IN THIS GUIDE · A transfer through a holding company into a newly formed U.S. subsidiary
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Trace the relationship through the holding company
The classification requires a qualifying relationship — parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate — between the entity that employed the individual abroad and the U.S. entity. Where a holding company sits in the middle, the question is which entity was the employer and how it connects to the American company. If the director was employed by an operating company that is a sister of the new subsidiary under the same holding company, the relationship is an affiliate one and depends on common ownership and control being documented. If she was employed by the holding company itself, the relationship is parent to subsidiary. Either can work; guessing which one applies is what causes trouble.
Both entities have to be doing business
A qualifying relationship alone is not enough. The regulations require that the petitioner and the qualifying organization be doing business, meaning the regular, systematic and continuous provision of goods or services. The mere presence of an agent or an office does not meet that standard. For the Canadian side, evidence is easy: operating courses, payroll, financial statements, supplier contracts. For a newly acquired American course the position is different, and the petition will be treated as a new-office case unless the acquired business is genuinely up and running under the new ownership. That distinction changes what has to be filed and how long an initial approval lasts.
Describe managerial capacity in operating terms
Managerial capacity means managing the organization, or a department, subdivision, function or component of it; supervising other supervisory, professional or managerial employees or managing an essential function; holding authority over personnel decisions or functioning at a senior level; and exercising discretion over day-to-day operations. A director of golf operations who will direct a general manager, a superintendent and a food and beverage manager fits the first branch comfortably, and the organizational chart makes the argument. What weakens it is a description full of hands-on work — running tournaments personally, supervising groundskeeping crews directly — which suggests a working supervisor rather than a manager.
Duration, the qualifying year, and the ceiling
The individual must have been employed abroad by the qualifying organization for one continuous year within the three preceding years in a managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge role, evidenced by payroll and a letter describing duties. If the American entity is new, an approval is initially for one year and an extension will be assessed on what the business actually did. Over the long run, time in this classification is capped at seven years for a managerial or executive role, and time spent in the United States counts toward it. A group that intends the posting to be permanent should therefore raise permanent-residence planning at the outset rather than in year six.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.