IN THIS GUIDE · What goes wrong when the qualifying year was partly spent in the United States
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Reconstruct where the work was physically performed
The qualifying year must be employment outside the United States. Periods in the United States, whether as a visitor or in another status, are usually excluded from the count, though they may not break continuity. The company should pull travel records, timesheets and the director's own calendar to establish where she was on which dates. If the eight U.S. months are excluded, the question becomes whether an earlier continuous year inside the three-year window exists. In this example it does, because her second and third years were spent entirely in New Brunswick.
Describe the role as management of the operation, not of tickets
The U.S. role must be primarily managerial or executive. A service-delivery director who sets staffing levels, approves client contracts, hires and disciplines engineers and controls the operating budget is managing an organization or function at a senior level. A director who personally handles escalations most of the day is doing the work of a senior engineer. The petition should describe what she decides, who reports to her and what proportion of her time is spent on management rather than delivery.
Prove both entities are doing business
The Canadian firm and its U.S. subsidiary must be related as parent and subsidiary, and both must be actively operating, not merely registered. Client contracts, payroll, invoices and the lease that finally closed show the U.S. entity is real. The ownership chart should be supported by share registers rather than a diagram alone. Because the subsidiary has operated for more than a year, this is not a new-office petition, and the evidence standard for premises and staffing is the ordinary one.
Plan the family's status alongside the petition
An L-2 spouse is employment-authorized incident to status, which matters if the director's partner intends to work. Children under 21 may accompany and study. Total L-1A time is capped at seven years, so the director's earlier U.S. months in visitor status do not count against that cap, but any prior L or H time would. The family's own citizenship facts should be recorded separately from hers.
Show a receiving organization that can support an executive
Executive capacity means directing the management of the organization or a major component, setting goals and policies, exercising wide latitude in discretionary decision-making, and receiving only general supervision from higher executives, the board or shareholders. Supervising a group of employees who are not professionals does not by itself make a person a manager; the analysis looks for management of an organisation, department, subdivision or function, supervision of other supervisors or professional staff, and authority over hiring, firing and daily operations. If an owner or major stockholder is involved, address the required temporary U.S. services and subsequent foreign assignment evidence.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.