IN THIS GUIDE · Separate a multiyear business mandate from the period actually authorized
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Identify the different periods
An ordinary initial individual L petition may be approved for the established need for services up to three years; a new-office approval is limited to one year. Record the actual approved period and admission documents rather than treating these maximums as promises. Later extensions require their own applicable assessment. For a new office, the one-year approval is a planning checkpoint: the later extension record must show that the U.S. operation has developed enough to support a managerial or executive position. Lease, staffing, revenue and organizational evidence should be dated rather than predicted after the fact.
Keep the qualifying role in view across the mandate
Explain the actual managerial or executive work in the proposed period, including staffing and authority. A future leadership objective does not establish current qualifying duties. Generally document a continuous year of qualifying full-time foreign employment in the relevant preceding three years, the qualifying company relationship and continuing qualifying operations in the United States and abroad. A useful first review separates high-level authority from hands-on production. The decision-maker should be able to see who manages professional, supervisory or managerial employees, or which function is directed at a senior level, rather than infer executive work from a senior title.
Review prior stay and later changes
The general L-1A total is seven years, with relevant prior U.S. time and individual counting rules requiring review. Do not assume a new project resets it. Track material changes in the role or organization and obtain advice before relying on a later phase of the mandate or continued work after an authorization period. Count time before accepting a new assignment or extension strategy. L-1A classification is generally limited to seven years in total, while L-1B is generally limited to five; a different title does not automatically erase time already counted under the L classification rules.
Managerial capacity in a small acquired company
The petitioner and the foreign employer must stand in a qualifying relationship — parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate — and both must be doing business rather than existing on paper. L-1A requires primarily managerial or executive capacity with an accurate account of supporting resources. The Canadian company must continue doing business throughout the transfer, and the acquired U.S. company must be an operating enterprise providing goods or services, not a shell that exists to hold assets. The review should end with a role map showing decisions reserved to the transferee, the personnel or function that carry out routine work, and the evidence that the US and foreign entities have the required relationship.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.