IN THIS GUIDE · What usually goes wrong with the one-year rule in a dealership transfer
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
The year runs on payroll, not on relationship
L-1A requires one continuous year of full-time employment with the qualifying foreign entity within the three years immediately before the petition. The months in which the manager invoiced the dealership as an independent technician do not count, however close the working relationship was, because an independent contractor is not employed by the company. The year starts on the first day of the payroll record, and it has to be continuous; a summer spent on unpaid leave restarts nothing but a resignation and rehire does. Short business trips to the United States during the year do not count toward it, though they do not break it either. Before the petition is drafted, print the payroll history and confirm that twelve unbroken months sit inside the three-year window. The first review should produce a calendar rather than a conclusion by instinct. Match pay statements, tax slips, employment agreements and leave records month by month, then mark the intended filing date and the three-year look-back period. If a record is missing, obtain the issuer's replacement before filing. A sworn account cannot make contractor invoices into wages, and an unexplained gap can turn an apparently safe anniversary into an ineligible filing date.
An acquisition has to be complete before it creates the relationship
The Canadian dealership and the U.S. location must be the same employer or a parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate, and both must be active businesses at the time of filing. A signed letter of intent creates no relationship; the qualifying link exists on the closing date, when the Canadian company actually owns and controls the U.S. entity. The petition should carry the share purchase agreement, the post-closing ownership chart, the U.S. entity's registration and evidence that it is trading. Because the U.S. dealership was already operating before the purchase, this is not a new-office case and the petition can request a full three-year initial period, but only if the acquired business is genuinely doing business rather than winding down. The decision-maker should be able to follow control from one chart to the next without guessing. Reconcile the purchase price, board resolutions, share register and banking authority with the post-closing chart. If a seller retains control or the Canadian company acquired assets rather than the operating entity, pause and identify whether a qualifying relationship actually exists. The closing binder, rather than an optimistic business plan, settles that point.
Manager of a function, not lead technician
L-1A demands primarily managerial or executive duties. Running a parts-and-service department can qualify when the manager sets staffing, pricing, warranty policy and supplier terms, hires and disciplines technicians and controls the department's budget. It does not qualify when the manager will spend most days in the bay turning wrenches because the U.S. location has lost its technicians. A first-line supervisor of non-professional staff is not a manager under the regulation unless the role is genuinely managing a function through others. Describe the U.S. staffing honestly, and if the technicians are not yet hired, decide whether the business can wait or whether an earlier hiring plan is needed before the transfer. The maximum stay in L-1A status is seven years. A useful first review ends with a proposed organization chart for the first six months, naming who performs the operational work and who reports to the transferee. That chart tests whether the claimed manager will manage a function through others or fill operational shortages personally. If hiring is still essential, sequence the hires and the transfer so the description remains true on the date the petition is filed and after admission.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.