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.
Ordering a replacement diploma without pausing the TN analysis
A lost diploma raises a records question, not automatically a question about the qualification itself. Ask the registrar what record remains of the degree and its conferral date. Before treating a missing parchment as an obstacle, list what the registrar can issue, what the intended procedure calls for, and who will confirm which of those records the reviewer actually needs. Hypothetical example: a ceramic-studio ventilation engineer has a degree certificate in one archive, a professional licence under a shortened name, and an offer describing only engineering support. The applicant must decide whether the offer's duties and the credential record match the precise TN profession before ordering more copies. A first review produces a name-and-document chart, a duty comparison, and a list of missing authoritative records. The registrar's certified transcript or conferral letter settles the education point; the signed employer description settles what work is actually proposed. Do not cure a vague offer by changing the historical academic record or by treating a licence as proof of every separate requirement.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask what the registrar can actually issue
- Keep the profession requirement in view
- Sequence evaluation and translation deliberately
Documenting citizenship while a passport renewal is under way
Distinguish the citizenship you currently hold from the passport available to document it. Record which authority holds each passport during renewal and any evidence of citizenship available meanwhile. A document's expiry alone is not a complete nationality assessment. If citizenship itself is uncertain, verify it with the relevant authority rather than inferring the answer from the renewal application. Hypothetical example: a municipal vector-borne-disease data curator holds Canadian permanent residence, is waiting for a citizenship decision, and has a valid passport from a treaty country. The person must decide which route can be assessed on current evidence and which one depends on a future event. A first review produces a citizenship table, a passport-validity timeline and a route-by-route list of governing facts. The citizenship certificate or passport issued by the relevant country settles nationality; a permanent-resident card does not. Keep the pending citizenship file as a timing fact, not as proof that citizenship has already changed.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Record documents and citizenships in separate columns
- Ask which step needs the document in hand
- Check which citizenship each route relies on
Tracing treaty nationality through a new holding company
Forming a holding company to make the purchase adds a layer the review has to see through. Treaty nationality is traced to individuals through ownership, so the chain has to be written out with exact legal names and dated documents. Describe what has already been signed and paid, and what still depends on an agreement that has not closed. Hypothetical example: a producer of adjustable neonatal-incubator humidity modules signs an asset purchase through a holding company, then learns that a co-owner wants a veto over borrowing and sale decisions. The investor must decide whether the ownership and control documents still establish the claimed treaty nationality before releasing the next payment. A first review produces a dated ownership chart, a source-to-use ledger and a schedule separating deposits, binding obligations and refundable amounts. The share register, governing agreement and signed purchase documents settle the ownership point; a pitch deck does not. Sequence the transaction documents before the immigration filing so later changes do not silently contradict the represented enterprise.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Write the ownership chain with exact legal names
- Test ownership against control
- Follow the funds and read the conditions
Sequencing the first U.S. hires against the transferee's admission
A new office often needs people working before the transferee arrives. Petition filing, approval, visa issuance where applicable, admission and effective work authorization are separate events with separate dates. Write down which of those governs each person, then decide deliberately what work can begin now and what has to wait for someone who is not yet here. Hypothetical example: a producer of rainwater-pump controllers leases a U.S. unit, but the foreign general manager has not yet decided whether a local distributor or employees will handle installation. The company must decide which launch facts are settled before describing the transferee as a manager. A first review produces a premises record, a staffing-and-duty map, and a calendar for the qualifying foreign employment period. The executed lease settles the current right to use the premises; payroll, contracts and authority records settle who will perform the operating work. Sequence incorporation, premises, staffing and the petition narrative so the claimed role is supported by the business as it will actually open.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate the company's steps from the individual's
- Decide who operates in the meantime
- Keep the first-year record honest
Testing a passive ownership plan against both routes
A plan built on holding shares while somebody else runs the business has to be described in functions before it can be compared. Outsourcing part of the work is not automatically fatal. What matters is what the applicant would actually do, and whether those activities answer the question each route asks about the person rather than the company. Hypothetical example: a workshop producing low-vision tactile navigation maps has a foreign owner who has worked abroad for a related company and now wants to buy a separate U.S. studio. The person must decide whether the evidence supports a transfer through qualifying organizations or an investor case built on the new transaction; the facts cannot be blended. A first review produces two separate evidence lists, one for the corporate relationship and foreign employment, and one for treaty nationality, committed funds and operational control. Corporate registers settle the relationship; signed purchase and funding records settle the investment path. Choose a route only after identifying which record proves each governing condition and which future event remains uncertain.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the week, not the intention
- Read the management agreement as evidence
- Check the entity facts on their own terms
When a parent hopes to move with the household
A parent who wants to come along is not in the same position as a spouse or a child under twenty-one. Their plan needs its own purpose, its own documents and its own timeline. Prepare a separate record for that person, and do not let the length of the principal applicant's assignment stand in for the length of anyone else's authorized stay. Hypothetical example: a restoration-bound bookbinder plans to join a TN household for six months to provide child care while maintaining an apartment and clients abroad. The family must decide whether the proposed activity and duration fit a visit on that person's own facts, rather than presenting the parent as a dependent. A first review produces a person-by-person status chart, a travel timeline and a description of every activity expected in the United States. The parent's passport, return plans and stated purpose settle the first travel question; the principal's approval notice does not. Sequence each relative's plan separately before buying tickets or promising a start date for unpaid or paid work.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Place each person in their own category
- Gather the parent's facts, not the household's
- Do not extend a dependent rule sideways
One payment, two applicants: a parent and an adult child
One payment does not decide who the applicant is. Before comparing amounts, establish which person would be the principal, what relationship the other person has to them, and whether that relationship is one that carries derivative status at all. An adult child is not automatically covered because a parent funds the commitment. Hypothetical example: a manufacturer of telescope-mount bearings can fund either an EB-5 investment or a Gold Card payment, but the proposed principal applicant changes depending on the choice. The family must decide who will apply before comparing the records, rather than assuming the business owner and the payer are interchangeable. A first review produces separate source-and-path documents for EB-5, family relationship records, and the official Gold Card payment instruction for the named individual. Bank records and transaction agreements settle the EB-5 funding path; the official instruction settles the recipient and payer for Gold Card. Gold Card is not a conventional visa, and its payment is by the individual applicant to the U.S. government, not a commercial investment.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Name the principal before pricing anything
- Ask for the per-person steps in writing
- Compare what each route actually is