IN THIS GUIDE · Explain whether delegated authority amounts to the proposed managerial role
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Describe the authority actually exercised
Hypothetical example: an employee covers a director’s absence while keeping substantial production duties. Explain decisions the person can make, reporting lines and the work others perform. An interim title or signature authority alone does not establish primarily managerial or executive duties.
Separate past and proposed roles
Document qualifying foreign employment and the intended U.S. position independently. Generally one continuous qualifying foreign year within the relevant preceding three years is required. Do not transform occasional coverage into a full period in a role the records do not support.
Show the organization supporting the work
Identify qualifying parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate relationships and actual operations in the United States and abroad. For a function manager, explain the essential function, senior-level authority and who performs its operational work rather than merely naming a department.
Assess a new office on its own evidence
A new-office L-1A case requires sufficient premises, a qualifying foreign managerial or executive year and support for the U.S. managerial or executive position within one year of approval. Initial approval is limited to one year. A delegation letter does not replace the operating plan. New-office treatment applies when the U.S. organization has been doing business for less than one year; initial approval is at most one year.
Establish the qualifying foreign year and active organizations
The foreign employment generally must include one continuous qualifying year within the relevant preceding three-year period, assessed on the individual facts. U.S. days do not count toward that foreign year; a trip should not automatically be treated as breaking continuity. The qualifying organization must do business in the United States and at least one other country during the relevant period, through regular, systematic and continuous provision of goods or services rather than registration alone. The qualifying foreign employment must be full-time and may be managerial, executive or specialized knowledge in an ordinary petition; the proposed U.S. role must meet the requested L-1 classification.
Supervising a crew is not by itself managerial capacity
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. An L-1A transferee to an established US operation may be granted up to three years initially, with extensions to a maximum of seven years in that classification. The U.S. company must be a parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate of the Canadian one, evidenced by registry extracts, articles, share registers and the resolutions that issued the shares. L-1 begins with a qualifying relationship between the sending and receiving entities as parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate, and family sentiment does not create one. Managing a function or an essential part of the organisation counts; so does directing personnel with authority over hiring, firing and promotion. Supervising a crew of non-professional workers is not by itself managerial; the rule looks for control over supervisory, professional or managerial staff, or management of an essential function. Executive capacity is a further alternative again, resting on direction of the organization or a major component with wide latitude in discretionary decision-making. An owner or major stockholder also needs temporary U.S. service and a subsequent foreign assignment.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.