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.
Matching an analyst offer to the work behind the title
An offer headed “analyst” leaves the central TN question unanswered: what professional work would the employee perform? Ask for the actual assignments, methods and deliverables before selecting a listed profession. A broad corporate title cannot create a category, and a convincing description cannot replace the qualifications that the selected profession requires. A first review should produce a duty-to-profession table: assignment, method, deliverable, selected listing, and qualification record. The decision is whether a real listed profession fits before a start date is fixed. TN requires citizenship of Canada or Mexico, temporary prearranged professional work, and the listed qualifications. A Canadian citizen may request classification during inspection; an employer can seek USCIS approval through Form I-129. TN cannot be used through a U.S. business the applicant owns or controls.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Start with a real assignment
- Put education beside the duties
- Resolve the mismatch before the start date
Keeping a child’s citizenship separate from a parent’s work plan
A child in the household is a Canadian citizen while a parent is a Canadian permanent resident with another citizenship. List those facts separately. The child’s passport does not supply the parent with the citizenship required for TN, and the parent’s work proposal needs its own category assessment. A first review should make a person-by-person status sheet separating citizenship, Canadian permanent residence, passport evidence, and U.S. purpose. The decision is whether the proposed worker has a category on that worker’s own facts. Canadian permanent residence does not supply TN citizenship. L-1 depends on qualifying organizations and qualifying foreign employment; E-2 depends on treaty nationality, investment, and a real enterprise the investor directs.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Build one identity record per person
- Assess the parent’s actual opportunity
- Separate work permission from household preferences
Describing contributed equipment without treating a valuation as payment
The proposed owner wants to contribute equipment already owned personally to the U.S. business. A valuation and a transfer are different events. Document the equipment, its lawful acquisition, who currently owns it and what the proposed transaction would actually commit before presenting a total investment figure. A first review should produce an asset schedule with title, acquisition, lien status, valuation, transfer, receiving entity, and delivery evidence. The decision is whether equipment has moved beyond unilateral control into the enterprise, not whether it has an attractive appraisal. E-2 requires an investment irrevocably committed and at risk, a real non-marginal enterprise, treaty nationality, and an investor who will develop and direct the business.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the property and its history
- Show the transaction actually contemplated
- Explain the equipment’s business purpose
Reading warehouse activity before calling a U.S. site a new office
A U.S. warehouse may hold goods before it begins fulfilling orders, or it may already perform regular services. Describe what actually happens there and when it began. The label “warehouse” and the lease date cannot by themselves determine whether the operation qualifies as a new office. A first review should make a dated operations timeline beside the entity chart, foreign-employment records, premises documents, and first-year staffing plan. The decision is whether the operation is a new office and whether the applicant meets its role requirement. L-1 requires a qualifying relationship and a continuous qualifying year abroad in the prior three years. L-1A new offices need premises and a one-year managerial or executive plan; L-1A and L-1B time is generally limited to seven and five years.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Distinguish storage from operating activity
- Connect the site to the qualifying organization
- Explain the proposed first-year role
Reassessing a route when a parent company changes hands
A proposed sale of the foreign parent company can change the facts behind either an L-1 transfer or an E-2 investment plan. Preserve the current structure and draw the proposed one. A purchase announcement is not enough to establish who will own the relevant entities, their nationality or the applicant’s authority after closing. A first review should compare current and proposed structures with work authority, foreign employment, ownership nationality, capital, and closing records. The decision is which route remains supported after the transaction. L-1 needs qualifying organizations and a continuous qualifying year abroad in the prior three years; L-1A and L-1B time is generally limited to seven and five years. E-2 needs treaty nationality, an investor who will direct and develop the business, irrevocably committed at-risk capital, and a real business that is not marginal.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask what the transaction actually changes
- Test each category against the proposed structure
- Preserve facts before access changes
Checking insurance and immigration dates on different calendars
An employer says household insurance begins on the first day of work. That benefit date does not establish the immigration status of a spouse or child, and immigration approval does not establish insurance coverage. Obtain each set of terms and compare the dates before planning the family’s arrival. A first review should create one household timeline with relationship evidence, category, intended activity, status record, travel, and benefit dates. The decision is whether each person independently fits the dependent rule. TD permits study but not employment. Qualifying E and L spouses may be employment-authorized incident to valid status with appropriate evidence; children do not receive that same employment permission. Insurance terms cannot change those immigration conditions.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Read the coverage terms from the provider
- Read each person’s status separately
- Decide what a delayed start would change
Separating account access from ownership of jointly held funds
A joint account lets more than one person transact, but the account title alone may not explain who owns the funds or how they were earned. Before choosing an immigration funding plan, document the source, the ownership arrangement and any transfer needed to make the proposed funds available to the applicant. A first review should produce separate evidence paths for EB-5 capital, source and path, job creation, and conditional residence; and for Gold Card payment, applicant identity, category eligibility, and visa availability. The decision is which complete route the applicant can document. EB-5 capital must be at risk and support required jobs, with conditional residence before conditions may be removed. Gold Card is not a conventional visa or investment; it requires a payment by the applicant to the U.S. government under official instructions.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Reconstruct the contributions to the account
- Describe the intended applicant and transaction
- Use the Gold Card instructions for the gift