IN THIS GUIDE · Prove the year abroad when the manager kept crossing the border
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Reconstruct the year from records, not memory
The rule requires one continuous year of full-time employment with a qualifying organization outside the United States within the three years immediately before the petition. Business trips to the United States in a working capacity for the foreign employer are not counted toward the year but do not interrupt it. In practice the file should present a month-by-month table drawn from payroll and the applicant's border-crossing history, marking each US day and its purpose. If the Canadian employment runs unbroken across the three years, the year is satisfied even with frequent trips; the table simply demonstrates that the US days were short, for the parent, and never amounted to US employment.
Show the parent and subsidiary as a live pair
The qualifying relationship is established by the share register showing the West Kelowna company's ownership of the Washington entity, but the L-1 rule also requires both to be doing business, meaning the regular, systematic and continuous provision of goods or services, throughout the transferee's stay. For a contractor this is shown by customer contracts, invoices, payroll for field crews and equipment leases on both sides of the border. A parent that intends to keep installing systems in the Okanagan while the subsidiary grows in Washington satisfies the test; the file should say so with current, not historical, evidence.
Describe the general manager role as management, with the crews below her
L-1A requires duties that are primarily managerial or executive. A general manager who directs installation supervisors, approves bids, hires and disciplines staff, and sets the subsidiary's operating budget meets the definition. The risk in a small contracting subsidiary is that the manager also drives a truck and runs a trencher when crews are short. Occasional hands-on work is not disqualifying, but the petition must show that the position is predominantly managerial, supported by an organizational chart with real subordinates, their job descriptions and the manager's authority over them. If the subsidiary currently has one crew and no supervisor, the case needs a staffing plan that the petition can substantiate.
Plan the seven-year ceiling and the family's status from the start
An initial L-1A approval for an established subsidiary runs up to three years, with extensions in two-year increments to a maximum of seven years in L-1A status. A manager planning to remain longer should discuss permanent residence early, because a multinational-manager immigrant petition draws on the same facts and evidence. The spouse holds L-2 status and is employment-authorized incident to that status; children under 21 may study but not work. The transferee's own duties, not the family's plans, are what the petition must justify, so the family section should be brief and accurate.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.