IN THIS GUIDE · Prove an affiliate relationship when the same people own both companies
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Affiliate means the same owners in the same proportions
Hypothetical example: three Torbay partners own a company that manages supply-base logistics for offshore operators, holding 50, 30 and 20 percent. They have formed a U.S. company to serve Gulf Coast operators, and the same three hold the same percentages. That is a textbook affiliate. Had the U.S. company been owned 60/40 by only two of them, the relationship would be in doubt, because the ownership and control are no longer the same group in approximately the same proportions. The petition needs both share registers, the operating agreements, and a chart naming each individual and their percentage in each company. Use signed corporate records, not only a diagram prepared for the filing. The reviewer should be able to trace voting rights, transfer restrictions and the right to appoint managers from each entity's own documents. If a percentage changed, explain the date and effect instead of hoping a chart conceals it.
The year abroad and the trips that interrupt it
The general manager must have one continuous year of qualifying employment with the Torbay company within the three years before the petition. Business trips to the United States to set up the affiliate do not break the continuity of that year, but the days physically spent in the United States are not counted toward it. A manager who spent four months of the last twelve on the Gulf Coast may find the counted period short; the payroll and travel records must be laid side by side. The employment during the year must itself have been managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge. Prepare the date calculation before choosing a filing month. A payroll record proves employment but not the location of every day; travel evidence completes the count. The result should be a plainly identified qualifying year, not a claim that six years of service makes the arithmetic unnecessary.
Primarily managerial in a small affiliate
A U.S. affiliate with two employees at filing raises the question of whether the general manager will manage or will do the work. L-1A allows a manager of an essential function without direct reports, provided the manager operates at a senior level with discretion over the function. The petition should describe the decisions reserved to the manager, the contractors and staff to be supervised, the growth plan and the point at which the manager will be supervising professionals. A duty description in which the manager personally drives forklifts and books vessel slots will not be read as primarily managerial. The U.S. role description should distinguish deciding, allocating and supervising from producing the service itself. An essential-function manager needs evidence of authority over a defined function, budget or policy, even if the first U.S. team is small. Staffing projections matter only when they connect to actual contracts, financing and a hiring sequence.
What continues in Torbay, and what the family may do
The Torbay company must keep operating: someone must be named to run it, and its contracts and payroll must continue, because if it ceases to trade the affiliate relationship ends and the L-1A with it. An L-2 spouse is employment-authorized incident to status; L-2 children may study but may not work and lose status at 21. L-1A status is limited to seven years in total, with prior L or H time counted. Fees are set by employer size and options and are published in Form G-1055. Continuing Canadian operations are not a background fact. Identify who approves work, maintains client relationships and runs payroll after the transfer. The family should also calendar the principal's remaining L time and each child's age-out date, because a business launched by an L-2 spouse does not continue to authorize the spouse after the principal's status ends.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.