IN THIS GUIDE · Show a sole shareholder's U.S. role is genuinely managerial, not just a continuation of ownership
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Distinguish ownership decisions from managerial functions
Hypothetical example: a Tecumseh-area applicant owns 100% of the Canadian company and wants to transfer to manage a new U.S. subsidiary personally. Identify the specific managerial or executive functions — supervising staff, setting operational policy, managing a function or a component of the organization — the U.S. role would actually perform, distinct from the general authority that comes simply from being the owner.
Show the new office can support the role independent of the applicant
For a new office, the evidence needs premises, staffing plans, and financial capacity that could support a managerial or executive role even though the applicant is also its owner. Being the sole owner does not by itself demonstrate that day-to-day managerial functions, as opposed to hands-on operational work, will actually occupy the role. For this framework, the qualifying U.S. organization has been doing business for less than one year. The foreign qualifying year specifically must be managerial or executive, the U.S. operation must support that role within one year of approval, and initial new-office approval cannot exceed one year.
Confirm the qualifying employment and corporate relationship
Establish the one-year qualifying foreign employment and the corporate relationship between the two entities through actual incorporation and ownership documents, independent of the sole-shareholder question. The required foreign year must be continuous within the relevant three years. Ordinary L-1A may use managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge foreign work, while the U.S. job needs managerial or executive capacity. Both U.S. and foreign business must continue. For an owner or major stockholder, also establish temporary U.S. services and a subsequent assignment abroad.
Plan for the extension using the operation that actually develops
Keep dated records of staffing, decision authority and the work actually performed after approval. If the company has no independent board, explain the genuine governance arrangements without inventing an outside decision maker. The extension record must show how the U.S. operation supports the qualifying role; ownership does not substitute for that evidence.
Treat time spent in the United States separately
The US subsidiary must be a parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate of the Canadian employer, shown by share certificates, articles and, if there are holding companies in between, a chart with percentages at each level. Time already spent in the United States in this classification counts toward the seven-year maximum for a managerial or executive role. 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. Function management can qualify where the facts support it, and an executive showing rests on discretion over the organisation's direction rather than on being the most senior person present. Record US travel separately because those days do not count, although qualifying brief trips do not themselves break continuity.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.