IN THIS GUIDE · Show that the dispatch manager sets policy for a function rather than supervising the people who answer the phones
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Describe the function, not the headcount
Managerial capacity includes managing an essential function of the organization at a senior level, with discretion over its day-to-day operations, and it does not require supervising professional employees. Dispatch and freight acceptance is the core function of a carrier. The petition should describe the policies she sets, the rates and contracts she approves, the budget she controls and the decisions she makes without referral upward. It should be honest that dispatchers perform the routine work and that owner-operators are contractors, not employees, because an officer who discovers that distinction unexplained will discount the whole chart.
Prove the year and the relationship
She needs one continuous year of employment abroad with the company in a managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge capacity within the last three years, supported by payroll, her employment contract and duty statements from that period. The Canadian company and the U.S. subsidiary must be linked by ownership, with both doing business; the subsidiary's operating authority, terminal lease, customer invoices and payroll show it is real. If the terminal has been dormant, or has no staff, the U.S. position cannot be primarily managerial and the petition should be reconsidered or built as a new office.
Define the U.S. role with the same care
General manager of a terminal is managerial only if the terminal has staff or a function to manage. If the U.S. subsidiary has two employees and she would be dispatching loads herself most days, the role fails the primarily-managerial test regardless of her Canadian record. Show the terminal's org chart, the staff she will direct, the owner-operator base she will contract with and the authority she will hold. L-1A time is limited to seven years in total.
Move the household on the right documents
An L-2 spouse is employment-authorized incident to status once admitted with the spouse annotation, and may drive for the company or work elsewhere. Children in L-2 may study but not work and must remain under 21 and unmarried. For a Canadian citizen the petition may be presented at a port of entry or filed with USCIS. The transfer date follows approval, not the terminal's freight contracts.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.