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.
Keep the employer’s amendment history visible in a TN file
When an employer revises a professional offer, a Markstay-Warren applicant should identify the proposal actually being assessed. A collection of signed letters can create confusion if each describes a different assignment. Use the documentary history to explain the changes rather than hiding them.
Ask the employer which version governs the intended employment and obtain a concrete duty description. TN requires Canadian or Mexican citizenship, prearranged temporary activity in a listed USMCA profession and its specific qualifications. An unchanged title does not establish that the revised work fits. If responsibilities genuinely move to another employee, record that allocation instead of simply deleting inconvenient duties from the letter.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Start with the operative duties
- Keep qualification evidence independent of offer revisions
- Close the remaining employment questions
Separate a future citizenship plan from an employer’s current proposal
A Markstay-Warren resident may be discussing both a Canadian citizenship application and a possible US professional role. Put the two processes on separate timelines. An employer needs an accurate statement of citizenship already held, not a prediction presented as an accomplished fact.
TN principals must be Canadian or Mexican citizens. Canadian permanent residence, education or a pending citizenship application cannot substitute for that condition. If Mexican citizenship is already held, assess the corresponding procedure rather than assuming residence in Canada permits the Canadian admission approach. Keep identity evidence distinct from the résumé and from the employer’s willingness to wait.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the nationality available now
- Use the waiting period to clarify the real job
- Make household commitments depend on confirmed facts
Compare the buyer’s authority before and after the final instalment
A purchase agreement can change control in stages. For a Markstay-Warren E-2 proposal, identify the rights effective at each stage and connect them to the capital actually committed. The final intended ownership arrangement should not be presented as already operative.
Read management, voting and retained seller rights together. The investor needs qualifying treaty nationality and the ability to develop and direct the enterprise; at least 50% of the business must have the relevant treaty-country national ownership. A majority interest is useful evidence, but unresolved vetoes over actual operations deserve explanation. Do not infer control only from whose name appears first in the contract.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- List the decisions the buyer can make now
- Reconcile the investment with the payment conditions
- Connect the agreement to a viable temporary undertaking
Build the first-year function plan around work someone will actually perform
A Markstay-Warren company expanding a purchasing function into the United States should show how operational work and managerial decisions will be divided. A first-year plan needs credible resources and duties, not merely a future manager title attached to one busy employee.
The framework concerns a US organization doing business for less than one year, not simply a recently renamed department. Prove the qualifying company relationship and continuing regular, systematic business in the United States and abroad. Document a continuous full-time foreign employment year within the relevant three years, excluding US days while not automatically treating brief visits as interruptions.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Determine whether the US office is legally new
- Apply the correct foreign-role and US-role conditions
- Keep the plan tied to the initial approval period
Compare an employer’s transfer with the employee’s proposed purchase
A Markstay-Warren applicant might be offered a company transfer while separately negotiating a personal acquisition. Describe each arrangement on its own before comparing L-1 and E-2. Money committed to a purchase and time worked for an employer answer different eligibility questions.
For L-1, establish the qualifying corporate relationship, continuing US and foreign business and a continuous full-time qualifying foreign year within the relevant three years. US days do not count toward that year, though brief visits do not automatically interrupt it. Assess the actual US managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge role. A personally owned target business does not automatically become a qualifying affiliate of the applicant’s employer.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Build the transfer from employment and company facts
- Build the investment from nationality, control and risk
- Compare the actual activities after each decision
Keep a donor, a corporate sponsor and an eligible relative on different lists
A family’s financial support can involve people who are not applying for any immigration benefit. A Markstay-Warren household should identify who gives money, who sponsors employment and who seeks status. A person’s role on one list does not establish a place on another.
Dependent family categories generally concern a spouse and unmarried children under 21, with applicable immigrant age protection requiring case-specific review. A parent who gives EB-5 funds does not become the investor’s derivative, and financial dependence alone does not establish child eligibility. Record the actual relationship and case dates. CSPA is not a blanket promise that paying or filing freezes every child’s age.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Establish relationships before adding applicants
- Assign work only after checking each person’s permission
- Match money and travel to the actual included household
Compare donated investment funds with a corporate gift contribution
A Markstay-Warren applicant may receive money from a parent for EB-5 while an employer discusses Gold Card sponsorship. Separate the private family gift from the programme’s government gift. The fact that both arrangements involve someone else providing money does not make their legal or financial consequences equivalent.
Document the donor’s lawful source, the genuine gift terms and the full transfer path into qualifying at-risk capital. EB-5 generally requires US$1.05 million or US$800,000 for qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure cases; statutory adjustments begin January 1, 2027, so check the filing-date rules. At least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor and management or policy-formulation participation remain necessary. Family generosity cannot replace the project evidence or guarantee repayment.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Trace the EB-5 donor before assessing the project
- Read the corporate Gold Card proposal under its own terms
- Separate repayment expectations from residence milestones