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.
Explain the legal employer when the offer uses a trading name
A Sables-Spanish Rivers applicant should connect the name on a professional offer with the entity responsible for employment. A familiar brand is not an explanation of a payroll or contract difference.
Collect the offer, contract and relevant employer explanation. Determine whether the names describe a trading style, affiliate or actual employer change. TN requires Canadian or Mexican citizenship, temporary professional activity in a listed USMCA profession and the particular qualifications. Neither a well-known brand nor a different letterhead changes the substantive duty test.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify who can confirm the relationship
- Attach credentials and ownership facts to the real proposal
- Check the final entity before the intended start
Keep a Canadian address separate from the nationality used in the case
A Sables-Spanish Rivers resident’s address may appear on every employer document without establishing Canadian citizenship. Confirm the nationality actually held before a company assumes it can use the Canadian TN process.
TN principal eligibility requires Canadian or Mexican citizenship. Canadian permanent residence, work experience or education cannot replace it. A pending citizenship application is not a completed nationality change. If Mexican citizenship is available, assess the procedure attached to that citizenship rather than treating the Canadian address as the deciding fact.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Read the identity record directly
- Clarify which other facts still need assessment
- Give the household a factual planning record
Rebuild the buyer’s operating plan after an asset-only acquisition
A Sables-Spanish Rivers buyer should not simply attach the seller’s accounts when the agreement transfers only selected assets. Identify the operations the buyer will actually control and the resources available to support them.
List equipment, contracts, receivables, inventory and other rights actually transferred. Confirm the buyer entity, the applicant’s treaty nationality and at least 50% relevant treaty-country national ownership, then establish development and direction. Buying a trade name does not automatically acquire the seller’s company or its complete operating history.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Read inclusions and exclusions together
- Reconcile qualifying capital with the real transaction
- Test the business the buyer can operate
Use actual decision authority to test a matrix management forecast
A Sables-Spanish Rivers company planning a US office should show what the transferee can decide and who performs routine tasks. Multiple reporting lines can be explained, but they do not replace proof of a qualifying managerial or executive role.
The new-office definition concerns a US organization doing business for less than one year. Establish the qualifying corporate relationship and regular, systematic and continuous business in the United States and abroad. Document a continuous full-time foreign year within the relevant three years; exclude US days without automatically treating brief visits as interrupted continuity.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Determine the correct office framework
- Apply the specific foreign and US capacity rules
- Track the first year as an actual operating record
Separate company-group evidence from an asset purchase agreement
A Sables-Spanish Rivers applicant comparing a transfer with a business purchase should identify the legal organizations involved. An asset transaction can create an investment proposal without creating the employer relationship required for L-1.
L-1 needs a qualifying parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate connection, continued US and foreign business, and a continuous full-time qualifying foreign year within the relevant three years. US days do not count, though brief trips need not interrupt continuity. Assess the actual managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge US role. A buyer cannot assume that selected assets carry the seller’s entire corporate relationship.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Trace the employment route through real entities
- Trace the investor route through capital and rights
- Compare the activities each proposal would authorize
Use separate arrival plans without assuming separate eligibility rules
A Sables-Spanish Rivers household may wish to stagger a move for work, school or care responsibilities. Start from the actual status and entry requirements, then fit practical tasks around them rather than assuming a convenient travel sequence is permitted.
Dependent eligibility generally concerns a spouse and unmarried children under 21, subject to the applicable immigrant age-protection assessment. TD does not authorize employment. A qualifying spouse in appropriate E or L status may work incident to status with required evidence; children do not receive that permission. Study plans and financial dependence do not automatically extend temporary dependent status.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the person and intended activity
- Respect the immigrant entry sequence
- Budget from the actual inclusion list
Decide which settlement proceeds are available before choosing a residence commitment
A Sables-Spanish Rivers applicant may have a signed property settlement but receive its proceeds in stages. Before comparing EB-5 with Gold Card, identify the amount actually received, any conditions still outstanding and the evidence explaining the underlying assets. An entitlement to future money and funds ready for a specific commitment are different starting points.
Create a dated account of the asset awarded, its ownership history, any sale and the distribution the applicant actually received. If another person still holds part of the proceeds, explain that fact rather than showing the whole settlement as an available account balance. For an EB-5 proposal, the record must establish lawful source and the complete path into qualifying capital at risk. Check the petition filing date against the capital rules: the general threshold is US$1.05 million, with US$800,000 available for qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure cases and statutory adjustments beginning January 1, 2027. The settlement amount does not determine which threshold applies. Separately assess the enterprise’s support for at least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor and the investor’s management or policy-formulation participation. Receiving a lawful distribution answers neither of those project questions.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Reconcile the award, distribution and proposed investment
- Build the gift budget from the people who can qualify
- Keep a private payment deadline out of the residence calendar