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.
How should a Canadian professional prepare TN evidence?
TN preparation is an evidence exercise about a specific, temporary U.S. professional role. The applicant needs Canadian or Mexican citizenship, the exact USMCA profession, the credentials specified for that profession, and a real employing arrangement. A generic résumé or a broad consulting description rarely answers all of those questions. Build the file so a reviewer can move from the employer's need to the duties, then to the applicant's qualifications and the chosen procedure. A complete review also identifies the factual limits of the route, the records that must be obtained from independent sources, and the points that require current official confirmation. It is better to identify a missing fact early than to fill it with an assumption. The final application or travel decision should follow the evidence actually available and the procedure then in force. Use this material as a preparation map, not a substitute for the official rule or individualized legal advice. Keep the original evidence available, update the chronology when facts change, and consult current government instructions near the point of action. An orderly record allows the applicant to answer questions honestly without overstating a future plan or overlooking a fact that needs separate treatment. Record the source for each material conclusion so the file can be checked efficiently if the procedure changes.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Read the profession entry before drafting
- Make the employer letter concrete
- Plan the procedure and first workday
Does Canadian permanent residence create U.S. work eligibility?
Canadian permanent residence is important Canadian immigration status, but it is not Canadian citizenship and does not itself produce a U.S. work classification. A permanent resident considering the United States must begin with citizenship, current travel documents, intended activity, and the specific U.S. category. This distinction is especially visible in TN, which is limited to citizens of Canada or Mexico; it also matters in treaty-based routes and family planning. A complete review also identifies the factual limits of the route, the records that must be obtained from independent sources, and the points that require current official confirmation. It is better to identify a missing fact early than to fill it with an assumption. The final application or travel decision should follow the evidence actually available and the procedure then in force. Use this material as a preparation map, not a substitute for the official rule or individualized legal advice. Keep the original evidence available, update the chronology when facts change, and consult current government instructions near the point of action. An orderly record allows the applicant to answer questions honestly without overstating a future plan or overlooking a fact that needs separate treatment. Record the source for each material conclusion so the file can be checked efficiently if the procedure changes. A first review should end with a nationality-and-status chart for each traveler, the intended U.S. activity, and the primary document that proves each relevant fact. The concrete decision is whether the person can proceed under a route tied to present citizenship, needs an employer-led or other category, or should wait until a material fact changes. Canadian residence evidence does not answer a nationality-based eligibility question.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate residence from nationality
- Match the route to the actual facts
- Prepare travel and family records accurately
What does a careful E-2 investment plan show?
An E-2 record must tell two linked stories: where the money lawfully came from and how it has become a substantial, at-risk commitment to a bona fide U.S. enterprise that the investor will personally lead. The enterprise must not be marginal under the E-2 standard. Preparation works best when financial tracing and business planning are developed together, rather than treating the money trail as an appendix to a promotional plan. A complete review also identifies the factual limits of the route, the records that must be obtained from independent sources, and the points that require current official confirmation. It is better to identify a missing fact early than to fill it with an assumption. The final application or travel decision should follow the evidence actually available and the procedure then in force. Use this material as a preparation map, not a substitute for the official rule or individualized legal advice. Keep the original evidence available, update the chronology when facts change, and consult current government instructions near the point of action. An orderly record allows the applicant to answer questions honestly without overstating a future plan or overlooking a fact that needs separate treatment. Record the source for each material conclusion so the file can be checked efficiently if the procedure changes.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Trace the capital without gaps
- Test substantiality against the enterprise
- Show operations beyond personal support
How should a new-office L-1 plan be documented?
