Read it.
Use it.
Focused guides for the questions that need more than a quick answer. Each includes a worksheet to prepare your next conversation.
Guides for your next decision.
Build a TN employer evidence brief before drafting the letter
Read & prepare Applicant planningKeep an L-1A new-office record from approval to extension
Read & prepare Applicant planningCompare the E-2 evidence for a startup and a business purchase
Read & prepare U.S. destination planningCanadian RN planning for New York State
Read & prepare U.S. destination planningCanadian RN planning for California
Read & prepareSeven decisions, answered before you prepare.
Preparing a TN file when the supporting records are in French
Begin with a bilingual inventory of the records available, retaining their originals. A diploma, transcript and employer letter answer different questions. Establish with the person reviewing the file which translations and explanations are needed for the intended procedure. Before commissioning anything, agree who holds each record and who may authorise its release, because a diploma kept by a former institution and an employer letter kept by a hiring manager travel at very different speeds. Hypothetical example: a terminologist assembling a file discovers that the only certified copy of a transcript sits with a registrar who requires a written request from the graduate personally.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Keep the original credential names
- Separate translation from credential evaluation
- Match the duties without improving the story
Canadian permanent residence: what information should you clarify?
Your Canadian status and citizenship are separate facts. To prepare a U.S. planning discussion, identify your current citizenships, travel documents and Canadian status. A permanent resident card does not replace citizenship required by a U.S. category. Set the facts out as a short table before the discussion: each citizenship with the date it was acquired, each travel document with its expiry, and the current Canadian status with the document evidencing it. Hypothetical example: an indexing and metadata specialist holds Canadian permanent residence, a citizenship application in progress and a passport from another country, and only the last of those three opens or closes any particular route.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the position today
- Describe the opportunity rather than hunt for an exemption
- Prepare the procedural questions
Explain an E-2 funding proposal before committing to the transaction
Start with the actual ownership, funding source and proposed operating business. An E-2 review needs more than a purchase price: it considers qualifying treaty nationality, the investment and the enterprise. Describe what has already happened and what still depends on an agreement so the review does not mistake a plan for a completed commitment. Ask for the transaction documents in the order they were signed, and read them against a single timeline showing when each payment was made or became due. Hypothetical example: a buyer negotiating for a language school and interpreting agency holds a signed letter of intent, a paid deposit and an unsigned share purchase agreement, and only one of those three has placed any money beyond recall.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Trace the money through the transaction
- Read the conditions before money moves
- Explain what the enterprise will do
Build the evidence for the role a new office will support
For an L-1A new-office proposal, distinguish the existing foreign business from the U.S. operation being established. The initial review addresses the company relationship, qualifying employment, premises and the operation’s ability to support a managerial or executive role within one year of approval. A company registration alone does not answer those questions. Prepare two documents that answer different questions: one describing the foreign business as it operates today, and one describing the United States operation as it is intended to run. Hypothetical example: a dictionary and reference data company established abroad plans a United States office to serve institutional customers, and the second document has to say who will do that work rather than merely that the work exists.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Show the relationship and employment history
- Test who will perform the operating work
- Prepare to explain what develops
Compare L-1 and E-2 using the same business facts
Begin with one accurate account of the business and the applicant, then ask how each route treats those facts. L-1 centres on a qualifying company relationship, employment history and proposed role; E-2 examines treaty nationality, investment and the enterprise. Neither ownership alone nor an available budget selects the route. Write one factual account first and give it to whoever assesses each route, rather than producing a version tuned to each. Hypothetical example: the owner of a technical documentation services firm holds a Canadian company with employees and is also weighing an outright purchase of a United States business in a different field, and the same account of the company, the ownership and the owner's actual work has to support whichever analysis is done.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate facts from proposed changes
- Compare the applicant’s work, not just the entity
- Add household and transaction consequences
Preparing a consultation when family members have different plans
One person wants to accept a position, another wants to continue working in Canada, and a child hopes to finish the school year. These plans can be discussed together without assuming one timetable suits everyone. Prepare a record for each person distinguishing decisions, preferences and open questions. A first review makes a person-by-person table of passport citizenship, present status, intended activity, location, start date, and the document that confirms each fact. It identifies which plan can wait and which needs its own advice before money changes hands or work begins. Hypothetical example: a conservator of wooden carousel figures accepts a U.S. contract while a spouse intends to keep teaching virtual courses from the new home and their teenager plans to attend school. The household must decide whether each activity is permitted by the individual’s available status before agreeing to the move.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Name the intended activities
- Identify linked decisions
- Avoid commitments based on an assumption
Compare an EB-5 investment with a Gold Card proposal carefully
EB-5 and the Gold Card describe different financial commitments. EB-5 involves investment capital and qualifying job creation. The official Gold Card FAQ describes a gift-based process leading, for an eligible successful applicant, to permanent residence through EB-1 or EB-2, subject to visa availability and admissibility. Compare the evidence and financial consequences rather than assuming two advertised amounts purchase the same result. An EB-5 case must establish qualifying capital that remains at risk, the required job creation, and the later evidentiary basis for removing conditions after conditional permanent residence. The Gold Card process is not a conventional visa: it concerns a payment by the applicant to the U.S. government, along with its current official requirements. Hypothetical example: a maker of hand-pulled paper has sale proceeds available but must choose between a project that requires capital exposed to business results and a gift payment. The records to compare are the subscription terms, source-and-path evidence, official Gold Card terms, and a written household budget; a broker’s summary cannot settle the decision.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask what the EB-5 evidence must establish
- Distinguish the gift from investment capital
- Review timing and financial exposure independently