IN THIS GUIDE · Catch the manager who is still the plant's best operator
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Write the foreign role as it was actually performed
A production manager who supervises fourteen people, sets shift schedules, approves purchases and disciplines staff is doing managerial work. The same person covering the CNC line two afternoons a week is doing operator work in those hours. The petition must show that managerial duties predominate, with percentages that are honest and a description that explains who does the operational tasks the manager does not. 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. When a proposed manager has a mixed role, quantify the work by function and identify which colleague performs each operational task. A chart created for the filing does not settle the issue; contemporaneous payroll, meeting records, approvals and reporting lines do. This review lets the company decide whether to transfer the person now, change the U.S. staffing plan, or use a different classification for a genuinely hands-on assignment.
Function management needs a function, not a title
A small U.S. subsidiary may have no supervisors to manage. L-1A still allows a function manager, someone who manages an essential function at a senior level without directly supervising a team, but the function must be real and the manager must not be the one performing it day to day. Running key accounts personally is sales work, not the management of a sales function. Describe the function, the resources and staff assigned to it, the decisions the manager owns, and who executes the underlying work.
Confirm the year abroad and the corporate link
The qualifying year must be continuous, full-time and with the foreign entity, completed within the three years before filing. Business trips to the United States do not interrupt it, but the days spent there do not count toward it. The Canadian company and the U.S. subsidiary must be parent and subsidiary, branch, or affiliates under common ownership, shown by share registers and incorporation documents, and both must continue active operations for the whole period. A dormant Canadian parent after the move undermines the case.
Know the limits and the family's position
L-1A status is limited to seven years in total, and time spent in H status counts toward that ceiling. A spouse in L-2 status is authorized to work incident to status, so no separate employment authorization application is needed to start, though practical steps such as a Social Security number still follow. Canadian citizens may present an approved individual petition, or a blanket petition where the organization qualifies for one, at a port of entry; no visa stamp is required.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.