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.
Build the TN file before coordinating the final Canadian workday
A Foothills County applicant can use the period before resignation to identify missing TN evidence and clarify the proposed position. The purpose is to understand the actual route and its dependencies, not to obtain certainty from a calendar. A signed offer and a planned final Canadian workday do not authorize U.S. employment.
Choose a real responsibility from the proposed role and explain the work product, knowledge and qualifications it requires. Compare the position with the actual listed profession and credential rules. If the employer’s description is unclear, resolve the facts before preparing a letter that merely sounds suitable. 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
- Read one recurring task against the profession
- Collect evidence while access is available
- Mark four distinct events
Recheck citizenship assumptions when a transition is planned in stages
Living in Foothills County, holding Canadian permanent residence and being a Canadian citizen are different facts for U.S. immigration purposes. A future citizenship plan should not be presented as citizenship already acquired. Assess the proposal using the applicant’s actual nationality and the rules of the route being considered.
Identify the passport or nationality evidence and Canadian status held today. TN is for eligible Canadian or Mexican citizens; Canadian permanent residence alone is insufficient. E-2 treaty nationality has its own rules. A Canadian employment history can be relevant to an L proposal without replacing the separate company and role requirements.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Record the present documents
- Keep a future change conditional
- Review the household individually
Follow one dollar from an asset sale to the proposed enterprise
An E-2 funding review should explain both the lawful source and path of funds and their qualifying commitment to the enterprise. For a Foothills County applicant, an asset sale can be part of that account, but its headline price should not substitute for the actual receipts, obligations and investment terms.
Hypothetical example: a jointly owned asset is sold with part of the price deferred. Record ownership, the payment terms and the amount actually received by or made available to the applicant. Explain any distribution or transfer between owners. A valuation and a future instalment are different from money already available.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the applicant’s share
- Follow the intermediate accounts
- Read the commitment and operating plan together
Preserve the foreign business evidence before changing its structure
A new U.S. office proposal should explain the qualifying business relationship and employment history as well as the planned operation. If a Foothills County applicant’s Canadian organization will be reorganized, identify the effective changes before using an organizational chart as the basis for the immigration plan.
Use actual legal names, ownership and control, and distinguish signed changes from proposals. Hypothetical example: a division sale is expected shortly before the transfer. Identify which entity employs the applicant and which relationship would exist at each relevant stage. A historical affiliation does not automatically establish the relationship after the sale.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Draw the current and proposed entities
- Retain the records that explain the history
- Connect the first year to the actual role
Compare transfer and investment before making a dependent sale
L-1 and E-2 rely on different facts, even when the same Foothills County applicant is considering both. A qualifying transfer concerns the company relationship, foreign employment and proposed role. E-2 concerns treaty nationality, qualifying investment, control and the enterprise, among other conditions. Neither follows automatically from selling a Canadian asset.
Write down who would employ the applicant, who would own the U.S. business, what the applicant would do and where funding would come from. Hypothetical example: a person can transfer within a group or use sale proceeds to buy an unrelated enterprise. Keep those arrangements separate rather than combining their strongest features into an arrangement that does not exist.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the proposal without a visa label
- Identify which evidence each option needs
- Compare the consequences of a changed assumption
Build a household calendar with separate work and study decisions
A shared moving plan is useful, but each family member’s immigration status and intended activities require attention. For a Foothills County household, separate school dates, employment decisions and housing commitments from the actual legal steps. The principal applicant’s planned start does not establish everyone’s work or study permissions.
List citizenship, relationship, age, current status and intended U.S. activities. Include remote work, unpaid participation in a family business and study rather than assuming a label resolves permission. Hypothetical example: the principal starts a new role while a spouse hopes to continue a foreign job remotely. That work requires its own assessment.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Give each person an activity record
- Use the correct dependent distinction
- Review age and immigration-stage changes
Compare a gift with investment obligations before using sale proceeds
EB-5 and the current Gold Card framework should be assessed on their separate terms before a Foothills County applicant commits asset-sale proceeds. EB-5 involves qualifying at-risk investment and job requirements. Gold Card uses a gift framework with official processing and eligibility conditions. Neither should be described as payment for a guaranteed immigration outcome.
For EB-5, review the applicable capital threshold, lawful source and path, project terms and qualifying jobs. For Gold Card, use the current official individual or corporate terms and the sequence for fees, vetting and the gift. A gift is not invested capital expected to generate a return; EB-5 capital also carries risk and no guaranteed return. The EB-5 allocation must meet the filing-date minimum: currently US$1,050,000, or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure investment, with statutory adjustments starting January 1, 2027. Retain lawful-source and transfer evidence, assess capital at risk and investor management or policy-formulation participation, and substantiate at least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor. These generally require 35 hours weekly, with indirect jobs possible under applicable regional-center methodology. 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
- Identify the money’s legal purpose
- Calculate the proposal person by person
- Keep financial completion separate from residence