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.
Make the compensation description consistent with the actual professional offer
A Richelieu applicant may receive an offer with salary, variable compensation or reimbursement terms described in different documents. Explain the real arrangement clearly without treating a preferred compensation label as a TN qualification. Set the support letter beside the offer, credential record and duty list, and mark the document that establishes each point. A Canadian professional may request classification through U.S. preclearance or another admission inspection, while an employer can submit Form I-129 to USCIS; neither route permits services for a U.S. business the applicant controls. Hypothetical example: a librarian is hired to reorganize an archive and migrate its catalogue. The employer must decide whether the letter, degree record and duties describe one listed professional activity before proceeding.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask the employer to describe the actual terms
- Assess the listed profession independently
- Keep the temporary work and ownership analysis intact
Keep the household’s Canadian status documents separate from each applicant’s U.S. category
A Richelieu household may hold a mixture of Canadian citizenship and permanent-resident documents. Prepare the U.S. assessment person by person rather than describing the whole family as Canadian for every purpose. Make a person-by-person status sheet showing passport, citizenship evidence, Canadian residence record, intended role and expiry. For a prospective L-1 principal, dated employment evidence must show at least one qualifying foreign year during the three-year window before the relevant filing or admission event. L-1A time generally has a seven-year limit and L-1B time a five-year limit. Hypothetical example: a museum collections registrar has Canadian permanent residence and a foreign passport when a U.S. employer offers records work. The household must assess the passport actually held, not a hoped-for citizenship change. The record that settles nationality is the valid passport, while the status sheet determines which route can be assessed and when.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the principal’s actual citizenship
- Distinguish investor nationality from transfer evidence
- Create an individual document map
Explain the investment funds when transfers start from a joint account
A Richelieu investor may use an account shared with a spouse or another person. Identify the actual source, ownership and transaction terms instead of assuming that the account title alone establishes the entire E-2 funds record. Trace every proposed dollar from lawful source through account, contract, recipient and present loss exposure. E-2 capital must be irrevocably committed to the U.S. enterprise and at risk; it cannot remain revocable, and the enterprise may not be marginal. Hypothetical example: an investor funds a mobile hearing-aid repair business from a joint account, paying a vehicle deposit, diagnostic equipment invoice and leasehold work. The issue is whether those specific commitments, rather than the balance, establish qualifying investment and control.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Trace the funds without inventing ownership rights
- Establish commitment, risk and financing terms
- Retain enterprise nationality and authority
Identify the foreign entities that support the actual new-office transfer
A Richelieu group may operate through several related foreign companies. Map the proposed transferee’s employer and the business that will continue abroad rather than using a group name as the complete L explanation. Draw a dated line through the ownership chain, foreign operations, proposed U.S. entity, foreign duties and planned U.S. duties. The transferee needs at least one qualifying foreign-employment year in the three years before the pertinent filing or admission event. L-1A generally has a seven-year limit; L-1B generally has a five-year limit. Hypothetical example: a municipal water-meter testing firm plans a U.S. launch while its proposed manager still calibrates equipment abroad. The first-year staffing record must show management capacity, not merely relocated technical work.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Document the real qualifying relationships
- Match the individual to the new-office category
- Keep the international activity and later evidence concrete
Identify whose control matters in a group-funded U.S. venture
A Richelieu corporate group may provide money while a particular individual plans to run the U.S. business. Distinguish the group’s financial commitment from the applicant’s qualifying role and authority. Maintain one ledger for corporate relationship, overseas employment and the intended U.S. position, and another for nationality, capital source, commitment and control. The transfer candidate needs twelve continuous overseas months in a qualifying role during the three-year lookback. Management or executive classification has a seven-year maximum; special-knowledge classification has a five-year maximum. Investor capital must leave the applicant’s unrestricted reach, face genuine loss, and support an operating business that is not marginal. Hypothetical example: a specialty bicycle-component importer can fund its U.S. venture or move its procurement director. The records must support one analysis without borrowing facts from the other.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Assess the actual L transferee and organization
- Assess investor authority through the real ownership arrangement
- Keep launch and owner conditions in the comparison
Record the work activity each relative actually intends to perform
A Richelieu household may use the word helping to describe work in a proposed U.S. business. Describe the real activity and each person’s status rather than assuming that a family connection removes work restrictions. Make an activity chart for every relative: work, study, travel, relationship evidence, principal status and expiry. The first review should distinguish activities that may start, those needing a separate authorization question, and those that must wait. Hypothetical example: a restoration carpenter accompanying an L-1 principal is asked to supervise a kitchen renovation for the family’s U.S. business. The household must determine whether that productive work is permitted under the person’s actual status before accepting it as informal help. The chart should name the factual record—passport, I-94, marriage certificate, or birth certificate—that resolves each proposed activity.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the actual category for each relative
- Apply work restrictions to the real activity
- Keep school, age and stay separate from the business plan
Distinguish company-funded plans from the identity of the actual investor or sponsored employee
A Richelieu owner may discuss using company funds while comparing EB-5 and Gold Card. Identify the actual applicant, funding transaction and route; the payer’s company name does not decide the immigration category by itself. Match the applicant, source, intermediary account, recipient and governing instruction for every transfer. EB-5 requires capital at risk, qualifying job evidence and conditional residence only through the relevant immigrant process. Gold Card is not a conventional visa; it is a payment by the applicant to the U.S. government under official instructions, followed by a separate eligibility process. Hypothetical example: a robotics-parts manufacturer offers to finance a founder’s Gold Card payment. Before any money moves, the file must show that the payment method is permitted and identifies the same applicant throughout.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Keep the EB-5 principal and investment conditions identifiable
- Apply the actual Gold Card arrangement
- Separate approval, residence and financial recovery
- Prepare an applicant-to-payment map