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.
When the name on the licence is not the name on the passport
Hypothetical example: a Shefford veterinarian holds a provincial licence issued in her name before marriage and travels on a passport in her married name. Nothing is wrong, but two documents now identify the same person differently, and a reviewer sees that before hearing the explanation. The fix is to carry the record that links them and to leave both original documents unaltered rather than asking any issuer to reprint history. Hypothetical example: an architect's university transcript uses a shortened first name while her passport and professional licence use the full name. She should decide whether a civil record, school letter, or both connects the versions before relying on the credential. The right record is the one that makes the identity trail understandable without altering the underlying academic or licensing history.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Carry the link, do not edit the originals
- Keep the credential question separate from the identity question
- Check the rest of the TN conditions in the same pass
A permanent-resident card is not a Canadian passport for TN purposes
Hypothetical example: a farm-equipment mechanic living in Shefford has held Canadian permanent residence for eleven years, speaks of himself as Canadian, and is told by a U.S. employer to apply for TN. The category is open to Canadian and Mexican citizens. Permanent residence, however long held and however settled the person is, does not satisfy that condition, and finding this out at a port of entry is the expensive way to learn it. Hypothetical example: an electrician who is a Mexican citizen and a Canadian permanent resident is offered a listed professional role after earning a qualifying degree. The decision is not whether Canadian permanent residence becomes citizenship; it is whether the person's Mexican citizenship and the exact profession create a TN option. Verify the passport and the profession separately before the employer starts a file, and note that a Mexican citizen ordinarily obtains a TN visa from a U.S. consular post rather than presenting at a port of entry the way a Canadian citizen may.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Check the condition that comes first
- Work out what the actual options are
- Separate the Canadian side from the U.S. side
Buying a business whose price is mostly used machinery
Hypothetical example: a Shefford buyer acquires a small U.S. excavation contracting business where roughly eighty per cent of the price is allocated to used excavators, trucks and trailers. The equipment is real and the money is spent, but E-2 asks about a real, active, operating enterprise that is more than marginal. A purchase of machinery with a customer list attached is not automatically that, and the difference should be examined before the deal closes. Hypothetical example: a buyer acquires a U.S. boat-repair business with a paid-for yard lease but no signed customer work orders. The decision is whether the purchase already represents an operating enterprise or whether the buyer is funding a start-up that needs a different evidence package. Put the lease, licences, contracts, equipment list and launch budget in one review before money is committed.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask what is being bought besides the iron
- Match the allocation to the marginality analysis
- Confirm the ownership and risk requirements at the same time
Filing a new-office petition before the lease is signed
Hypothetical example: a Shefford metal-stamping company plans a U.S. sales office in shared space, and at the time of filing the arrangement is a verbal understanding with a landlord. New-office petitions are normally approved for one year, and the evidence expected includes sufficient physical premises secured and a demonstrated capacity to support the proposed role. An intention to lease is weaker evidence than a lease, and the gap is worth closing before the petition rather than after. Hypothetical example: a precision-fastener company has a signed U.S. lease but intends to use the space only for storage while its transferee works remotely. The decision is whether the premises, staffing plan and duties describe a credible office that can support a managerial or executive role within the first year. Align the space with the actual launch plan before filing.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Secure the space and document it
- Show that the office can support the role within a year
- Keep the underlying L requirements intact
Transferring yourself or investing in a company you already own
Hypothetical example: the co-owner and general manager of a family plastics firm in Shefford wants to open a U.S. operation and cannot decide whether to be transferred into it or to invest in it personally. The two categories test different things. One asks about a corporate relationship and a year of qualifying employment; the other asks about treaty nationality, committed capital and an enterprise that is not marginal. The facts usually favour one clearly once they are written down. Hypothetical example: a greenhouse-seed producer owns a Canadian company, has funds available personally, and wants a U.S. distribution operation. The decision is whether the established corporate relationship and foreign employment support a transfer, or whether personally committed capital better describes the venture. Put the ownership map, employment chronology, funds trail and staffing plan side by side before choosing a category.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- The intracompany route tests the company, then the person
- The treaty route tests the money and the control
- Compare the consequences, not only the eligibility
A de facto partner is not automatically a spouse for a derivative filing
Hypothetical example: two people in Shefford have lived together for nine years without marrying, which is an ordinary arrangement in Quebec and is treated as a conjugal relationship for many Canadian purposes. U.S. dependent categories are built around a legal spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one. A long common-law relationship, however settled, does not by itself produce a derivative status, and a household planning a move needs that answered before anything else is booked. Hypothetical example: a legally married couple plans a move with one nineteen-year-old child who wants to begin university and another adult child who expects to work. The decision is person-specific: identify the principal’s category, the spouse’s derivative basis, each child’s age, and each person's study or work plan. A single household plan can hide a child who needs an independent route.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Establish each person’s own basis to be there
- Handle children on their own facts
- Decide what to change, and take advice before changing it
Who receives the money, and what happens to it afterwards
Hypothetical example: a retired hospitality operator from Shefford has sold a business and is weighing EB-5 against the Gold Card framework. The clearest way to separate them is to ask two questions about the money: who receives it, and what obligations attach to it afterwards. In one route capital goes into a commercial enterprise and is exposed to loss while creating jobs. In the other, the official framework describes a gift to the U.S. government with a processing fee. Hypothetical example: a commercial baker has documented sale proceeds and is considering both routes, but a promoter describes each as a payment that leads to the same result. The decision begins by separating capital placed in a job-creating enterprise from an applicant's payment to the U.S. government under the Gold Card framework. Then ask which official requirements can actually be documented today.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Follow the recipient
- Follow the obligations that continue afterwards
- Verify both descriptions close to the decision