A Trois-Rivières company’s hypothetical new-office plan may depend on both premises becoming available and a manager returning from leave. Explain those events separately; completing one does not establish the other or satisfy every L-1 requirement. L-1 requires one continuous year abroad in the prior three and two active related entities; a new office must have secured premises and capacity to support the role within one year and is initially approved for one year; offsite work must not be labour-for-hire and must remain petitioner-controlled; an L-2 spouse may work incident to status; the L-1A maximum is seven years. Hypothetical example: A Trois-Rivières electronics-repair group plans a new U.S. office while its proposed manager finishes a documented leave. The decision is whether the employment history and the first-year operating plan each stand on their own evidence.
Check the employee history on its own facts
Assess the required continuous qualifying year abroad within the relevant three-year period, including the actual leave and employment circumstances. Do not assume every absence resets the calculation or every period counts. For L-1A, identify the applicant’s real managerial or executive responsibilities rather than attributing the interim replacement’s work to the applicant. Build the employee timeline from contemporaneous records before deciding what the leave means. Then evaluate the actual qualifying role separately; a new-office forecast cannot turn an unproven period into qualifying employment.
Support the new operation with actual arrangements
A qualifying organization relationship and doing-business conditions remain necessary. New-office evidence includes sufficient physical premises. A managerial or executive new-office plan must support that role within one year; initial new-office approval is limited to one year. Document who performs operational work and which staffing or service arrangements are still proposed. For the electronics-repair group, identify premises, customer work, staffing and the operational work that will exist during year one. The concrete choice is whether those arrangements support a managerial or executive position within the required first-year frame.
Do not let one delay rewrite the other record
Preserve the premises timetable and return-to-work history as they change. A delayed opening does not extend authorized stay, and a completed employment review does not prove the office is ready. Reconcile current evidence before relying on an earlier filing schedule or first-year forecast. Maintain a change log for premises, staffing and the manager’s availability. When a fact moves, reconcile the affected evidence rather than allowing an old forecast or filing date to describe a plan the company no longer has.
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.