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FOR BUSINESS LEADERS · VERCHÈRESVerchères

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A Verchères applicant may be asked to estimate how the proposed L-1A job divides between management and other work. Use an honest account of recurring responsibilities and the actual organization. A large percentage labeled management does not make underlying production, administration or customer delivery managerial merely because the letter uses that heading. Hypothetical example: a refractory-fibre recycling company proposes to transfer its foreign planning director, who still personally resolves daily production stoppages. A useful first review ties the duty allocation to people, systems and authority, then tests whether the organization leaves the transferee managing rather than performing the underlying work. Hypothetical example: a manufacturer of vacuum-insulated cryogenic valve assemblies moves its foreign procurement chief to run a U.S. division. Purchase approvals and supplier calls alone do not settle the issue. The review compares authority to set budgets, discipline staff and allocate work with evidence showing who performs the purchasing. Before relying on a duty percentage, produce a dated activity map, a current organization chart and short examples of decisions delegated to others. The practical choice is whether the U.S. assignment is presently managerial, or whether the company is asking the transferee to perform operational work while staffing is still planned.

Talk about L-1A
PurposeExecutive or managerial transfer
Company linkQualifying related businesses
New officeA distinct evidence requirement

IN THIS GUIDE · Support a duty allocation with real work rather than a convenient percentage

Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview

01

Describe the activity before assigning a category

Explain what the applicant does, the decision authority involved and who carries out the resulting work. A task called review may involve directing others or personally completing an operational check; the label alone cannot distinguish them. Do not count the same time twice under overlapping headings. Use a representative week, not only an unusually strategic one. Messages, decision logs and organization charts show who carries routine work and can expose a percentage created from labels instead of from the applicant’s actual activities. Use the same activity labels in the supporting records, so a reviewer can test the allocation without reconstructing it from a polished summary. For a sample of recurring decisions, retain the request, delegated instruction and resulting approval. Those records distinguish genuine oversight from a person who must complete a transaction personally because no separate operating layer is available.

02

Relate the duties to the qualifying role

The position must primarily involve qualifying managerial or executive work. For an essential-function manager, identify the function, senior-level authority and discretion, and show management rather than performance of the function. For personnel management, explain the actual supervised roles and authority instead of using a percentage as a substitute. Name the employees, contractors or subordinate managers who perform each operating layer. If a lean launch requires hands-on delivery for a period, describe that fact and assess it instead of relabeling delivery as supervision. Where supervision is claimed, record the hiring, evaluation, budget or work-allocation decisions that demonstrate it. A title or reporting line cannot replace evidence that the proposed role directs the work of others.

03

Keep the international transfer evidence complete

Generally establish a continuous year of qualifying full-time foreign employment in the relevant preceding three years, a qualifying corporate relationship and continuing qualifying operations in the United States and abroad. A polished duty table does not establish the company connection or the applicant’s foreign year. Explain the proposed U.S. work as it will actually occur. Build a dated corporate and employment timeline before drafting the role. L-1A generally requires one continuous qualifying year abroad during the three years before the request, and the seven-year maximum period should be considered when planning a longer transfer.

SOURCES FOR THIS GUIDE

Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.

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L-1A · VERCHÈRES

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