A new-office L-1 case is more than a corporate registration and a future hiring chart. It must establish qualifying organizations, the transferee's qualifying foreign employment, suitable U.S. premises, and a credible first-year operation that will support the claimed L-1A managerial or executive role or L-1B specialized-knowledge position. The evidence should make the planned U.S. operation understandable as a business, while remaining precise about what exists now and what is forecast. A complete review also identifies the factual limits of the route, the records that must be obtained from independent sources, and the points that require current official confirmation. It is better to identify a missing fact early than to fill it with an assumption. The final application or travel decision should follow the evidence actually available and the procedure then in force. Use this material as a preparation map, not a substitute for the official rule or individualized legal advice. Keep the original evidence available, update the chronology when facts change, and consult current government instructions near the point of action. An orderly record allows the applicant to answer questions honestly without overstating a future plan or overlooking a fact that needs separate treatment. Record the source for each material conclusion so the file can be checked efficiently if the procedure changes. The first review should produce a dated ownership map, a foreign-employment timeline, premises evidence, and a first-year plan that can be tested against available capital and operations. The transferee generally must have one continuous qualifying year abroad in the three years preceding the petition. L-1A status is subject to a seven-year maximum and L-1B status to a five-year maximum; those limits do not replace the new-office requirements.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Prove the relationship and the foreign operation
- Show premises and a workable launch
- Make the role plausible by year one
When does L-1 fit better than E-2, and when does it not?
L-1 and E-2 can both be relevant to an expanding business, but they answer different questions. L-1 concerns a transfer between qualifying related organizations and an employee's qualifying foreign service in a managerial, executive, or specialized-knowledge role. E-2 concerns treaty nationality, substantial at-risk capital in a bona fide U.S. enterprise, nonmarginality, and the investor's development and direction of that enterprise. A business should compare the actual facts rather than seeking a label that sounds broader. A complete review also identifies the factual limits of the route, the records that must be obtained from independent sources, and the points that require current official confirmation. It is better to identify a missing fact early than to fill it with an assumption. The final application or travel decision should follow the evidence actually available and the procedure then in force. Use this material as a preparation map, not a substitute for the official rule or individualized legal advice. Keep the original evidence available, update the chronology when facts change, and consult current government instructions near the point of action. An orderly record allows the applicant to answer questions honestly without overstating a future plan or overlooking a fact that needs separate treatment. Record the source for each material conclusion so the file can be checked efficiently if the procedure changes.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Start with the person and organization
- Compare the commercial evidence
- Respect different temporary limits and outcomes
How should a family plan around U.S. immigration options?
Family planning should begin alongside the principal applicant's route, not after a work, transfer, investment, or residence decision is nearly complete. The legal basis for a spouse or child can depend on the principal's classification, the relationship, age, citizenship, prior immigration history, and the family's intended activity. Work authorization, study options, travel timing, and age thresholds are not uniform across TD, L-2, E dependent, and immigrant processes. A complete review also identifies the factual limits of the route, the records that must be obtained from independent sources, and the points that require current official confirmation. It is better to identify a missing fact early than to fill it with an assumption. The final application or travel decision should follow the evidence actually available and the procedure then in force. Use this material as a preparation map, not a substitute for the official rule or individualized legal advice. Keep the original evidence available, update the chronology when facts change, and consult current government instructions near the point of action. An orderly record allows the applicant to answer questions honestly without overstating a future plan or overlooking a fact that needs separate treatment. Record the source for each material conclusion so the file can be checked efficiently if the procedure changes. A first review should create an individual record for every planned traveler and a timeline that shows relationship evidence, status expiry, intended activity, and age-sensitive dates. The household must decide whether each person can travel, study, work, or remain under the principal's route, or needs an independent option. A family label alone does not supply the required status or work authority.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Create a separate profile for every person
- Do not assume work permission
- Protect time-sensitive decisions
How should EB-5 and the Gold Card program be compared?
EB-5 is an established immigrant-investor framework with statutory and regulatory requirements concerning capital at risk, qualifying enterprise activity, job creation, immigrant processing, conditional residence, and removal of conditions. The Gold Card program must be evaluated through its current official instructions. It is not an investment visa, and its announced framework involves a payment from the applicant to the U.S. government. Similar headlines about wealth or residence do not make the two paths interchangeable. A complete review also identifies the factual limits of the route, the records that must be obtained from independent sources, and the points that require current official confirmation. It is better to identify a missing fact early than to fill it with an assumption. The final application or travel decision should follow the evidence actually available and the procedure then in force. Use this material as a preparation map, not a substitute for the official rule or individualized legal advice. Keep the original evidence available, update the chronology when facts change, and consult current government instructions near the point of action. An orderly record allows the applicant to answer questions honestly without overstating a future plan or overlooking a fact that needs separate treatment. Record the source for each material conclusion so the file can be checked efficiently if the procedure changes.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Compare the legal structures
- Compare evidence and financial decisions
- Compare timing without guarantees