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.
Describe an agricultural TN role without relying on its industry label
Hypothetical example: a Regina geological engineer offered mixed mineral-analysis and field-coordination duties. Use the actual proposed activities to prepare an occupation assessment. A business operating in agriculture may employ people doing very different work, so its industry alone does not identify a TN profession. Review the governing records and current official conditions before making any irreversible employment, travel or financial commitment. Hypothetical example: A watershed-modeling specialist is asked by a U.S. engineering firm to assess nutrient runoff for a group of farms. The decision is whether the actual reports, analysis, and professional qualification support the selected TN line, not whether agriculture appears in the client list. Begin with the employer's signed description of the role, then match the issued credential and any required explanation of it, then verify the applicant's citizenship and the employer's control of the work. The deliverables and degree settle the core issue. If the worker owns or controls the receiving U.S. business, TN cannot be used for that self-directed arrangement. An eligible applicant can seek classification during inspection or the employer can use an I-129 petition; the choice should follow the facts and timing rather than a generic checklist. The tn-documents working file should end with a short decision note: proceed, pause for a missing record, or select a different route. Name the record that settles each open point, its custodian, and the event that may change the answer. This turns a long list of documents into a usable sequence. It also prevents a commercial deadline, a sales claim, or a family expectation from being treated as proof of an immigration requirement in writing. Record adverse facts beside favorable ones and resolve material discrepancies before submitting any representation.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the decisions the employee will support
- Match the qualification to the listed requirement
- Explain the proposed employment period
Prepare a U.S. options review while Canadian citizenship is still pending
Hypothetical example: a Regina permanent resident awaiting citizenship while holding a U.S. biostatistician offer. Work from the citizenship and status the applicant currently holds. An anticipated Canadian citizenship outcome should not be presented as a completed fact in a U.S. plan. Review the governing records and current official conditions before making any irreversible employment, travel or financial commitment. Hypothetical example: A rail-signal maintenance planner holds Canadian permanent residence and citizenship of a country that does not support the route he has heard about. His Canadian citizenship application is in process, and a U.S. affiliate wants him soon. The immediate decision is whether a currently available classification fits the actual employer, entities, duties, and nationality, or whether commercial plans must wait. A permanent-resident card and current passport settle present status; a filing receipt only proves a pending Canadian process. First list every citizenship and status document, then assess the U.S. opportunity on its own facts, then identify which commitments depend on a future Canadian outcome. Do not present anticipated citizenship as if already granted or commit to a route solely because it may become available later. The canadian-pr working file should end with a short decision note: proceed, pause for a missing record, or select a different route. Name the record that settles each open point, its custodian, and the event that may change the answer. This turns a long list of documents into a usable sequence. It also prevents a commercial deadline, a sales claim, or a family expectation from being treated as proof of an immigration requirement in writing. Record adverse facts beside favorable ones and resolve material discrepancies before submitting any representation.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate the present record from the expectation
- Describe the opportunity on its own merits
- Identify commitments waiting for an answer
Compare a franchise illustration with the agreement you would sign
Hypothetical example: a Regina buyer reviewing a specialty packaging shop with a broad immigration-refund clause. A franchise sales package can describe an opportunity without fully describing the investor's obligations. Review the actual agreement and funding before using the illustration as the basis of an E-2 plan. Review the governing records and current official conditions before making any irreversible employment, travel or financial commitment. Hypothetical example: A Canadian citizen plans to buy a small U.S. specialty-mushroom grower and has signed only a nonbinding letter of intent. The central decision is whether to advance to contracts that genuinely commit capital while preserving a sensible commercial exit if the immigration plan fails. Begin by confirming treaty nationality and ownership, then examine the purchase and lease terms, then trace the money from lawful source to a commitment that faces commercial loss. The executed agreements, escrow instructions, invoices, and operating plan settle those points. A polished sales deck is not evidence that funds are committed, that the investor will direct the enterprise, or that the business will be non-marginal. The investor needs a real operating venture with capital placed beyond a freely reversible decision and exposed to ordinary business risk. The e2-investment working file should end with a short decision note: proceed, pause for a missing record, or select a different route. Name the record that settles each open point, its custodian, and the event that may change the answer. This turns a long list of documents into a usable sequence. It also prevents a commercial deadline, a sales claim, or a family expectation from being treated as proof of an immigration requirement in writing. Record adverse facts beside favorable ones and resolve material discrepancies before submitting any representation.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Locate binding commitments
- Build a location-specific budget from evidence
- Assess the applicant's role
Distinguish a newly acquired business from a planned new operation
Hypothetical example: a Regina agricultural-software company opening its first U.S. operation. Use the actual operating and transaction history when preparing an L review. An acquisition date and the date a business began operating describe different events and should not be used interchangeably. Review the governing records and current official conditions before making any irreversible employment, travel or financial commitment. Hypothetical example: A Canadian maker of laboratory sample-preparation equipment forms a U.S. subsidiary, leases a small office, and wants to send its production-planning manager to establish sales and service. The decision is whether the factual record supports a new-office L-1 case and, if so, whether L-1A or L-1B matches the proposed role. Start with the qualifying corporate relationship, then document the employee's continuous qualifying year abroad within the preceding three years, then examine premises, funding, staffing, and duties. Formation records, lease documents, payroll history, and a supported operating plan each settle different facts. A new office begins with a limited initial period, and L-1A or L-1B time remains subject to the seven- or five-year maximum. A registration alone is not an operating plan or proof of a qualifying role. The l1-new-office working file should end with a short decision note: proceed, pause for a missing record, or select a different route. Name the record that settles each open point, its custodian, and the event that may change the answer. This turns a long list of documents into a usable sequence. It also prevents a commercial deadline, a sales claim, or a family expectation from being treated as proof of an immigration requirement in writing. Record adverse facts beside favorable ones and resolve material discrepancies before submitting any representation.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Create an event list
