Read the general business expansion overview
A Kingston-area boatbuilding company employing a Frontenac Islands resident as production manager wants to open a sales and service yard in New York State and send him to run it. Because the U.S. entity has been doing business for less than a year, the L-1A petition is a new-office case: approved for one year at most, on evidence of secured premises, the qualifying relationship, his year abroad and the company's financial ability to support a managerial position. The extension after twelve months is decided on what the yard has actually done.
What must exist before filing
Hypothetical example: the boatbuilder has an option on a leased boatyard bay but has not signed, and expects to sign once the manager is approved. That is backward. The new-office rule requires that sufficient physical premises be secured at filing, so the lease must be executed, with the term and the space described, before the petition goes in. The U.S. subsidiary must be formed and owned by the Canadian company, with share certificates and incorporation documents, and the parent must show the financial capacity to pay the manager and fund the yard through its first year. The manager's one continuous year of qualifying employment abroad within the last three, in a managerial role, is proved by payroll and duty descriptions.
How to write the one-year plan
The plan should describe the yard's business in concrete terms: brokerage of the company's boats, rigging and commissioning, seasonal storage and warranty service, with a staffing schedule showing when a service technician and a yard hand will be hired. It must explain why the role will be managerial within a year, since the manager may do hands-on work at the outset only if the plan credibly moves him toward directing staff and controlling the operation. Revenue projections should be tied to the parent's actual order book rather than optimistic estimates. The plan is the document the extension will be measured against, so it should promise what the company can deliver.
What the extension examines
After the first year the company files for extension with evidence that the yard is doing business: the lease still in force, payroll records showing the hires, customer invoices, financial statements, and an organizational chart showing the manager directing staff rather than performing every task. If the yard has stalled, the extension may be refused and the manager must leave the United States or change status. As a Canadian citizen he may present the petition at a port of entry for adjudication. His spouse in L-2 status may work incident to status, children under 21 may study, and L-1A is capped at seven years in total.
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.