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 TN role into a set of verifiable claims
Before drafting the employer letter, identify the claims the file must establish: citizenship, an identified professional position and the qualification required for the listed profession. Give each claim a record and a person who can verify it. This produces a useful review file without making the description more favourable than the actual job.
Hypothetical example: a Calgary applicant’s offer describes both technical analysis and operational coordination. Ask the hiring manager for an ordinary workweek and the deliverables expected. Preserve both types of activity in the working account. The reviewer needs to assess the actual position against the profession rather than choose a title first and remove inconvenient duties afterward. The threshold review is Canadian or Mexican citizenship, temporary professional activity and the particular listed profession’s qualifications. Canadian permanent residence alone does not qualify. Experience substitutes for a degree only where that profession permits it; a degree from an institution outside Canada, Mexico or the United States requires evaluation by a reliable service specializing in foreign credentials.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Begin with a duty that needs clarification
- Separate employer facts from credential facts
- Resolve differences before signature
Start a U.S. review with citizenship and Canadian status as separate facts
A Canadian permanent resident card establishes a Canadian status, not Canadian citizenship. A Calgary household may have several citizenships and different U.S. options even when everyone lives together. Prepare the actual passports, current status and proposed activities before deciding which route or procedure might apply.
Hypothetical example: one partner has Canadian citizenship and the other has a pending citizenship application. Record the pending event as pending. TN requires Canadian or Mexican citizenship, so the anticipated change cannot be used as evidence that the condition is already satisfied. A preferred departure date should not turn a future possibility into a present fact.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Record what is already established
- Describe the opportunity under its own requirements
- Keep the procedure and Canadian obligations visible
Test the business commitment before treating funds as an E-2 investment
A funding balance, a loan approval and a signed purchase agreement can describe different stages of a transaction. Map the actual proposed commitment and its conditions before concluding what the E-2 record establishes. The investment and operating enterprise must be assessed together, with nationality and control kept visible.
Hypothetical example: a Calgary buyer’s purchase depends on an immigration outcome and a separate financing condition. Read each trigger for payment, release or cancellation. A qualifying escrow can be relevant, but its label does not answer whether the actual terms meet the requirements. Coordinate transaction and immigration review before making funds irreversible.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask what happens if a condition fails
- Trace the source and identify the security
- Explain the enterprise beyond the price
Keep a new-office plan separate from the operation that later develops
For an L-1A new office, the initial proposal must explain an operation capable of supporting a managerial or executive role within one year of approval. Keep that submitted plan intact and record what actually develops. Extension preparation needs evidence of the business and role, not only a revised version of the forecast.
Identify the secured premises, financial resources, planned responsibilities and staffing sequence. Hypothetical example: a Calgary company expects its transferee to launch the office and hire operational support later. Explain the initial tasks and the role anticipated as the business develops. A company registration or impressive title is not the whole evidentiary account.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the resources supporting the launch
- Record a material change when it happens
- Prepare the extension from actual evidence
Compare a company expansion and a personal business purchase without mixing the facts
An L-1 transfer and E-2 investment should be compared using the actual arrangements each would require. Do not combine one proposal’s employment history with another proposal’s ownership or funding and treat the result as a single established option. Start with two complete descriptions, then identify the unanswered conditions.
Hypothetical example: a Calgary resident could transfer to an affiliated U.S. operation or acquire an unrelated enterprise. For each option, show the ownership before and after the proposed transaction. Identify who can change the terms and which documents are final. A shared commercial objective does not make the organizations or their legal relationships the same.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Draw the entities for each proposal
- Describe what the applicant would do
- Compare commitments and household consequences
Build a household plan around each person’s intended activity
A shared move can involve different employment, study and arrival plans. Record each person’s citizenship, relationship, age and intended activity before assuming one status provides every permission the household needs. The principal applicant’s opportunity is the starting point, not a complete answer for the family.
Hypothetical example: one Calgary partner has a U.S. offer while the other plans to work remotely for a Canadian employer from the United States. Put that activity in the review. TD does not authorize employment; qualifying E/L spouses are employment-authorized incident to status, with individual documentation still relevant. The employer’s country alone does not decide permission.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe remote work as work
- Separate study from employment and age limits
- Identify the consequence of a changed date
Separate a commercial investment from a Gold Card gift
EB-5 and Gold Card describe different financial and legal frameworks. EB-5 concerns qualifying capital and job creation; the official Gold Card FAQ describes a gift-based process with EB-1 or EB-2 permanent residence for eligible successful applicants, subject to admissibility and visa availability. Compare the requirements rather than reading two amounts as prices for the same result.
Hypothetical example: a Calgary household receives an EB-5 investment presentation and a Gold Card proposal. Separate the investment’s deployment, commercial risk and job evidence from the gift and processing terms. Identify which costs are capital, which are fees and which apply to family members. A gift should not be described as an investment promising a financial return. For EB-5, price the qualifying at-risk capital at the filing-date threshold: currently US$1,050,000, or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure investment, with statutory adjustments beginning January 1, 2027. Then ask how lawful source and path, management or policy-formulation participation and at least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor will be established. Full-time generally means at least 35 hours weekly; applicable regional-center methodology may establish indirect jobs. Capital terms granting investor repayment rights or guaranteed rates of return are excluded; distinguish the enterprise’s sole-discretion buyback exception, which has sustainment and other conditions.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask what the money is intended to do
- Review the family total and individual eligibility
- Keep financial diligence and immigration review independent