- Explain what the incoming employee will do
- Preserve the integration record
Compare an acquired group company with an independently purchased franchise
Hypothetical example: a Regina engineer comparing an affiliate transfer with control of a calibration company. These two opportunities may look similar commercially while raising different immigration questions. Describe each proposed arrangement separately before comparing possible routes. Review the governing records and current official conditions before making any irreversible employment, travel or financial commitment. Keep every unresolved fact expressly identified. Hypothetical example: The owners of a Canadian acoustic-engineering firm want a U.S. presence. One owner may transfer to manage a subsidiary; alternatively, she may personally buy a controlling interest in a U.S. testing laboratory. The decision is not which label sounds faster. It is whether the facts support a corporate transfer requiring a qualifying relationship and qualifying foreign employment, or an investor route requiring treaty ownership, committed risk capital, and real direction of a non-marginal enterprise. Map both transactions separately before spending. Corporate registers and payroll history settle the L-1 side; purchase documents, funding trails, and operating rights settle the E-2 side. L-1A has a general seven-year limit and L-1B a five-year limit, while E-2 does not itself create permanent residence. A plan can change, but the evidence cannot make the two arrangements interchangeable. The l1-or-e2 working file should end with a short decision note: proceed, pause for a missing record, or select a different route. Name the record that settles each open point, its custodian, and the event that may change the answer. This turns a long list of documents into a usable sequence. It also prevents a commercial deadline, a sales claim, or a family expectation from being treated as proof of an immigration requirement in writing. Record adverse facts beside favorable ones and resolve material discrepancies before submitting any representation.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Map the corporate-transfer proposal
- Map the investor proposal
- Compare evidence gaps and consequences
Plan a household move when family members will arrive in stages
Hypothetical example: a Regina TN professional travelling first, an L-2 spouse planning work and a child nearing 21. Staggered travel requires each person's documentation and intended activities to be considered. The first traveller's arrangements should not become an assumed template for everyone else. Review the governing records and current official conditions before making any irreversible employment, travel or financial commitment. Hypothetical example: A principal applicant plans to travel first, while a spouse who is an occupational therapist and two children will follow after the school term. One child is nearly twenty-one and the spouse hopes to work soon after arrival. The decision is whether each person's proposed date and activity fits the derivative rules of the principal's actual route. Create a person-by-person table with relationship evidence, passport, intended entry date, school plan, work plan, and any age-sensitive deadline. Civil records settle family ties; principal approval or admission evidence establishes the derivative basis; separate immigration records settle work or independent options. Do not assume that a spouse's or child's plan is authorized merely because the household will live together. On qualifying E and L routes a spouse may have work authorization incident to status, but dependent children do not receive that permission; TD status does not permit employment. The family working file should end with a short decision note: proceed, pause for a missing record, or select a different route. Name the record that settles each open point, its custodian, and the event that may change the answer. This turns a long list of documents into a usable sequence. It also prevents a commercial deadline, a sales claim, or a family expectation from being treated as proof of an immigration requirement in writing. Record adverse facts beside favorable ones and resolve material discrepancies before submitting any representation.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Write a person-by-person travel plan
- Identify what each person will need
- Update the plan after changes
- Distinguish permissions and the order of immigrant entry
Compare family-funded investment with employer-funded Gold Card sponsorship
Hypothetical example: a Regina manufacturing executive comparing family-funded EB-5 with corporate Gold Card sponsorship. The funding source and the immigration proposal need separate examination. A family contribution to an investment and a corporate gift-based sponsorship should not be reduced to competing headline amounts. Review the governing records and current official conditions before making any irreversible employment, travel or financial commitment. Hypothetical example: A founder of a Canadian diagnostic-imaging supplier can either place eligible capital into a U.S. project that expects to create jobs or pursue an individual Gold Card application with no commercial return. The decision is whether the family is prepared for an at-risk enterprise and the EB-5 conditional-residence process, or for the separate gift-payment and underlying EB-1 or EB-2 assessment described by the Gold Card program. Build two ledgers. For EB-5, trace source and path of capital, the project agreement, job model, and later I-829 obligations. For Gold Card, record the current official instructions, the applicant's classification evidence, the applicant-to-gift payment, and any corporate support. Gold Card is not a conventional visa or an investment. EB-5 is not a guaranteed return or immediate permanent residence. Choose only after the records support the route's governing conditions. The eb5-or-gold working file should end with a short decision note: proceed, pause for a missing record, or select a different route. Name the record that settles each open point, its custodian, and the event that may change the answer. This turns a long list of documents into a usable sequence. It also prevents a commercial deadline, a sales claim, or a family expectation from being treated as proof of an immigration requirement in writing. Record adverse facts beside favorable ones and resolve material discrepancies before submitting any representation.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the actual financial arrangement
- Check the governing terms
- Price the full proposed household