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.
Documenting a degree that is completed but not yet conferred
A registrar confirms that all graduation requirements were met, while conferral is scheduled for a later convocation. Those are two different facts, and they belong in the file as two dated statements rather than one. Record what each document actually says, then ask the person reviewing the file which record answers the credential question for the profession being considered. One failure surfaces reliably on a first reading: the file holds a completion letter and an expected convocation date, and nothing in it states which of the two is being offered to answer the profession’s credential requirement. Write that sentence yourself, because nobody else will. The condition it addresses is the one that decides the question: TN requires the qualification specified for the particular listed profession, and a completion letter is a statement about requirements met rather than a conferred degree. Hypothetical example: a candidate for an Accountant position at a benefits administration firm records both dates and puts that question in writing before booking any travel.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Record the two dates separately
- Check what the profession's credential requirement is
- Sequence the translation and evaluation questions
Transferring from a Canadian employer without Canadian citizenship
A foreign citizen who lives in Canada and works for a Canadian company is offered a transfer to a U.S. affiliate. Canadian permanent residence does not create eligibility on its own, and the L-1 category does not depend on Canadian citizenship. It depends on the relationship between the companies, the applicant's qualifying employment abroad and the proposed role. Not every internal move fits that description.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate the citizenship question from the transfer question
- Build the employment history before discussing dates
- Describe the structure and the role, then ask about steps
- The document that settles which entity employed the applicant
Updating an E-2 file after a financing round changes the ownership
A financing round closes after the first draft of an E-2 file, and the founder's percentage falls. Dilution does not automatically end the analysis, and the percentages are not irrelevant either. The nationality of the enterprise, the applicant's ability to develop and direct it, and the investment itself all have to be reassessed against the closing documents rather than the earlier draft.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Redraw the ownership as of the closing date
- Distinguish a controlling position from a majority
- Reassess the funds and the enterprise, not just the cap table
- The register, not the deck, is the record of ownership
Splitting duties when the proposed U.S. manager keeps Canadian clients
The person proposed as manager of a new U.S. office still handles day-to-day work for Canadian clients. Describe that work accurately so its effect on the proposed role can be assessed. The file should show a realistic split of duties across both companies, who absorbs the Canadian work, and what the U.S. operation is expected to support during its first year.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Write the working week down honestly
- Show who absorbs the Canadian work
- Tie the split to the first year and the foreign entity
- What the calendar shows that a duty description does not
Weighing business control against a reporting line
An applicant wants to keep control of the business, while the transfer on offer comes with a reporting line to an officer of the parent company. A visa category does not deliver autonomy; it describes what has to be proved. Compare the actual authority, ownership, duties and commercial obligations under each route, using the same set of facts for both comparisons.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the authority that exists on paper
- Compare what each route actually examines
- Price the commercial obligations on both sides
- Read the reserved matters before choosing a route
Recording marital status while a divorce is still before the court
Divorce proceedings are under way while the household plans a move and dependent applications. Record the present legal marital status and every relevant order with its effective date. A former spouse cannot rely on a marriage that has legally ended to establish eligibility as that principal's spouse. Have the consequences for existing status, pending applications and planned travel assessed individually, rather than assuming a document's printed expiration resolves them.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- State the situation exactly as it stands today
- Collect the orders that govern the children
- Ask for individual review before anyone commits
- The order, its effective date, and what it does not decide
Asking for the evidence behind a promoter's job-creation summary
A promoter offers a one-page summary stating how many jobs a project will create. The summary alone does not show how the projected number was supported. Ask for the underlying project material and have the job-creation analysis reviewed by someone independent of the sale. Keep that inquiry separate from what the official Gold Card materials describe, which is not an EB-5 investment.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask what the summary was derived from
- Keep the immigration questions apart from the sales pitch
- Do not read the Gold Card materials into a project offering
- Ask who signed the analysis, and what they were given