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.
Connect the applicant’s identity to a credential issued in a former name
For a St.-Charles TN file, explain why an authentic qualification and current passport use different names. The goal is a verifiable connection between records, not a newly edited diploma that hides the history.
Identify the genuine current and historical records and the relevant change. Ask the issuing institution what it can authenticate where needed. Preserve originals and distinguish an issuer’s legitimate replacement from an applicant-created alteration. Avoid circulating unrelated personal material when a focused explanation will identify the issue.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- List the names and the documents that use them
- Check the qualification independently
- Finish the professional-arrangement review
Tell the employer which citizenship is held before discussing document retrieval
A St.-Charles permanent resident may be asked to obtain Canadian records for a professional offer. Clarify citizenship at the outset so evidence work serves a category actually available to the applicant.
TN principals must be Canadian or Mexican citizens. A Canadian permanent resident card, Canadian diploma or long employment history cannot supply missing citizenship. If Mexican citizenship is held, review the Mexican procedure rather than assuming the Canadian visa-exempt TN admission process applies.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Distinguish immigration residence from nationality
- Ask what the employer is proposing
- Correct the assumption before commitments accumulate
Make a missing bank record a precise evidence question
A St.-Charles acquisition file may include most transfers but lack one old statement. Define the missing source or path fact before deciding whether other authentic evidence can address it.
Identify the relevant account holder, dates, amount and transaction. Ask the institution what archival evidence or confirmation it can legitimately provide and preserve its response. A missing month in a file is different from an unexplained source of funds; describe which issue exists rather than calling both incomplete paperwork.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Locate the particular gap
- Evaluate records without manufacturing certainty
- Return to the investment conditions
Place a leave period inside a documented foreign-service chronology
For a St.-Charles new-office proposal, an employment anniversary is not enough to resolve a leave period. Establish the service facts before relying on them to support the first U.S. assignment.
Identify active employment, the nature of leave, location and return. Preserve appropriate records and resolve inconsistent dates through the employer. Do not assume all leave counts, or all absence breaks continuity. U.S. days do not count toward the qualifying foreign year, though brief visits do not automatically interrupt it.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Obtain the employer’s account of the interval
- Apply the new-office category actually proposed
- Keep the opening plan grounded in the evidence
Separate an employer’s service record from an investor’s funding record
A St.-Charles applicant could be considering a transfer after leave and a separate business acquisition. Missing evidence in one proposal does not make the other category a shortcut. Build each analysis from its own actual conditions.
L-1 requires a qualifying corporate connection, continuing U.S. and foreign business and a continuous full-time qualifying foreign year within the relevant three years. Clarify the actual leave and work chronology rather than inferring service from an anniversary. The U.S. role must meet managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge requirements, with additional new-office conditions where applicable.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Assess the employment proposal from qualifying service
- Assess the acquisition from nationality and commitments
- Compare the activity each arrangement would authorize
Check what a civil record establishes for each person in the household
For a St.-Charles family, a missing or inconsistent document should be addressed through an accurate relationship account and the applicable instructions. Do not treat a principal’s employment or payment as a substitute for each relative’s eligibility.
Dependent categories generally cover a spouse and unmarried children under 21; applicable immigrant age protection requires assessment of actual dates. Ask the legitimate issuing authority about the unavailable record and follow case-specific evidence instructions. A relative’s financial dependence or shared surname alone does not establish the required relationship. Immigrant child-age protection does not extend the ordinary TD, E or L dependent child age limit.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the relationship and the evidence needed
- Separate eligibility from work permission
- Coordinate the immigrant household without assuming a shared decision
Distinguish inherited capital from money intended for a government gift
A St.-Charles beneficiary may consider using an inheritance for EB-5 or Gold Card. First establish the funds actually available, then compare the two commitments. The same source of money does not make the legal or financial arrangements equivalent.
Trace lawful source and path into qualifying capital owned and controlled by the investor and placed at risk. Current thresholds are US$1,050,000 or US$800,000 for qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure cases, with statutory adjustments beginning January 1, 2027 based on petition filing date. Management or policy-formulation participation and at least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor remain necessary. An estate valuation does not establish the investment.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Build the EB-5 capital account from the actual distribution
- Read Gold Card as a separate commitment
- Keep financial recovery separate from residence