Read the general business expansion overview
A new-office L-1A petition is approved for one year and must be supported at the outset by secured premises and a plan showing the operation will support a managerial role within that year. The extension is judged on what actually happened. The practical work is sequencing: which lease, which hire and which contract must exist before filing, and which must exist before the first anniversary.
Decide what premises evidence you can honestly show
Hypothetical example: a timber-frame builder from Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier incorporates a U.S. subsidiary in New York State to sell and erect frames cut in Québec. A shared desk in a co-working space may satisfy the premises requirement for a sales office, but a yard for storing and staging frames is what the plan describes, and a lease for that yard is the evidence that matches the story. Sign the lease that fits the business actually proposed, with a start date that reflects a realistic arrival, and keep the executed copy with proof of the first payment.
Write the one-year plan as a staffing sequence
The petition must show that within a year the U.S. operation will support a position that is primarily managerial or executive. Set out the hires in order: a site foreman in month three, an estimator in month six, an office administrator in month nine, with the founder's own role shifting from selling and erecting to directing as each hire lands. Attach the financing that pays for those hires, whether a capital injection from the Québec parent or a credit facility, and the first contracts or letters of intent from U.S. customers. A plan without money behind it is a wish.
Collect extension evidence from the first month
The extension petition after year one is decided on payroll records, contracts performed, tax filings and the organization chart as it then stands. Keep a folder from day one: every hire's offer letter and pay stub, every signed contract, the state filings and the bank statements. If a planned hire slipped, record why and what replaced it, because an honest account of a slow first year reads better than a chart that claims positions no one filled. Start the extension file three months before the anniversary; the one-year approval does not extend itself.
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.