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.
Comparing an earlier TN file with changed responsibilities
When responsibilities evolve, compare the earlier description with the work now proposed rather than recycling the old evidence without review. A renewal or extension preparation file should make relevant changes visible. A familiar employer and title do not establish that every material fact has remained the same. A first review should produce a dated duty comparison, identify the document that proves each change, and decide whether the planned employer arrangement still fits the claimed professional role. For Canadians, classification can be requested during admission inspection or preclearance, or the employer can submit Form I-129 to USCIS. TN is not a self-employment category, so ownership and control of the receiving business must be surfaced early.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Document the change in duties
- Update the supporting record selectively
- Ask about the consequences before relying on continuity
What changes after I actually become a Canadian citizen?
Obtaining Canadian citizenship changes a nationality fact, but it does not automatically grant U.S. work permission. Revisit the proposed route using the citizenship now established, the actual duties and the correct procedure. Earlier planning based on Canadian PR should be updated rather than simply relabelled as an approved TN case. The first review should issue a short citizenship-and-route memo: what status changed, how it is evidenced, what remains unchanged, and which U.S. category still fits the actual opportunity. Citizenship can open a TN analysis but does not answer the profession, employer, temporary-purpose, credential, or procedure questions. The employer should wait for that review before promising a U.S. start date.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Update the factual summary
- Reassess the real opportunity
- Confirm the next procedure
How should goodwill affect the price of an E-2 business purchase?
An acquisition price may include reputation, customer relationships and other intangible value beyond physical assets. Explain the agreed allocation and evidence supporting it. A seller’s asking price is not self-proving investment evidence, and a large goodwill entry should not conceal missing records about the business being acquired. The first review should reconcile the acquisition agreement, valuation support, payment path, and post-closing operating budget. It should identify which part of the price buys a transferable enterprise asset, which part is an immigration-process expense, and which records prove the investor’s capital is committed. The investor must still show capital placed at risk after irreversible commitment, a real operating enterprise that is not marginal, and a role directing and developing it.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Connect value to an actual transaction
- Examine the supporting business evidence
- Avoid counting value twice
Do the new-office documents contradict one another?
A coherent plan can be weakened by conflicting names, dates, ownership percentages or staffing claims. Review the core new-office records together before filing. The goal is to identify and explain genuine discrepancies, not to rewrite inconvenient documents so that an otherwise unsupported story appears consistent. A first review should create a discrepancy register that names the statement, source document, owner, and action needed to resolve it. It must also test the core L-1 facts: the qualifying corporate relationship, one continuous qualifying year abroad during the three years before filing, and a credible U.S. managerial or executive role. A new office should be planned against evidence of how it will support that role, not only a desired launch date.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Create a comparison index
- Resolve each issue with its owner
- Check the final story against reality
Should spouse work plans decide between L-1 and E-2?
Qualifying spouses in valid L-2S or ordinary E-2S status generally have employment authorization incident to status. That similarity does not make the principal routes interchangeable. Choose the principal category from its supported requirements, then plan each family member’s actual admission or status documentation rather than assuming filing alone permits work. The first review should produce a route comparison that identifies the decisive record for each option: corporate relationship and foreign employment for L-1; treaty nationality, source and commitment of funds, enterprise operation, and investor control for E-2. L-1 requires a qualifying year abroad during the three-year period before filing and has seven-year L-1A and five-year L-1B ceilings. E-2 capital must be committed irrevocably and put at risk, while the enterprise must be real and not marginal.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Establish the principal’s eligibility first
- Check the spouse’s actual evidence
- Plan children separately
What if we marry after the principal has already moved?
A later marriage should trigger a fresh dependent-planning review using the actual relationship and principal circumstances. Do not assume the spouse is added automatically to an existing approval. Identify the appropriate family category, supporting evidence and procedure before arranging travel or treating the marriage itself as U.S. work authorization. A first review should produce a family-specific action list: the principal’s current category and end date, the marriage evidence, each spouse’s location and nationality, and the procedure that applies to the new spouse. It should also decide whether travel, a filing, or an independent work route must occur first. Marriage changes the facts; it does not itself create admission, status, or work permission.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Update the relationship facts
- Check the principal’s current position
- Discuss work as a separate question
How should an approaching child’s birthday affect route choice?
An age-sensitive family should obtain a separate legal assessment for each proposed route. Both programme summaries identify unmarried children under 21, but that wording alone does not resolve every age-out issue. Do not choose between EB-5 and Gold Card solely because an adviser promises that one will finish before a birthday. A first review should make two separate timelines: one for each family member’s age and status facts, and one for the legal and financial steps of each option. EB-5 requires qualifying capital at risk and the applicable job-creation showing, with conditional permanent residence before conditions are removed. Gold Card is not a standalone statutory visa category: the individual framework requires a nonrefundable DHS processing fee and, after vetting, an unrestricted gift to the United States that is deposited in the Treasury; successful applicants proceed through EB-1 or EB-2 subject to eligibility, admissibility and visa availability, so neither route should be treated as a simple family-price comparison.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Build one precise family timeline
- Ask for route-specific legal analysis
- Compare consequences before committing