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.
How to review a vague TN employer letter
A useful support letter explains the genuine professional work and employment arrangement. Review it for missing facts and internal consistency before focusing on presentation. The applicant should not invent duties to strengthen the letter; the employer must be able to stand behind the account of the proposed position.
Identify expressions such as supporting operations or managing projects that leave the work unclear. Ask what the employee will actually produce, analyze or perform. The answer should come from people who know the role. More words do not help if they repeat a broad description without adding verifiable substance.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Turn vague phrases into employer questions
- Check the letter against other records
- Keep evidence and argument distinct
- Send one consolidated set of questions
- Keep the employer's facts apart from the adviser's argument
Can a Canadian PR use the Visa Waiver Program?
Visa Waiver Program eligibility depends on citizenship or nationality of a participating country and the other program requirements, not Canadian PR status. Even eligible VWP travel is limited to permitted visitor activities; it does not authorize employment. Assess the person, passport and proposed trip before choosing that route.
Identify the citizenship or nationality under which travel is proposed, then consult the current official VWP requirements. A Canadian residence document does not itself create eligibility. Equally, living in Canada does not mean every PR has the same answer: the person’s nationality and other program conditions must be reviewed individually.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Check nationality before residence
- Check more than the country list
- Keep employment outside the visitor assumption
- Confirm the nationality position before anything else
- Check the conditions that apply to the person, not only the country
How do I avoid counting inventory twice in an E-2 budget?
Inventory may appear in the acquisition price, opening purchases and working-capital forecast. Reconcile those lists so the same stock is not counted several times. Distinguish goods already acquired for the enterprise from future replenishment and support ownership, payment and business purpose with records that match the actual transaction.
Read the agreement to determine whether stock is included in the business price or adjusted separately at closing. Obtain the inventory schedule and final settlement calculation. A separate stock list does not necessarily represent an additional payment. Explain how the purchase allocation and bank receipts fit together before adding inventory to the proposed investment total.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Locate inventory in the purchase
- Distinguish stock from a purchasing forecast
- Tie quantity to a credible opening plan
- Reconcile the stock count to a single date
- Distinguish stock acquired from stock to be bought
What makes proposed premises credible for a new office?
A new-office petition requires sufficient physical premises to have been secured. The useful question is how the actual space supports the proposed operation, not whether a lease looks impressive. Match premises evidence to the work, staffing and launch schedule before treating an address as a completed eligibility item.
Explain what will happen at the premises: management, customer meetings, equipment storage or delivery of services. Connect the expected people and activities to the space actually available. This does not create a universal square-footage rule; it makes the sufficiency question concrete for counsel using the business’s real requirements.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the operational use
- Review what the agreement provides
- Reconcile the premises with the plan
- Describe how the space will be used, not its dimensions
- Read the agreement for what it actually secures
Does hands-on founder work point away from L-1A and toward E-2?
A founder title does not establish an L-1A managerial or executive role. Review how the person actually spends time and who performs operational work. E-2 uses a develop-and-direct standard, but it is not unrestricted permission for any self-employment. Compare duties, authority and the business evidence before drawing a conclusion.
List management decisions, customer delivery, technical tasks and supervision using ordinary work records. L-1A generally requires primarily qualifying executive or managerial duties; performing the service personally is not transformed by calling it strategic. Staffing context and function management may matter. Counsel should evaluate the substance of the role rather than rely only on an organization chart or prestigious title.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Audit the proposed workweek
- Examine investor direction separately
- Change the plan only if the business changes
- Audit the week that is actually proposed
- Change the plan only where the business genuinely changes
What should we prepare if family members move on different dates?
Accompanying family members do not always travel with the principal, but later travel still needs individual preparation. TD and E-2 guidance recognize eligible family members following to join. Confirm the principal’s current circumstances, the family relationship and each traveller’s procedure rather than treating an earlier household plan as sufficient for every arrival.
List who would enter first and the proposed dates for the others. Include the practical reason for staggered travel, such as work or school commitments. This outline helps identify which information may need updating between trips, rather than assume that documents prepared for one family arrival remain a complete account months later.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Record the actual sequence
- Check the principal’s current position
- Prepare each traveller individually
- Write the sequence down with dates and dependencies
- Confirm each traveller's own position before they move
Who should evaluate the two routes independently?
An immigration comparison and an investment recommendation answer different questions. Define who reviews EB-5 eligibility, who examines any project’s financial risks and who assesses Gold Card terms. Neither a project promoter nor a general programme briefing should be treated as a complete independent assessment of all three.
Ask a licensed U.S. immigration attorney to explain the proposed classifications and evidence requirements. Obtain suitably qualified financial review of an actual EB-5 investment and the consequences of a government gift. An opinion that a petition may be viable does not establish that a commercial investment is prudent or that a contribution is affordable.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate legal and financial opinions
- Identify representation and incentives
- Resolve inconsistent assumptions
- Ask who is paid by whom, and for what
- Reconcile the assumptions before comparing conclusions
- Record the advice, not only the recommendation