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.
Turning a technical job description into a reviewable TN evidence file
A technical title can cover many different jobs. Organize evidence around actual responsibilities, deliverables and qualifications so a reviewer can assess the proposed profession. This exercise should make the work more understandable; it should not turn a technical résumé into an assertion that every software or technology position qualifies. TN is available only to citizens of Canada or Mexico performing qualifying professional work, and the record must support the listed profession rather than a convenient title. A first review usually produces a duty matrix, a credential checklist, and a list of documents that need an authorized employer explanation. Hypothetical example: An actuary receives an offer combining pricing models with account-management meetings. The employer must decide whether the actual role is presented around actuarial analysis before collecting a polished but inaccurate letter.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Group duties by actual output
- Use understandable supporting examples
- Check the summary against the source description
- Hypothetical example: a summary that outran the source
What if my passport and Canadian records use different names?
Name differences should be identified before records are used to establish nationality, qualifications or family relationships. Canadian PR does not remove the need for a clear identity record. Build an accurate document map and have the relevant procedure reviewed rather than silently choosing one spelling for every purpose. Start by distinguishing Canadian permanent residence from citizenship, since a route may turn on nationality even when the applicant has lived in Canada for many years. The first review should produce a dated identity table: every name, document, issuing authority, and fact it proves. Hypothetical example: A fisheries biologist has a passport in one spelling and a degree in another after a legal name change. The decision is whether the change certificate and translations connect the records clearly before an employer relies on the degree.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Locate the differences precisely
- Connect documents to their purpose
- Resolve before relying on the file
- Hypothetical example: a discrepancy found at the wrong moment
How should a low-overhead digital business support its E-2 amount?
A digital business may have fewer physical startup costs, but that does not create an automatic small-investment exemption. Document the real cost, proportionate commitment and operating capacity. Avoid inventing equipment purchases to reach a supposed minimum or relying on a founder’s unsupported valuation of an unfinished product. A low-cost model still needs a treaty-qualified investor, qualifying committed capital exposed to loss, and a genuine enterprise that is not marginal. The investor must be able to develop and direct it. A first review should reconcile the budget to payment evidence and identify the one commercial dependency that would stop operations. Hypothetical example: A paper-restoration studio has paid for conservation tools but depends on a leased climate-controlled room that has not been secured. The investor must decide whether the documented commitment supports the actual establishment cost or whether the missing premises changes the analysis.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Use the actual operating model
- Separate product value from expenditure
- Show commercial capacity
Will a franchise or licence create the needed L-1 relationship?
A U.S. franchise, distribution or licensing arrangement may support commercial expansion without creating a qualifying L corporate relationship. Before building a new-office petition around a brand agreement, identify the actual ownership and control links between the foreign employer and U.S. petitioner and obtain a legal assessment of those links. A new-office strategy needs a genuine qualifying relationship between the foreign employer and U.S. petitioner, plus evidence that the worker completed the required year of qualifying foreign employment during the preceding three years. The opening plan must also show an operation able to support the proposed managerial, executive, or specialized-knowledge role within the applicable first-year period. Hypothetical example: A mushroom-substrate producer signs a distribution agreement with a U.S. partner but forms a separately owned U.S. company. The decision is whether actual ownership or control links the two employers, rather than whether the commercial arrangement looks close.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate the contracts by purpose
- Map the proposed petitioner accurately
- Reassess before making launch commitments
Could outside investment change whether L-1 or E-2 remains viable?
New financing can alter control, treaty ownership and corporate relationships. Those changes can affect L-1 and E-2 differently. Review the post-financing rights and percentages before assuming the founder’s original category remains suitable, and preserve the actual term sheet and executed documents rather than relying on a pre-investment ownership chart. Compare the legal prerequisites before comparing convenience. L-1 depends on related organizations and an employee’s qualifying foreign-employment period; E-2 depends on treaty nationality, a real non-marginal enterprise, committed capital exposed to loss, and investor direction. Hypothetical example: A harpsichord-restoration business receives outside financing that leaves its original owner with operational influence but reduced voting rights. The decision is whether the post-closing records still support the corporate relationship for L-1, treaty ownership for E-2, both, or neither.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Model the L-1 relationship after financing
- Model E-2 nationality and direction
- Evaluate changes before acting on old approval
- Hypothetical example: a financing round that moved both answers
Can a TD spouse keep working remotely for a Canadian employer?
TD does not authorize employment, and a Canadian employer or payroll location should not be assumed to remove that restriction. Describe the actual work, physical location and arrangement to qualified counsel before relying on continued remote income. The principal’s TN authorization does not extend to the spouse’s separate duties. A TD dependent cannot work, even if duties are remote, a foreign employer pays the salary, or the activity seems occasional. The first review should record the person’s status, physical work location, tasks, pay arrangement, and any proposed alternative work authorization. Hypothetical example: The spouse of an industrial-hygiene consultant plans to answer client emails from the United States for a Canadian employer. The decision is whether those tasks are employment performed in the United States before relying on a payroll label or the employer’s informal approval.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the arrangement concretely
- Keep the TD rule visible
- Separate immigration from other advice
Are tax claims distorting the EB-5 versus Gold Card choice?
A route comparison should not import Platinum publicity into Gold Card or assume immigration investment creates a personal tax exemption. The Gold Card FAQ expressly discusses U.S. tax including non-U.S. income. Obtain qualified cross-border advice on the actual proposed status, residence pattern and financial transactions under either option. The comparison begins with the different legal character of each route. EB-5 uses qualifying capital exposed to risk and a job-creation framework, with conditional permanent residence first; Gold Card uses a gift payment by the applicant for deposit in the U.S. Treasury framework, not a conventional private investment visa. Hypothetical example: A maritime-navigation training entrepreneur compares an EB-5 project with an individual Gold Card application because both have large headline amounts. The decision is whether the household can accept a risk-bearing investment with job evidence or an unrecoverable government gift, before tax assumptions enter the spreadsheet.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Label the programme correctly
- Give tax advisers the actual plan
- Keep tax analysis separate from approval claims