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A Rothesay insurance-software company wants to send its head of sales to open a U.S. office and has arranged a virtual office address with mail handling and occasional meeting-room access. A new-office L-1 petition must show that sufficient physical premises have been secured, and the initial approval is limited to one year. A virtual address is a mailbox, not premises. The petition also has to show the U.S. operation will support a managerial or executive role within that year.
Secure premises before filing, not after
Hypothetical example: a Rothesay software company's head of sales plans to work from home in the United States and use a virtual office for the corporate address. The regulation requires evidence that sufficient physical premises to house the new office have been secured. A signed lease for a dedicated office, even a small suite, in the U.S. subsidiary's name, with a term covering the first year, meets that; a virtual address does not, and a home office is difficult to present as commercial premises for an operation that intends to hire. The company should sign the lease before filing and include it with photographs, the floor plan and an explanation of how the space fits the first-year staffing plan.
Show that the role will become managerial within a year
The head of sales will, at first, sell. That is professional work, and an L-1A new-office petition must show that within one year the U.S. operation will support a position that is primarily managerial or executive. The business plan should set out the U.S. hires by role and month, the sales targets and the contracts or letters of intent from U.S. customers that make them credible, the funds already transferred to the U.S. entity's account and the Canadian parent's financial statements showing it can fund the first year. It should describe the point at which she will stop selling personally and direct a sales team. If that point is realistically beyond a year, the petition should be reconsidered or restructured.
Prove the relationship, the year abroad and the family's status
The Canadian company's ownership of the U.S. subsidiary should be shown with the share register and the subsidiary's state filings. The head of sales must have one continuous year of qualifying employment with the Canadian company within the three years before filing, in a managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge capacity, evidenced by payroll and role descriptions. Her spouse is employment-authorized incident to L-2 status and her children under 21 may accompany. The company should keep records from the first month that map to the plan, because the extension after the initial year will be decided on what the office actually did, not on what it intended.
What else is on your mind?
Does being a business owner or director qualify me for L-1A?What employment history should an L-1 transfer review cover?What makes a new-office L-1A case different?Why does an L-2 spouse’s admission record matter for work?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.