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.
A programme label should be checked against the defined TN credential
A technology credential described as a diploma or certificate may not match the regulation’s defined alternative. Identify the issuing institution, country, duration and actual award. The TN systems-analyst qualification should be assessed from those facts rather than a translated label alone. The first decision is which qualification alternative the actual award supports, followed by whether the employer’s duties are genuinely analytical. Keep the school’s original description, transcript, and award together; a résumé should not silently change the credential’s name or duration. The practical choice is whether to request a missing independent record or use a different qualification alternative that the evidence actually supports. Do not defer that choice until travel is imminent. A complete packet lets the reviewer see the credential, experience, and proposed work without guessing how the documents relate.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Gather the facts behind the award
- Use the actual alternative and experience requirement
- Separate credential definition from translation and evaluation
A Canadian education does not establish Canadian citizenship
Education, immigration status and citizenship answer different questions. An applicant may have studied and worked in Canada without holding Canadian citizenship. Record the actual nationality before assessing a TN route, then examine the qualification and proposed work independently. The reader must decide whether citizenship can be documented now or whether another route needs independent assessment. A permanent-resident card, degree, and work history may be valuable records, but none answers the nationality element by itself. Make the citizenship decision first, because it determines whether time and money should be spent on a TN evidence packet. If nationality proof is not available, preserve the job facts and assess other possibilities without representing that Canadian residence creates a temporary professional classification. Keep passports and nationality documents current before fixing a travel or job-start schedule. An employer letter cannot compensate for missing proof of the citizenship condition.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the person’s current citizenship
- Keep the education assessment on its own track
- Compare other routes from actual circumstances
A customer list should not be presented as guaranteed contract revenue
Buying customer information, goodwill or a trade name does not necessarily transfer enforceable customer commitments. Identify what the transaction actually gives the buyer and what the business must still earn. The E-2 enterprise account should distinguish those rights from sales expectations. The key decision is whether the purchased rights support an operating business now, or whether the buyer is mainly paying for an expectation that customers may return. Document the distinction before allocating investment funds or setting a launch date.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Classify the customer evidence
- Explain the operating enterprise realistically
- Connect the transaction with the funding record
- Check nationality and the funding chain
A management-development plan should not replace evidence of the role
A company may intend to develop an employee into a manager while opening a U.S. office. Describe the applicant’s actual foreign duties and the proposed U.S. authority separately from training goals. L-1A eligibility cannot be established simply by giving the plan a leadership title. The business must decide whether the new operation can genuinely support the proposed managerial or executive position within its first year, rather than simply whether the applicant is talented enough to launch it. That calls for a staffing and revenue plan tied to records that can later be tested. The commercial decision is whether to hire, outsource, or delay functions that would otherwise occupy the proposed manager. Document that choice in the operating plan. A first-year file is more credible when its projected roles, funds, and premises can be compared with actual payroll, contracts, and invoices later.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify what the applicant actually managed abroad
- Explain the first-year operating role
- Support the corporate foundation and later record
An employment record and a company profit statement establish different things
An owner-employee may have strong employment history and a profitable business, yet still need separate evidence for a transfer or treaty investment. Identify which fact supports which requirement. Do not treat the company’s success as a universal answer to both categories. The choice is not between a “company route” and an “investment route” in the abstract. It is between the facts that can be proved now: a qualifying corporate transfer and role, or treaty nationality with personal investment, control, and an operating enterprise. Choose the route after making a written comparison of the records already available, the capital that can actually be committed, and the intended work. A transfer case cannot be made stronger by personal savings alone; an investor case cannot be made stronger by a corporate title alone. The evidence should follow the selected theory.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Prepare the two evidence accounts
- Apply the requirements without pooling unrelated strengths
- Identify the action each proposal depends on
A spouse’s technical qualification does not establish their U.S. work permission
Two partners may each have professional skills while holding different immigration positions. Record each person’s intended activity and actual status rather than assuming the principal’s route authorizes household work. Canadian permanent residence and citizenship are separate, and a PR card does not confer TN eligibility. TD dependants cannot work, dependent children do not inherit E/L spousal work authorization, children may age out at 21, and each family member’s own activity determines the route. The household’s concrete decision is whether a move depends on the spouse’s paid work, a child’s paid activity, or only study. Make that decision after identifying each person’s actual classification, because family status rules differ sharply by route. Before committing to a move, decide which household income and education plans are essential and which can wait. That makes it possible to select start dates that follow the correct person’s status evidence. It also avoids the common mistake of treating an anticipated dependent status as permission for all family members to work.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the spouse’s own proposal
- Apply the actual status rules
- Coordinate income and relocation decisions
Company funds need an authorized purpose before an immigration payment
A company can distribute funds, lend them or undertake a corporate program payment under different arrangements. Identify which transaction is actually proposed and who has authority. An immigration budget label does not establish the investor’s rights or the official program’s payment requirements. The reader must choose whether the funds are meant to remain exposed in a job-creating EB-5 investment or to satisfy the separate Gold Card government-payment framework. That decision determines what source records, risk analysis, and long-term expectations belong in the file.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the company-to-applicant transaction
- Assess EB-5 funds and project evidence separately
- Use the official Gold Card arrangement that applies
- Compare the current investment and gift requirements
- Keep the procedural obligations distinct