IN THIS GUIDE · The organisational chart decides whether a small permanent staff can still support a manager
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Show the function he manages, not just the heads he counts
A manager under L-1A may manage an essential function of the organisation rather than a staff of subordinates, provided he operates at a senior level and exercises discretion over that function's day-to-day operations. For a greenhouse, production and sales are essential functions: deciding what to plant, when, at what price to contract, and which capital equipment to buy. The chart should show him at the top of those functions, with the grower, the maintenance lead and the crew leads beneath, and the narrative should list the decisions he took in the last year with dates and amounts. Two permanent employees is not fatal if the function he controls is real and the seasonal supervision is delegated.
Draw the seasonal layer honestly
The chart should show the seasonal crew, the crew leads who supervise them, and the months in which they work, because an officer who sees only two boxes below the manager will assume he is a working supervisor. If the crew leads are rehired each season and make daily assignments, say so; if the manager himself directs the pickers in June, say that too, and explain what share of his year that represents. Payroll summaries by month make the layer visible. What must not happen is a chart drawn for the petition that shows reporting lines the business has never used.
Confirm the year abroad, the relationship and the U.S. role
He must have one continuous year of full-time employment with the Champlain company within the three years before the petition, in a managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge capacity; his payroll records prove the period. For a non-new-office case, the companies must be related as parent, subsidiary, branch or affiliate through ownership and control, and both must remain actively doing business. The U.S. position must itself be primarily managerial or executive. If the U.S. affiliate has been doing business for one year or less, the new-office rules require secured premises, capacity to support a managerial or executive role within one year, and a one-year initial approval; in that L-1A new-office context, the foreign year must have been managerial or executive.
Keep the description consistent everywhere
The support letter, the two charts, the payroll summaries and the job descriptions must agree with one another and with what the company says elsewhere, including on its website and in any Canadian filings. A letter that calls him general manager while the payroll lists him as head grower invites a request for evidence. Where a title is informal, explain it rather than change it. Note that the L-1A ceiling is seven years in total, that his spouse would be employment-authorized incident to L-2 status, and that his children could study but not work.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.