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 human resources and the hiring manager describe different jobs
A general human-resources letter and a technical manager’s description may disagree about the proposed position. Reconcile the actual facts before assembling the TN file. The goal is an accurate account of the work, not matching terminology for its own sake. Hypothetical example: an analog sound-archive cataloguer is offered a digitisation role, but the employer letter calls the position an archivist while the duty schedule describes routine scanning. The decision is whether the signed duties and qualification records support the claimed listed profession before any presentation. A Canadian or Mexican citizen may request TN classification during inspection or preclearance, or an employer may use an I-129 petition with USCIS; TN cannot cover work through a U.S. enterprise the applicant owns or controls.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the factual disagreement
- Resolve the profession and credential questions
- Keep the correction traceable
A parent’s Canadian citizenship is a question to document, not an assumption to use
An adult Canadian permanent resident may believe a parent’s citizenship means they are also Canadian. Establish the applicant’s actual citizenship through the appropriate Canadian process before relying on it for a U.S. category. Family history can identify a question without answering it. Hypothetical example: a glass-harmonica repair apprentice holds a Canadian permanent-resident card and a U.S. offer, while a parent was born in Canada. The decision is whether official Canadian citizenship evidence exists before selecting a U.S. route; family history and permanent residence are not substitutes for it.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Collect the facts needed for a citizenship review
- Keep the U.S. analysis on established facts
- Build a plan that identifies the dependency
Inventory that cannot be sold needs a different place in the operating budget
A purchase inventory may include expired, damaged or restricted stock. Identify what the business actually receives and can use before presenting the seller’s inventory total as evidence of a working enterprise. An accounting number is not a substitute for the underlying condition and rights. Hypothetical example: a maker of hand-printed astronomical charts is buying a U.S. studio and plans to pay the seller after a licensing decision. The decision is whether the payment is genuinely committed and subject to loss, or remains a refundable intention. E-2 requires funds irrevocably committed and at risk, a substantial investment for the enterprise, and an operation that will not be marginal; the investor must direct and develop the business.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask what is included in the sale
- Separate investment evidence from expected sales
- Update the plan before relying on the original forecast
Financial statements in different currencies need a transparent comparison
A foreign company’s accounts and a U.S. startup budget may use different currencies and accounting periods. Make those differences visible before presenting a consolidated funding picture. A converted total should remain traceable to the original records and stated assumptions. Hypothetical example: a municipal pipe-organ conservation company secures a U.S. workshop but delays its first restoration contract. The decision is whether the premises, funding and first-year staffing plan still describe a viable new office rather than an address awaiting a business. The worker needs one continuous qualifying year abroad during the three years before the request; L-1A is capped at seven years and L-1B at five.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Keep originals beside the comparison
- Show what funding the business can actually provide
- Connect finances to the other requirements
An interim management arrangement needs its own role description
A founder may perform one role while an interim manager is in place and another after a permanent hire. Describe both phases before comparing L-1 and E-2. The immigration analysis depends on the actual proposed duties and authority, not a job description that assumes recruitment is already complete. Hypothetical example: a planetary-mapping data editor may transfer from an affiliated foreign company or acquire an unrelated U.S. visualisation studio. The decision is whether the verified corporate relationship and qualifying foreign employment support L-1, or whether personal capital is already committed to a treaty enterprise for E-2. L-1 needs a qualifying organization and one continuous year abroad in the three years before the request, with seven- and five-year limits; E-2 funds must be committed, at risk and directed into a nonmarginal business.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify who acts during the interim period
- Apply the route requirements to the real sequence
- Prepare for a delayed hire
An employer’s relocation letter is not proof of every dependent’s eligibility
A relocation letter may promise practical support for the household without identifying the immigration basis for each person. Read what the employer actually undertakes, then prepare the relationship and status evidence separately. The employer cannot create dependent eligibility by describing someone as family. Hypothetical example: a fly-tying materials wholesaler accepts an overseas assignment while a spouse plans remote consulting and an eighteen-year-old plans a paid placement. The decision is whether each activity has authorization under that person’s actual status, rather than assuming the principal’s approval extends to the household.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- List the people behind the relocation package
- Separate assistance from permission
- Ask for useful factual support
Funds held by a trustee need an explanation of the applicant’s rights
A trust statement may show substantial assets without showing what the applicant is entitled to receive or direct. Before using that figure in an immigration funding plan, identify the governing documents, actual distribution rights and records of any transfer. Do not treat access to information as ownership of the capital. Hypothetical example: a maker of scientific-instrument cases has trust distributions expected next year and considers both EB-5 and Gold Card. The decision is whether there is documented, available capital that can enter an EB-5 investment trail, or whether the applicant can personally make the required Gold Card payment to the U.S. government. EB-5 involves capital at risk, qualifying jobs and conditional residence; Gold Card is not a conventional visa and is not a private investment.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the capacity in which each person acts
- Connect the distribution to source and path
- Compare the Gold Card process separately