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 person who prepared the employer letter cannot sign it
A draft may sit unfinished because its author has left the employer or is unavailable. Identify a current authorized representative who can confirm the relevant facts. A signature is not a substitute for knowledge of the proposed employment, and using an old signature image does not make a current letter accurate. First decide whether the original author is a fact witness or only a drafter. The current signatory should confirm the final duties, supervision, pay, location, and intended dates from reliable employer records. A Canadian citizen may seek TN classification through an inspection process; an employer may instead submit an I-129 petition to USCIS. Neither route makes an outdated support letter accurate, and TN cannot be used for an arrangement in which the worker is the effective U.S. employer.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify which facts the new signatory can confirm
- Keep the applicant’s evidence separate
- Preserve the document sequence
A Canadian-citizenship checklist may be the wrong checklist for an L-1 transfer
An employer may send a generic cross-border checklist asking every applicant for a Canadian citizenship certificate. If the proposal is L-1, identify why each document is requested rather than assuming Canadian citizenship is a qualification for the transfer. The applicant’s actual nationality still matters to the appropriate procedure. A first review should identify the proposed category before anyone orders a citizenship record or translation. For L-1, the central records are the qualifying relationship, the employment history, and the actual U.S. role; the employee generally needs one continuous qualifying year abroad during the three years before the petition. L-1A and L-1B also have seven-year and five-year maximum stay limits respectively. Those conditions do not turn Canadian permanent residence into Canadian citizenship.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask which category the employer is preparing
- Gather evidence for the transfer requirements
- Retain the nationality and travel questions
Buying a customer list requires more than assigning it a price
A business purchase may allocate much of its price to customer relationships rather than equipment. Identify what rights the buyer actually receives and what evidence supports the operating assumptions. A seller’s list does not guarantee that customers will continue or that all relationships can be transferred. The first review should produce a rights-and-risk map: what the buyer receives, what payment is already committed, which conditions remain, and how the business will operate if expected customers do not continue. E-2 requires treaty nationality, a real enterprise that is not marginal, capital committed in an irrevocable at-risk manner, and the investor’s ability to develop and direct it. A negotiated valuation is not a substitute for those facts.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Read the rights behind the list
- Keep valuation separate from committed capital
- Support the revenue assumptions honestly
A service provider’s expiring contract can leave a gap in the staffing plan
A new-office plan may rely on an outside provider for essential operational tasks. Check whether that agreement actually covers the period and work described. An outsourced function should be shown as outsourced, with its limits visible, rather than counted as permanent internal staff. A first review should create a one-year operating timeline showing premises, vendor coverage, hiring, revenue assumptions, and the transferee’s changing duties. The employee generally needs one continuous qualifying year abroad during the three years before the petition, and L-1A time is subject to a seven-year maximum. A new office may receive initial approval for no more than one year, so later staffing cannot be treated as present capacity.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the work and the contract period
- Connect the gap to the proposed managerial role
- Keep the other evidence alongside the operating plan
Compare the evidence still missing before paying for two competing plans
An applicant may receive proposals for both a transfer plan and an investor plan. Compare the facts each route needs before commissioning two complete packages. A professional-services proposal should explain its assumptions rather than treating the availability of two labels as proof of two viable options. The first review should produce two evidence lists and a stop/go decision for each route. L-1 depends on a qualifying relationship and generally one continuous qualifying year abroad during the three years before the petition; maximum stay is seven years for L-1A and five years for L-1B. E-2 instead depends on treaty nationality, a real non-marginal enterprise, at-risk committed capital, and the investor’s ability to develop and direct it. Neither route is established by a consultant’s preference.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- List the unresolved facts for each proposal
- Compare the requirements without mixing them
- Agree on the next evidence decision
A spouse’s work-permission record should be checked before a new employer relies on it
A spouse may have several documents with different dates: a visa, admission record and employment-authorization document. Identify the current status and applicable work basis before presenting one document as the complete answer. An old document alone may not describe the present authorization. A first review should put every travel, status, and employment document on one dated timeline and identify the status that actually authorizes work. For qualifying E and L spouses, work authorization is incident to valid status with appropriate I-94 evidence; dependent children do not receive that permission merely through the family relationship. The decision is whether the employer has current evidence before assigning a start date.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Build the document timeline
- Distinguish the dependent classifications
- Resolve the evidence question before relying on a start date
A pledged asset may not provide the cash shown in a funding summary
An asset statement may omit a lender’s claim or restrictions on sale proceeds. Identify the owner, security and actual amount that could be released before treating gross value as available immigration funding. Valuation, borrowing capacity and cash received are different figures. The first review should separate net proceeds available for a transaction from an asset’s headline value, then identify the route being considered. EB-5 requires capital placed at risk, qualifying job creation, and conditional permanent residence before later removal-of-conditions review. A Gold Card is different: the applicant makes the required payment to the U.S. government under the program, and it is not a conventional visa. Neither pathway converts projected proceeds into completed funding.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask what would happen on sale or refinancing
- Preserve the lawful source and transfer explanation
- Read the gift process on its own terms