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 a TN offer depends on a client contract that has not started
A TN offer sometimes describes work that begins only if a client engagement is signed or renewed. That contingency is a fact about the proposed employment, so record it rather than smoothing it over. Before an appointment, gather what the employer can state today about dates, duties, supervision and remuneration, and mark which parts remain conditional and on what event, so the discussion starts from the arrangement that actually exists.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Write down what the offer actually commits to
- Ask the employer for an accurate letter, not an optimistic one
- Sequence the questions the contingency creates
When the Canadian citizen in the household is not the job candidate
Nationality is assessed for each person individually, and again for each route considered. If the person holding the U.S. offer has Canadian permanent residence while their spouse holds Canadian citizenship, the offer does not borrow the spouse's citizenship. Before the appointment, write down each adult's citizenships, the document that evidences each one, and who would be the principal applicant under each option being discussed.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Record each person's own nationality facts
- Ask who could be the principal under each option
- Keep each route's own test, and the Canadian side, separate
Reading a target business's liabilities before calling the funds available
A price agreed for a business does not describe the money the business will have to operate with. Existing liabilities, assumed obligations and loan repayments draw on the same funds as wages and inventory. Before committing, separate the purchase price, the amounts that will service debt, and the working capital the enterprise would actually hold, and ask which of those the review would treat as invested and at risk.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Get the schedule of obligations before the number is fixed
- Distinguish the kinds of money in the file
- Explain what the enterprise will do with what remains
When the plan relies on the foreign company absorbing early losses
New-office plans often assume the existing company will carry salaries and premises until U.S. revenue arrives. That assumption is only as good as the foreign company's own accounts. Before the plan is settled, compare what the first year requires, month by month, with what the financial records show the company can supply, and identify who has the authority to commit those funds and in what form.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Put the plan and the accounts side by side
- Describe resources rather than reaching for a threshold
- Plan for the year-end conversation now
Comparing a branch and a subsidiary before the transfer is proposed
A U.S. branch and a U.S. subsidiary are different legal arrangements, and the difference appears in the documents each route relies on. Decide the structure on business, tax and legal grounds first, then ask how each immigration route reads it. There is no universal rule requiring a separately incorporated U.S. company, so the useful preparation is an accurate description of what exists today and what is proposed.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the entities exactly as they are
- Ask what each route needs from the structure
- Check who actually employs and pays the person
When a dependent's birth record and current passport show different names
Names change through marriage, a court order or a corrected civil record, and a family's documents often disagree as a result. The purpose of gathering them is to show how one person's records connect to each other, not to establish anyone's permission to work or study. Before the appointment, list each family member's documents, the exact name printed on each, and the record that explains any change.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Map the name that appears on every document
- Keep the relationship question apart from the status question
- Sequence the corrections and list the open questions
When a residence plan is expected to secure a place at a university
Admission to a university and eligibility for an immigration category are decided by different bodies under different rules. A parent may hope that an EB-5 investment or a Gold Card application will settle a child's place or the tuition rate; neither is an admissions decision. Before money moves, separate the immigration questions from the university questions and put each set to the people who actually decide them.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask the institution its own questions in writing
- Read what each route actually is
- Work through the child's own facts and dates