Read the general business expansion overview
For a Saint-Ambroise business, an interim Canadian handover and the US launch are connected operational questions with different evidence. The first review should create two timelines: the completed foreign employment and the first year of US operations, with evidence assigned to each. Hypothetical example: A manager of a specialty-paper converting company will lease a US unit before its first staff member is hired. The decision is whether the premises, funds and staffing plan can support the qualifying role within the new office’s first year.
Document the actual foreign continuity
Name the people performing the foreign work and preserve the qualifying relationship and regular, systematic, continuous US and foreign business. Establish the continuous qualifying foreign year in the relevant three years, excluding US days without assuming each trip breaks continuity. The general foreign capacity may be managerial, executive or specialized knowledge, but new-office L-1A specifically requires foreign managerial or executive employment. Use payroll, tax, corporate and travel records to identify the qualifying foreign year, then keep the US launch records separate: lease, floor plan, budget, client pipeline and hiring schedule. A first review should expose whether the foreign role was managerial or executive where L-1A new-office treatment is requested. A new incorporation document alone does not establish operating capacity or a qualifying relationship.
Support the US role with an actual launch plan
New-office treatment concerns US doing business for less than one year, not incorporation age alone. Sufficient premises are required; L-1A must support a primarily managerial or executive role within one year, while L-1B needs financial ability to pay and commence business. The initial new-office period is limited to one year. Foreign recruitment expenses do not by themselves establish the resources or operational support of the US office. The applicant generally needs one continuous qualifying year abroad during the three years before the request. New-office approval is initially limited to one year; L-1A has a seven-year maximum period and L-1B a five-year maximum period. Decide early whether the proposed US work is principally managerial or executive, or instead relies on specialized knowledge. That choice determines which foreign history, staffing evidence and first-year benchmark must be documented.
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.