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.
Assemble a Lac-Beauport nurse's TN file in the order the licence allows
For a registered nurse or other licensed health professional, the TN file is only as complete as the state licence that the Appendix 2 entry and the U.S. employer both require. Build the file around the licence timeline: order the credential verification, then the state application, then the employer letter in final form, and only then decide between a port-of-entry application and an I-129 petition. A file that is perfect except for a pending licence cannot be used, and an early border attempt without it usually produces a refusal that must be disclosed in every later application.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Map the licensing chain before the immigration one
- Draft the support letter to answer the officer's checklist
- Assemble the exhibits and choose the route
What changes for a Lac-Beauport household when one adult is a permanent resident, not a citizen
Canadian permanent residence is a Canadian immigration status; it does not make a person Canadian for U.S. purposes. A permanent resident holding another country's passport is assessed under that nationality for TN, E-2 and visa requirements. Within one Lac-Beauport household this can mean the Canadian-citizen spouse qualifies for TN while the permanent-resident spouse does not, or that an E-2 enterprise must be structured around the citizen's ownership. Identify each adult's nationality before any route is chosen, and record any pending citizenship application as pending rather than as a status.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Sort the household by passport, not by address
- Trace what nationality changes in each category
- Handle pending and dual situations carefully
Test whether a catering-business purchase meets the E-2 commitment and marginality rules
An E-2 investment is judged on four commercial facts: the enterprise is real and operating, the funds are irrevocably committed, the amount is substantial in proportion to the cost of the business, and the business is not marginal. A small service business with one owner-operator is the case most likely to fail the last two tests. Before signing, a Lac-Beauport buyer should reconstruct the seller's true cost base, decide how much of the price will be paid from personal funds, and produce a plan showing the business will employ others or contribute more than a living for the investor.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Establish what the business is really worth
- Decide how much is personal capital and how much is borrowed
- Show that the enterprise will be more than a living
Opening a first U.S. office for a Lac-Beauport landscape-architecture practice under L-1
A new-office L-1 petition allows a company that has not yet been doing business in the United States for a year to transfer a manager, executive or specialized-knowledge employee to establish it. Approval is for one year only, and the petition must show that physical premises have been secured, that the U.S. entity has the financial ability to pay the transferee and start operations, and, for a manager, that within a year the office will support a genuinely managerial role. The extension at the end of that year is where the plan is tested against what actually happened.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Secure the premises and the corporate shell before filing
- Write the business plan for the extension, not just the filing
- Decide who goes first and document their qualifying year
A Lac-Beauport accountant who co-owns a payroll-services firm: transferee or investor?
Someone who both owns part of a Canadian company and works in it can sometimes qualify under L-1 as an employee transferred to a related U.S. entity, and sometimes under E-2 as an investor developing and directing a U.S. enterprise. The routes ask different questions: L-1 looks at the corporate relationship, the qualifying year and the nature of the U.S. duties; E-2 looks at nationality, ownership, capital at risk and control. A minority owner with a management role often fits L-1 better; a majority owner funding a new U.S. venture often fits E-2.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Lay out ownership, employment and the U.S. plan separately
- Test the awkward middle cases
- Choose on the exit, the family and the timeline
Plan a Lac-Beauport two-career household's move around the spouse's work rights
Dependant status is not the same in every category. TD spouses cannot work; L-2 and E-2 spouses are employment-authorized incident to status; EB-5 derivatives receive their own permanent residence. For a household where both adults intend to work, the principal's category can matter more to the spouse's career than to the principal's own. Decide the route with the spouse's plans on the table, list each child's age against the 21-year cutoff, and separate Canadian citizenship from permanent residence for every family member before assuming anyone's status follows anyone else's.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Start with the spouse's intended activity, not the principal's offer
- Run each child against age, study and the calendar
- Record each person's nationality and status as its own fact
A Lac-Beauport dentist selling a practice: EB-5 capital or a Gold Card gift?
EB-5 and the Gold Card framework both lead toward permanent residence for a person with substantial funds, but they treat the money differently. EB-5 places capital at risk in a U.S. enterprise that must create ten jobs, with any repayment depending on the offering terms and project performance. The Gold Card, as described on the official page, involves a nonrefundable processing fee and a gift to the U.S. government with no enterprise, no jobs and no return. Compare them as what they are: an investment with immigration conditions versus a payment with immigration consequences. Re-verify the official terms before either decision.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Compare where the money ends up
- Compare what must be proven and by whom
- Decide on certainty, time and reversibility