Read the general business expansion overview
Hypothetical example: Mattias manufactures panelized cottage kits in Trent Lakes and wants to open an American subsidiary with an assembly yard and a sales operation serving lake regions across the border. He expects to run it himself for the first while. A new-office petition is approved for one year initially, and the extension at the end of that year is decided on what the company managed to do, so the honest question at the start is what twelve months can realistically produce.
Premises secured, not premises identified
A new-office petition must show that sufficient physical premises have been secured. A signed lease with a term and a rent, or a purchase agreement, is what that means; a shortlist, a letter of intent or a photograph of a suitable yard is not. For an operation that will receive panels, store them and stage deliveries, the premises evidence should also make operational sense, which means a site with the space, access and zoning the work requires. Filing against a location the company has merely visited is one of the most common reasons these petitions attract a request for evidence, and the fix is almost always available before filing rather than after.
The role must be the role at the end of the year, and the evidence must support it
Where the petition is for a managerial or executive role, the company has to show it will support that role within one year. An owner who spends the first months quoting jobs, driving a forklift and installing kits is doing necessary work, and describing that work as executive because he is the owner is what causes refusals. The credible version sets out a hiring plan with positions, timing and the revenue that funds it, so that by the end of the year there is an organization to manage. The alternative is equally respectable: present the case on specialized knowledge if that is what the first year genuinely involves, and revisit capacity later.
The relationship, the year abroad and the extension all have to be built now
The qualifying relationship between the Canadian manufacturer and the new subsidiary must be documented from incorporation, with the share register showing the parent's ownership and resolutions authorizing the arrangement, and Mattias must have one continuous qualifying year abroad within the three years before the petition. What matters most, though, is treating the extension as the real examination. From the first month the subsidiary should keep what the extension will ask for: payroll records, signed customer contracts, purchase orders to the Canadian parent, financial statements and an organizational chart that has grown. Companies that begin assembling that evidence in month eleven usually find it does not exist.
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.