-time qualifying year abroad within the relevant preceding three years. Brief U.S. visits need not interrupt continuity, but U.S. days do not count toward the foreign year. For an owner or major stockholder, document temporary U.S. services and a subsequent assignment abroad instead of treating ownership as an exemption from employment evidence. For an ordinary L petition, the qualifying foreign work may be managerial, executive or specialized knowledge; the U.S. duties must meet the requested classification. New-office L-1A specifically requires managerial or executive foreign employment.
Request the underlying ownership records directly
A personal or long-standing business relationship between the companies is not the same as a documented qualifying relationship. Obtain the actual corporate formation and ownership records for both entities, and identify any intermediate holding company, before assuming a parent, subsidiary or affiliate relationship exists. The qualifying organization must conduct regular, systematic, continuous business in the United States and at least one other country during the required period; mere registration is insufficient.
Describe the proposed authority specifically
Set out what decisions the applicant would actually make in the U.S. role and who would perform the underlying operational work. A referral based on trust between business owners does not establish that the day-to-day work will be primarily managerial or executive; that still requires its own factual description.
Treat a proposed new office honestly if that applies
A U.S. operation doing business for less than one year is a new office even if it already exists. Secure sufficient physical premises and show that the operation can support a managerial or executive position within one year of approval. Initial new-office approval is limited to one year, and the qualifying foreign year must have been managerial or executive. Distinguish confirmed financing and staffing from proposals; personal trust between owners does not replace this evidence.
Function management needs a function, not a title
The subsidiary must be a parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate of the Canadian employer, with ownership and control traced through share registers. A manager who mainly performs front-line production may not meet the managerial standard merely because a business card uses an executive title. A manager either supervises and controls the work of other supervisory, professional or managerial employees, or manages an essential function of the organization at a senior level, and in either case exercises discretion over day-to-day operations. A small enterprise can require careful explanation of staffing and function allocation; calling an individual an executive does not answer who performs ordinary sales, administration, or delivery work. For personnel management, use current payroll, reporting records and role descriptions; for functional management, explain the essential function, its strategic importance and the applicant's authority over it. If the plan depends on the transferee personally doing every installation, it undercuts the managerial premise that the extension must later demonstrate.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.