Read the general pathway comparison overview
A Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot business may plan to employ its prospective U.S. operator before expansion. Compare the employment history that exists now with the investment and authority that an E-2 proposal would actually require. Hypothetical example: a carbon-fiber violin-bow workshop wants its Canadian production director to open a U.S. sales operation while also buying a majority interest in it. The decision is whether the completed foreign employment and qualifying-company records support a transfer, whether the ownership and committed capital support an investment route, or whether the facts do not yet support either. The first review should keep employment, ownership, capital, and duties on separate dated timelines.
Separate a hiring plan from the L foreign-year condition
General L requires a qualifying continuous foreign year within the relevant three years in managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge work. An offer for future foreign employment does not establish that completed history. The qualifying corporate relationship, required international business and actual U.S. role also need evidence. Start with documents that already exist: payroll, reporting lines, corporate ownership, and the actual U.S. position. The decision is whether the foreign employment was completed in the relevant period and whether the U.S. role independently qualifies. A planned future job abroad, even if commercially sensible, cannot be substituted for a completed qualifying employment record.
Assess the investor without borrowing L assumptions
E-2 requires relevant treaty nationality, generally at least 50% relevant treaty-national enterprise ownership and development and direction through qualifying control. Substantial lawful funds must be committed at risk in a real operating nonmarginal enterprise. Capital alone is not enough, but the L foreign-year requirement is not a universal E-2 investor condition. For the investment analysis, trace the money from lawful source through transfer and commitment, then compare the actual ownership and authority records. The investor must be able to develop and direct the enterprise, and the business must be real, operating, and nonmarginal. A capital figure without a binding use of funds or operating evidence does not answer those separate questions.
Identify what could change and what remains unresolved
For new-office L-1A, the foreign year must specifically be managerial or executive, with the additional premises and first-year role evidence. Owners or major stockholders need temporary U.S. services and later foreign-assignment evidence. Record genuine future steps as contingencies rather than treating a hiring intention, future ownership or expected payment as a completed qualification. A new-office transfer needs a foreign managerial or executive year, premises, and evidence for the first U.S. year; time in the L classifications remains limited, normally seven years for L-1A and five for L-1B. Choose a route based on the facts that can be proved now, then preserve contingency language for later hiring, financing, or ownership changes. Combining incompatible accounts is usually more damaging than acknowledging that one route needs more preparation.
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?How should an owner compare L-1 and E-2?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.