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.
When the destination licence is provisional or restricted
A provisional, conditional or supervised practice permission is a fact to record precisely, not a detail to summarise. Obtain the written terms before the employer finishes describing the role. TN eligibility turns on the profession's own credential requirements; permission to practise where the work would happen is a separate question that TN classification alone does not resolve.
Record the exact class of registration, the issue and expiry dates, any supervision, setting or scope conditions, and the body that issued it. A summary such as "licensed" removes the conditions that matter most to the analysis. If the certificate is in French, keep the original and note that a foreign-language document submitted to USCIS requires a complete certified English translation, not a translation of selected passages. Where the wording is ambiguous, ask the regulator in writing for clarification rather than paraphrasing it yourself.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Copy the licence terms word for word
- Separate being listed from being permitted to act
- Sequence the requests so nothing is drafted twice
Reporting a new citizenship your Canadian records do not show
A citizenship granted after your Canadian documents were issued changes what you must state, not merely which passport is convenient. List every citizenship you currently hold, the name on each travel document and the date of each event. The category being considered decides which of these facts matters, and a residence record does not answer that question. A first review should produce a citizenship chronology beside the proposed route’s actual nationality rule. The naturalization certificate, citizenship certificate, birth record and valid passport settle different points. The concrete decision is whether to delay a filing until the evidence can state the complete history consistently.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Write the timeline before choosing a document
- Answer the citizenship question, not the residence question
- Do not let a helpful new passport rewrite history
Buying business assets when the seller's records are incomplete
When the seller cannot produce complete books, the asking price alone cannot establish the cost or trading history. An E-2 review looks at what was actually paid or irrevocably committed, and at whether the enterprise really operates. Build the cost and operating picture from evidence you can verify yourself, and mark the remaining gaps as gaps. The first review should separate documented capital from a seller’s unsupported story about the business. An E-2 case needs qualifying treaty nationality, a substantial investment actually committed and exposed to risk, a real non-marginal enterprise, and an investor who will develop and direct it. The immediate decision is whether the available records support a purchase now or require a different structure.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Rebuild the cost from your side of the transaction
- Reconstruct the operation from third-party traces
- Describe ownership and direction accurately
When the foreign company holds assets but sells nothing
A foreign entity that owns property or shares but supplies no goods or services raises a question a certificate of incorporation cannot answer. The qualifying organization must be doing business, and that is examined across the structure as it actually operates. Describe the real activity first, then decide which entity the filing should rely on. The first review must confirm both a qualifying relationship and one uninterrupted year of qualifying foreign employment during the three years before filing. It should also identify the records showing that the foreign operation is doing business, not merely holding assets. The decision is whether the evidence supports a new-office filing now or whether the operating history needs to be clarified first.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Map the structure as it operates, not as it is drawn
- Choose the qualifying entity on evidence
- Ask what must continue, and for how long
When the qualifying year of employment falls short
An employment history that does not reach one continuous year with a qualifying organization in the relevant three-year period is a fact, not an obstacle to argue away. Do not assume the requirement can be waived because the transfer is urgent. Test the L-1 timing precisely, and if it does not work, assess a personal business on its own criteria rather than as a consolation route. The L-1 question is whether there are 12 uninterrupted months of work for a qualifying organization in the three years before filing, as well as a qualifying relationship and appropriate role. L-1A has a seven-year maximum total stay and L-1B a five-year maximum. Those limits do not make E-2 a substitute: it requires treaty nationality, risked committed capital, a non-marginal enterprise and investor direction.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Measure the employment period exactly
- Do not decorate the gap
- Assess the investment route on its own facts
Booking a trip while a dependent's request is still pending
Before anyone buys a ticket, establish exactly what was filed for each family member, where it currently stands, and how each person would return. Departure while a request is pending does not carry one universal consequence, and it does not follow that every member of the household is affected in the same way. A first review should create a person-by-person travel table: current status, document expiry, pending request, planned activity and proposed return document. The concrete decision is whether each traveller can leave without creating an unresolved re-entry or work problem. A family itinerary cannot safely stand in for that individual analysis.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Write down what was filed, for whom
- Plan the return route before the outbound one
- Keep work and study questions separate from travel
Capital returned from an earlier business, then reused
Money that came back to you from a previous venture has two histories: where it originally came from, and how it returned. Both must be traceable, and they are separate events. Reusing that capital does not automatically establish the new plan’s investment requirements, and it does not convert between an EB-5 investment and the Gold Card gift. A first review should make two separate ledgers: one for the EB-5 capital path and job plan, and one for a Gold Card payment. EB-5 requires lawfully sourced capital at risk and the required job creation, with conditional permanent residence first; the Gold Card is not a conventional visa and its payment is made by the applicant to the U.S. government. The decision is which commitment, if either, the records actually support.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Trace the original source and the return separately
- Do not assume prior participation counts
- Keep the two routes financially distinct