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.
A renewed assignment should describe the work ahead
When preparing another period of TN work, start with the assignment now proposed. An old employer letter explains an earlier request; it may not accurately describe the current duties, compensation or duration. Keep the history, but do not treat a previous approval as proof that every new arrangement qualifies. Hypothetical example: an air-quality modelling statistician receives a renewal letter that repeats an old worksite even though the current project moved. The decision is whether the stated assignment still describes the work that will be performed, not whether the old letter was once accepted. For a Canadian citizen, a renewed TN request may be presented for inspection or an employer may seek USCIS classification; TN cannot be used to run an enterprise in which the applicant has controlling ownership.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Compare the earlier and proposed assignments
- Recheck the professional basis
- Keep status dates separate from project dates
Compare each family member’s citizenship separately
A household in Beauharnois may include a Canadian citizen and a permanent resident with a different citizenship. Assess each person accurately. The principal applicant’s nationality and a family member’s potential derivative status answer different questions; one person’s passport should not be treated as everyone’s status. Hypothetical example: a Canadian permanent resident with a Mexican passport is married to a Canadian citizen who holds the U.S. job offer. The family must decide who is the principal and who may seek derivative status before booking travel. Permanent residence in Canada does not replace citizenship for a TN principal; a family member’s nationality can instead affect the visa procedure and supporting documents.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the proposed principal first
- Assess accompanying status separately
- Avoid exchanging facts between applicants
A business budget needs an explanation of working capital
An E-2 proposal often lists money for inventory, rent and early operations alongside the purchase price. Explain which amounts are committed to the enterprise and which remain an uncommitted reserve. A large bank balance does not answer the same question as funds genuinely invested or actively being invested. Hypothetical example: a treaty-national investor plans a geological core-sample imaging studio and keeps half of the budget in a personal reserve after signing a lease. The investor must decide which further commitments are necessary for the enterprise to operate and which money remains merely available. E-2 funds must be committed irrevocably, exposed to risk, and substantial for this enterprise; the operation cannot be marginal.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Map spending to the operating plan
- Test the investment conditions
- Explain viability without inventing an income promise
An expansion plan must account for outsourced operational work
A new U.S. office may intend to outsource bookkeeping, logistics or other services. Describe those arrangements accurately when explaining how the proposed manager will be supported. A list of outside vendors is not automatically proof of a qualifying managerial or executive role. Hypothetical example: a maker of microtome blade-sharpening systems leases a small U.S. unit and retains a third-party bookkeeper before transferring its foreign operations director. The decision is whether the first-year plan supports a managerial or executive position rather than a hands-on launch role. The transferee generally needs one continuous qualifying year abroad in the preceding three years, and L-1A stay is generally limited to seven years.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Show the work being delegated
- Assess the new-office standard
- Verify the qualifying transfer history
A joint venture needs more than a shared project name
Two businesses can collaborate without creating the relationship an L-1 transfer requires. A proposed investor may also have an E-2 question, but that is a separate test. Start with the ownership, control and applicant facts instead of treating collaboration as an immigration category. Hypothetical example: a manufacturer of automated apiary scales is considering a related-company transfer for its foreign director while a treaty-national co-owner proposes a separate U.S. purchase. The decision is which factual path exists now, rather than which label is commercially attractive. L-1 requires the qualifying relationship and a continuous qualifying year abroad during the three years immediately before the filing; E-2 requires treaty nationality, irrevocably committed at-risk capital, development and direction, and a nonmarginal enterprise.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Draw the actual entities and control
- Examine investment independently
- Keep proposed changes visible
School arrangements and immigration permission are different decisions
A family can investigate schools before deciding on a U.S. move, but a school place does not establish immigration status. Build a separate record for each child and accompanying adult. Keep educational preferences, entry requirements and any proposed work from becoming one assumed permission. Hypothetical example: the spouse of a flute-repair workshop owner plans to accept paid online customer bookings after the family arrives. Before budgeting that income, the household must decide which status each adult will hold and whether it authorizes the planned activity. School arrangements, a dependent’s status and work permission are separate records; a child’s enrolment does not extend the principal’s admission.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the child’s proposed status
- Check the adults’ work plans
- Plan for changes during the school year
An exit clause does not mean the government guarantees repayment
When comparing EB-5 with Gold Card, examine what the money becomes and whether any claimed repayment belongs to a private agreement. Neither an immigration milestone nor a reassuring sales statement guarantees that invested capital will return. The Gold Card government gift is a different financial commitment. Hypothetical example: a supplier of lunar-regolith sieving equipment has proceeds from a sale and can either fund an EB-5 proposal or make a Gold Card payment. The applicant must decide whether accepting investment risk and a job-creation record is preferable to a gift payment with no private repayment right. EB-5 capital must be at risk and support the required jobs, while Gold Card is never a conventional visa and requires payment by the applicant to the U.S. government.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Keep EB-5 commercial terms separate
- Do not relabel the Gold Card gift
- Separate residence decisions from investment outcomes