Read the general business expansion overview
A founder who has invoiced through a consulting company, worked abroad in bursts and taken no payroll still has to show one continuous year of qualifying employment with a qualifying organization in the relevant three-year period. That is a factual question about the work and the entity, not about the title on the invoices. Build the record month by month before drafting the office plan.
Reconstruct the employment, not the title
Collect the contracts, engagement letters, corporate records, remittances and tax filings that show for whom the work was performed, on whose direction, where and during which periods. Where a consultancy issued the invoices, identify whether the qualifying foreign entity was the employer, the client, or neither, and say so plainly. Note the individual timing that applies to your case, because the three-year period is measured against your own facts. A director title, a shareholding, or a signature on filings is not by itself evidence of the employment the category requires.
Map the months, including the quiet ones
Hypothetical example, an illustration only and not a description of any company near Blainville: a founder spent portions of the last four years abroad between engagements, with months in which no invoice issued and no salary was paid. Map every month, including the quiet ones, and explain them with documents rather than smoothing the line. If the qualifying operations moved to a different entity in the group, say when and why; qualifying foreign operations may continue through another qualifying entity rather than the original employer, and that has to be shown, not assumed.
Set out what the first year must support
For a new office, prepare the qualifying corporate relationship, sufficient physical premises for the intended operation, and evidence showing how the operation will meet the requirement to support a managerial or executive role within one year where L-1A is proposed. The initial period for a new office is limited to one year. No fixed headcount decides it; the evidence must make the proposed capacity understandable in your actual business. The qualifying foreign operation must continue doing business according to the real structure, so record who runs it while you are away.
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.