IN THIS GUIDE · Distinguish an owner's rural business role from the proposed U.S. authority
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Document the qualifying employment without relying on family history alone
One continuous year of qualifying employment abroad within the relevant three years still needs to be shown through dated records, not through how long the family has operated the business. Identify the specific employing entity and the applicant's actual duties during that period, including any change in role as the business grew or reorganized. The qualifying year is full-time employment abroad; brief U.S. visits need not break continuity, but their days do not count toward that year. An L-1A new-office petition requires the foreign year to have been managerial or executive.
Explain authority using real decisions, not a family title
Hypothetical example: a Strathroy-Caradoc business owner's adult child carries a general-manager title but the parent still makes every significant operating and financial decision. Describe accurately who directs the business today and what the proposed U.S. role would actually control — a family relationship or an inherited title is not itself evidence of managerial or executive authority.
Establish the corporate relationship even for a small or closely held company
The foreign and U.S. entities still need a qualifying relationship — parent, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate — supported by actual ownership records, regardless of company size. Gather formation documents, share registers, and any recent restructuring paperwork. A family handshake understanding is not a substitute for the documented ownership and control the category requires. Document regular, systematic, continuous business in the United States and at least one other country. Where the applicant owns or is a major stockholder of the company, also document the temporary U.S. services and the subsequent assignment abroad; a family succession proposal should identify that assignment rather than presume it.
Treat a new U.S. location as its own operating proposal
If the U.S. side is a new office, the evidence still needs to show secured premises and a plan capable of supporting a managerial or executive role within a year, regardless of the business's long-standing reputation in Strathroy-Caradoc. Keep the submitted plan and the actual developing operation as two distinct records for the extension stage. The new-office definition concerns a U.S. operation doing business for less than one year, and the initial approval is limited to one year. Supporting the qualifying role within one year of approval is a prospective initial-petition requirement, not a requirement to wait until a year of U.S. operations already exists.
Describe managerial or executive capacity by function
Executive capacity means directing the management of the organization or a major function, setting goals and policies, exercising wide discretion and answering only to the board or owners. Identify the applicant’s decisions and the personnel or function managed, then show who handles the underlying operational work. A petition listing strategic responsibilities while the same person quotes jobs, supervises no one and personally performs the service invites the conclusion that the proposed role is not primarily managerial or executive. Managerial capacity means primarily managing the organization or a department, supervising professional or managerial staff, or managing an essential function at a senior level, with authority over hiring and firing or over the function's direction.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.