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.
Turn a proposed Québec City TN role into a set of verifiable claims
Before an employer drafts the support letter, identify the specific claims the file must establish: citizenship, an identified professional position, and the credential the listed occupation actually requires. Give each claim a record and a person who can confirm it, which produces a useful review file without inflating the description beyond the real job. The practical decision is whether the available records prove the real employment arrangement without embellishment. Hypothetical example: a Canadian urban planner is engaged by a U.S. water-district consultant, but the consultant’s draft says she will ‘advise independently’ while the offer gives the consultant control of her work. Resolve that wording before the file is assembled. The classification requires an employer-directed professional position and the applicant’s matching qualification; it is not a vehicle for self-directed work.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Start with the duty that genuinely needs clarifying
- Keep employer facts and credential facts on separate tracks
- Resolve any discrepancy before anyone signs
Start a U.S. review with citizenship and Canadian status as separate facts
A Canadian permanent resident card establishes Canadian status, not Canadian citizenship, and Québec residence establishes neither on its own. A Québec City household can include several citizenships and different U.S. options even while everyone lives together, so record the actual passports, current status and proposed activity before deciding which route might apply. Canadian permanent residence is a valuable Canadian status, but it does not substitute for the nationality or employment condition of a U.S. route. Hypothetical example: a Québec permanent resident holding a Brazilian passport is offered a U.S. position as a geoscientist and assumes the Canadian PR card permits TN. It does not; nationality and the listed-profession rule remain separate questions. The decision is to choose a route supported by the person’s actual citizenship, employer, and facts rather than by residence alone.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Record what is already established, and what is still pending
- Assess each opportunity under its own actual requirements
- Keep the procedural and Canadian obligations visible together
Test the actual business commitment before treating funds as a qualifying investment
A funding balance, a loan approval and a signed purchase agreement can each describe a different stage of the same transaction. Map the actual proposed commitment and its conditions before concluding what the record establishes, and assess the investment and the operating enterprise together, keeping nationality and control clearly visible. The key decision is whether the money is genuinely committed to a business the investor will direct, with a realistic scale beyond household support. Hypothetical example: a Canadian investor plans to acquire a U.S. specialty-mushroom farm and leaves the purchase funds in a personal account until a visa is issued. The account balance shows capacity, not commitment. A signed, properly structured transaction and evidence of commercial exposure are needed before the proposal becomes an E-2 case.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask what happens if a condition is not met
- Trace the source and identify what actually secures any loan
- Explain the enterprise itself, beyond the purchase price
A delayed first hire: documenting the effect on the proposed manager
Use a staffing delay to examine who is actually doing the work. This is an evidence exercise, not a rule that a particular headcount qualifies a new office. A managerial or executive position must be assessed from the operation and responsibilities the evidence supports. A new-office filing is a decision to document an operating launch, not simply an executive’s intention to explore a market. Hypothetical example: a Québec maker of precision irrigation valves wants to send its general manager to establish a U.S. office, but the intended site is only a mailbox and the first technician has not been hired. The company should decide whether to secure usable premises and a realistic staffing plan before filing. The transferee also needs the qualifying year abroad, and the entities must have the required corporate relationship.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- List the tasks left uncovered
- Measure the change in the beneficiary’s week
- Review consequences before relying on the old plan
When the business owner and proposed transferee are different people
Start the comparison by identifying whose application is being considered. A company’s expansion plans, its owner’s investment and an employee’s transfer history are separate facts. Do not attribute one person’s qualifications or financial commitment to another. The choice turns on the actual relationship to the business: an L-1 transfer relies on qualifying organizations and prior employment, while E-2 relies on treaty nationality, committed funds, ownership or control, and a non-marginal enterprise. Hypothetical example: a Canadian owner of a U.S.-bound artisan soap company has worked for her Québec corporation for years but will also contribute personal funds. A people-and-entities map may show that both routes deserve review, yet the evidence and risks are different. Choose only after the governing facts are documented.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Draw a people-and-entities map
- Collect evidence for the person under review
- Keep the decision conditional on the missing evidence
Build a household plan around each person's actual intended activity
A shared move can involve genuinely different employment, study and arrival plans for each household member. Record each person's citizenship, relationship, age and intended activity before assuming that one person's status provides every permission the household needs; the principal applicant's opportunity is the starting point, not a complete answer for everyone. The family decision should start with each person’s proposed activity, not with an assumption that one principal’s approval resolves the household. Hypothetical example: a TN professional’s spouse intends to teach online music lessons from a U.S. apartment while their nineteen-year-old plans to study. The spouse’s work requires its own authorization analysis, and the child’s age and study plan need separate documentation. Write the plan person by person before choosing housing, schools, or a shared travel date.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe remote work as work, not as a side detail
- Separate study plans from employment and age-related limits
- Identify the consequence of a changed date for the household
Separate a commercial investment from a Gold Card gift
EB-5 and Gold Card describe genuinely different financial and legal frameworks. EB-5 concerns qualifying capital and required job creation; the official Gold Card FAQ describes a gift-based process leading to EB-1 or EB-2 permanent residence for eligible successful applicants, subject to admissibility and visa availability. Compare the actual requirements rather than reading the two headline amounts as prices for the same outcome. The central choice is whether the family accepts commercial investment risk tied to job creation or a gift payment that creates no investment ownership. Hypothetical example: a Québec owner of a commercial beekeeping business has liquid proceeds and is comparing an EB-5 project with the Gold Card. EB-5 requires capital at risk and a job-creation path before conditional residence can be made permanent; the Gold Card is a payment by the applicant to the U.S. government, not a conventional visa or an investment. The money’s legal role should decide the comparison.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask what the money is actually meant to do
- Review the family total and each person's eligibility
- Keep financial diligence and immigration review genuinely independent