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.
Resolving conflicting employer records before TN preparation
When HR and a hiring manager describe the role differently, identify and resolve the discrepancy before finalizing the support file. The goal is one accurate account supported by the people responsible for it. Choosing the more convenient document without resolving the conflict can leave the application based on incompatible facts.
Record the disputed term and the documents containing it: duties, reporting line, duration, work location or compensation. Separate minor formatting differences from substantive disagreements. A short issue log helps the employer address the actual problem instead of circulating another draft that changes wording without resolving the underlying arrangement.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe each conflict specifically
- Obtain clarification from the responsible person
- Control the final version
- Ask which company is making the offer
- Give each record back to the person accountable for it
What if my Canadian PR card or passport is approaching expiry?
An expiring document creates a planning question, not a new U.S. work entitlement. Separate passport and Canadian-document concerns from the proposed U.S. classification. Identify the real deadlines and obtain the relevant guidance before assuming that renewal activity, residence status or an employer’s schedule resolves the travel plan.
Record expiry dates and any renewal process already underway without assuming all documents have the same legal effect. A passport, Canadian residence document and U.S. visa or admission record serve different purposes. The planning task is to identify which authority or adviser should address each issue and how it affects the intended sequence.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Create separate document timelines
- Keep nationality and activity visible
- Review travel in both directions
- Confirm which status each document actually evidences
- Assign each renewal to the authority that handles it
Can several years of future rent count as my E-2 investment?
A signed lease may commit the business to years of occupancy without making all future rent a current investment. Review actual payments and any prepayment separately. The relevant calculation should reflect the applicable lease-payment rules and the premises needed for operations, rather than adding the full lease term to inflate capital.
List deposits, rent already paid, amounts prepaid and future instalments. Keep receipts and explain refundable security amounts. State guidance distinguishes current rent payments from annual rent not paid in advance. Counsel should review the treatment of each item instead of assuming that every contractual future obligation counts as capital already committed under the same rule.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate the lease schedule
- Check premises readiness
- Compare commercial and immigration budgets
- Identify who actually paid, and from where
- Separate the landlord’s obligations from the tenant’s
Who will hold decision-making authority in the new office?
The proposed executive’s authority should be visible in both the business plan and the actual governance arrangements. Compare spending, hiring and operational decision rights before claiming broad discretion. A senior title may conflict with a structure in which someone else controls every substantive U.S. business decision.
Identify who approves hiring, budgets, contracts and business direction. Distinguish routine oversight by a parent company from the transferee’s own responsibilities. Use real reporting arrangements and governing records; an idealised description prepared for immigration review should not conceal limitations that appear in board approvals or employment terms.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- List important decisions
- Reconcile authority with resources
- Record authority as the business develops
- Write the approval limits down
- Name who reports to whom, and who reports on the office
Does a franchise brand create an L-1 relationship or an E-2 investment case?
A franchise agreement does not by itself establish an L-1 parent, subsidiary or affiliate relationship. E-2 may involve a franchise investment, but brand participation does not establish treaty nationality, capital or direction. Compare the actual ownership and operating rights rather than assuming the franchisor’s international presence supplies the founder’s immigration eligibility.
For L-1, draw the actual ownership relationship between the foreign employer and proposed U.S. employer. Two separately owned franchisees may share branding without being qualifying affiliates. Obtain corporate records rather than relying on the franchise agreement alone. The founder still needs qualifying foreign employment and a supported U.S. role within the relevant organization.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the entities behind the brand
- Examine the franchise investment
- Ask for documents the comparison needs
- Ask who owns the shares, not who owns the brand
- Separate the franchisor’s control from the investor’s direction
Can an E-2 dependent child help staff the family business?
An E-2 child does not receive the spouse’s employment authorization simply by being part of the investor’s household. Do not build the business staffing plan around assumed dependent-child work. Identify the proposed duties and obtain individual advice before treating family participation, limited hours or future intentions as permission.
List which people the enterprise expects to employ and identify any dependent children included in those expectations. A child’s relationship to the investor does not make their proposed work authorized. The commercial plan should not rely on a family label to answer an employment question that requires the child’s own circumstances to be reviewed.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate the family and staffing plans
- Describe the intended participation
- Keep spouse rules separate
- Decide the child’s role before the business relies on it
- Keep the parent’s role and the employer’s role apart
How should borrowed or gifted funds be compared?
Money received from another person creates evidence and legal questions beyond the applicant’s current balance. EB-5 policy expressly addresses gifts and loans under applicable requirements. Gold Card should be assessed using its own current instructions. Do not assume that the same funding instrument is acceptable or sufficient under both routes.
Identify the donor or lender, relationship, amount, terms and movement of funds. Distinguish a completed gift from a promised transfer or a repayable advance. Preserve original agreements and records; the description should reflect the real transaction rather than label a loan a gift because one term appears more convenient for immigration.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Document the actual funding arrangement
- Apply EB-5’s specific evidence rules
- Ask the separate Gold Card question
- Identify every party the money passed through
- Ask each route its own question