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 work schedule can clarify what a technical offer actually means
Terms such as commissioning, support or field service can describe different activities. A schedule and deliverable list can make the proposed role concrete. Use them to explain the actual professional and nonprofessional duties rather than treating an ambiguous title as the answer. The immediate decision is whether the proposed role can be described consistently before the support package is finalized. Build a table that pairs each task with its output, responsible party, time allocation, and supporting record. Start with the signed offer, then test it against customer documents and credentials. TN remains limited to a qualifying Canadian or Mexican professional with a prearranged listed role; a Canadian may use inspection-based admission or an employer I-129 filing, while a self-directed U.S. enterprise arrangement is not permitted. Hypothetical example: A pipeline-integrity engineer’s offer emphasizes analysis, while the customer schedule assigns most hours to installing sensors. The decision is whether the actual deliverables support the listed professional role, and the schedule must be reconciled before it becomes supporting evidence.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify tasks by output and responsibility
- Connect the role with the listed qualification
- Preserve consistency across supporting records
Business ownership does not turn Canadian permanent residence into citizenship
A person can own and operate a Canadian business while holding citizenship elsewhere. Establish the applicant’s nationality separately from the company’s registration and assets. A strong business history may be relevant to other questions, but it does not supply TN citizenship. The key decision is whether citizenship, residence, ownership, and the proposed U.S. activity have each been proved by the right record. Make a four-column fact sheet before selecting a route: nationality document, Canadian status document, corporate ownership records, and proposed services. TN requires the relevant Canadian or Mexican citizenship and a qualifying professional arrangement; permanent residence alone does not supply that nationality. If ownership points to self-directed services for a U.S. enterprise, that issue must be analyzed rather than relabelled. Hypothetical example: A dental-laboratory owner holds Canadian permanent residence and citizenship in a treaty country, while considering a U.S. branch. The decision is whether TN is unavailable on citizenship while E-2 or L-1 facts can independently be supported; the passport, entity records, and operating history answer different questions.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate the personal and corporate records
- Disclose the proposed receiving entity
- Assess other categories without assuming ownership is enough
A financed machine needs ownership and security records beside its value
The value of equipment does not establish that the applicant can contribute it freely. Identify the owner, lender or lessor and the rights governing transfer and use. The E-2 investment account should describe the real asset commitment, not only an appraisal total. The decision is whether the asset is legally available and sufficiently committed to a real enterprise, not simply whether its appraised value is high. Prepare an asset ledger listing owner, lender or lessor, serial number, condition, transfer restriction, value basis, and binding commitment. E-2 also requires treaty nationality, investor direction, and an enterprise that is substantial and not marginal. Begin with title and source records, then test the proposed transfer against executed agreements and the operation’s actual needs. Hypothetical example: A commercial-sound engineer proposes studio consoles owned by a family company, with one console pledged as loan collateral. The decision is whether the applicant has authority to transfer usable assets and whether the enterprise has a binding, risk-bearing commitment; a price estimate cannot answer either point.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Read the financing arrangement before the contribution plan
- Connect the equipment with the U.S. operation
- Keep the remaining E-2 requirements separate
- Check nationality and the funding chain
A registered U.S. company still needs evidence of the operation being built
Formation documents can identify the entity without showing what it will do, where it will work or how the transferee’s role will function. Connect the legal organization to the actual premises, resources and activities. Do not treat incorporation as a completed new-office case. The decision is whether a proposed new office has enough documented reality to support the transfer and the first-year managerial or executive plan. Assemble evidence in order: qualifying corporate relationship and overseas employment, secured premises, business activity, resources, staffing, and the applicant’s authority. An L-1A transferee must have completed twelve continuous qualifying months abroad during the relevant preceding thirty-six months, and the classification has a seven-year total limit. Registration begins the file; it does not substitute for the operating and role evidence. Hypothetical example: A water-treatment company has signed a short-term suite agreement and plans to hire technicians after its first contract. The decision is whether the premises, first-year plan, and managerial role are supported now; a future hiring goal cannot by itself show that the executive will manage rather than perform the technical work.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the business activity beyond registration
- Support the first-year managerial plan
- Establish the foreign connection and history
A dormant company and a proposed investment present different missing facts
An applicant may have business experience and assets while the company currently does little or no trade. Compare transfer and investment routes from the actual operating position. Do not assume that an old management title or a new capital commitment supplies the other category’s requirements. The decision is whether the facts support an intracompany transfer, a treaty investment, neither, or a different route after further development. Make two separate evidence folders before comparing. L-1 requires qualifying organizations, a qualifying U.S. role, and twelve continuous qualifying months abroad during the relevant preceding thirty-six months; L-1A and L-1B have seven- and five-year aggregate limits. E-2 requires treaty nationality, real non-marginal operations, investor direction, and substantial capital committed irrevocably with commercial exposure. Neither category is proven by the other category’s strongest fact. Hypothetical example: A modular-housing designer retains a foreign company with a thin recent trading record and has funds reserved for a U.S. workshop. The decision is whether documented qualifying business and employment support L-1, whether the funds and enterprise support E-2, or whether waiting for evidence is more accurate than forcing a choice.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe what continues and what has ended
- Identify the requirement each fact supports
- Compare practical options after the factual review
A family-owned asset does not give every relative permission to work with it
Ownership, financial support and immigration permission are separate questions. Canadian citizenship and permanent residence are separate, and a PR card does not confer TN eligibility. When a household plans to move equipment or operate a business, identify each person’s intended activities and status; each family member’s own activity determines the required route. TD dependants cannot work, E and L dependent children do not share spousal work authorization, and children may age out at 21. The decision is not whether the household shares an asset or a business plan; it is what each person will actually do and whether their own status permits it. Prepare an individual activity chart with location, time, payment, beneficiary, and status record for every family member. Keep travel, schooling, ownership, and business functions distinct. Dependent permissions differ by classification, so a principal’s authority or a spouse’s work eligibility cannot automatically be applied to another relative. Hypothetical example: A commercial-diving instructor would manage a shop, the spouse would schedule clients, and a teenage child would clean and maintain gear. The decision is whether each task is permitted under that individual’s status, and the activity chart—not the family relationship—supplies the starting evidence.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- List the actual activities person by person
- Apply the status-specific permissions
- Coordinate legal and practical arrangements
A payment’s recipient matters as much as its amount
Two payments can have similar amounts and entirely different legal purposes. Identify whether money is being invested in an EB-5 arrangement, paid as a program fee, gifted to the U.S. government under the official Gold Card process or donated elsewhere. Do not combine them into one unexplained immigration spending total. The immediate decision is which legal purpose each payment serves. Create a recipient-and-purpose ledger before funds move: commercial EB-5 capital, program processing amounts, a payment to the U.S. government under Gold Card, professional fees, and unrelated spending must remain separate. EB-5 requires capital exposed to commercial risk, lawful source and path, qualifying job creation, and initially conditional residence. Gold Card is not a conventional visa; the individual applicant’s or corporate sponsor’s nonrefundable gift to the U.S. government follows its official process and does not replace the independent EB-1 or EB-2 analysis. Hypothetical example: A medical-device wholesaler can fund either a commercial EB-5 project or the official Gold Card payment after selling a business. The decision is whether the person seeks an investment with job-creation evidence or an official gift payment alongside a separately supportable EB category; one transfer cannot be recharacterized as the other.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Document the authority and actual destination
- Assess EB-5 as an investment framework
- Read Gold Card as its own official process
- Compare the current investment and gift requirements
- Keep the procedural obligations distinct