Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Prove the qualifying relationship with the register
The petitioner must show that the Canadian employer and the US plant are parent and subsidiary, branches, or affiliates under common ownership and control. A share purchase agreement describes an intention; the share register, stock certificates and post-closing corporate filings prove the result. Both entities must be actively doing business; a plant that was bought but has not restarted production is a new-office question rather than an ordinary transfer.
Build the one-year record from payroll
The director needs one continuous year of full-time employment with the Canadian company in the three years before filing. T4 slips, pay statements and a letter from the company establish this. Time spent in the United States on business trips for the Canadian employer does not count toward the year, so travel records should be gathered too. Parental or medical leave within the period should be identified and explained rather than left for an examiner to discover. A letter from the company confirming the dates and the role during the year completes the record.
Describe managerial capacity in the US plant
The US role must be primarily managerial or executive. Managing a function counts, but the petition should show who will perform the day-to-day production work and how many supervisory or professional employees report to the director. An organization chart of the co-packing plant, with names and titles, and a description of hiring, firing, budget and scheduling authority does more than adjectives about leadership. L-1A stay is capped at seven years.
Anticipate the questions about a small plant
USCIS looks closely at small operations where a manager might actually be doing the work. Evidence that the plant has line staff, a quality function and a maintenance function under the director helps. If the plant is running below capacity, explain the ramp-up plan and the staffing that exists today rather than describing staff who will be hired later. Attach the customer contracts that justify the production schedule.
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-level executives, the board or shareholders. If the U.S. operation would be newly established, address secured premises and a credible plan for supporting a managerial or executive role within one year, and keep the actual results for the later extension filing. The requirement contemplates the regular, systematic and continuous provision of goods or services, so a U.S. company incorporated last month with no premises, no capital and no activity does not satisfy it merely by existing. The decision is whether the planned operation can support a principally managerial or executive position within that first year, not whether the transferee can personally keep the venture alive.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.