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 relationship between a degree and mixed professional duties
For a Lethbridge applicant considering a US role, TN documents should connect the listed profession, specific qualifications and actual employment. A scientific or technical workplace does not make every position professional under the TN rules. Begin with a truthful duty description before deciding which academic records will be useful. A first document review should end with a duty map, a profession-specific qualification checklist, and a list of gaps that require records rather than explanation. Hypothetical example: A Canadian engineer specializing in industrial hygiene is offered a U.S. role that combines exposure assessment with purchasing protective equipment. The applicant must decide whether the professional analysis is the real position, then request an employer letter and academic records that answer that question honestly.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask for the complete role
- Identify the qualification gap
- Choose the actual procedure
Assess the US offer using the applicant’s actual nationality
A Canadian permanent resident may have a strong US professional offer while still lacking the citizenship required for TN. Separate the quality of the opportunity from nationality eligibility. Residence in Lethbridge and a Canadian PR card do not establish Canadian or Mexican citizenship. The practical decision is whether to preserve the offer while pursuing a category the applicant can actually qualify for, rather than treating Canadian permanent residence as a substitute for nationality. Hypothetical example: A Canadian permanent resident who designs theatre lighting receives a U.S. offer but remains a citizen only of Brazil. She must decide whether the employer can wait for citizenship or whether another category has independently provable facts.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Record present facts before future plans
- Examine alternatives on their own evidence
- Coordinate obligations in both countries
Distinguish a franchise package price from qualifying E-2 evidence
A franchise quotation can bundle rights, equipment, deposits and future operating obligations. E-2 analysis must identify what has actually been invested or committed and how the enterprise satisfies the other requirements. The total on a brochure is a starting point for questions, not an approval threshold. The decision is not whether a package looks substantial; it is whether the investor can document a real enterprise, a traceable commitment, and control after opening. Hypothetical example: A Canadian maker of handcrafted paper considers a U.S. bookbinding studio franchise. Before signing, she must decide which payments can safely be released and whether the operating plan shows her directing a venture that is not marginal.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Itemize the business arrangement
- Check the opening conditions
- Test the financial plan
Use an operational plan to test the proposed new-office manager
A new-office petition requires secured physical premises and is initially approved for no more than one year. For L-1A, the evidence must show that the operation can support a primarily managerial or executive role within that year. The qualifying corporate relationship and one continuous year of qualifying foreign employment within the preceding three years remain separate requirements. The central decision is whether the first year can credibly build an operation that supports a primarily managerial or executive role, rather than merely placing a capable worker in a new market. Hypothetical example: A Canadian specialist in historic-piano restoration wants to open a U.S. workshop and transfer its operations manager. The company must decide who will restore instruments, who will handle bookings, and how the manager's time will shift away from hands-on production.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Establish the operation’s real history
- Describe the support for management
- Prepare to compare plans with results
Compare a supervisory transfer with an owner-operated venture
A person who wants to lead a US business should compare the actual work and ownership arrangement with each category’s requirements. L-1A does not cover every supervisor, and E-2 does not cover every business purchase. The most useful comparison identifies the fact that supports or limits each route. The meaningful decision is whether the person is being transferred through a qualifying business structure or is personally committing capital to direct a treaty enterprise; the labels cannot be mixed to cure missing facts. Hypothetical example: A Canadian producer of stop-motion animation owns a related U.S. company and also has personal funds to buy a small studio. She must decide whether the foreign employment and managerial role support L-1 or whether the capital, nationality, and operating plan support E-2.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Examine the transfer role closely
- Examine the investor’s authority and commitment
- Compare the household and business sequence
Distinguish permission to join from permission to work
Canadian citizenship and Canadian permanent residence are separate facts, and a PR card does not create TN eligibility. A spouse or child may be eligible to accompany a principal without being authorized to perform planned work; dependent children generally age out at 21. Record each person’s intended activity, including unpaid assistance, because each family member’s own activity determines the route and required permission. The household decision is to identify each person's intended work, study, travel, and immigration benefit before the principal's plan creates an expectation that cannot lawfully be met. Hypothetical example: A Canadian children’s-book illustrator plans a U.S. transfer, while her spouse wants to operate a small online stationery shop and their nineteen-year-old hopes for paid work. The family must decide each activity under the person's own status rather than treating accompaniment as a single permission.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Review work under the specific dependent category
- Calculate immigrant applicants accurately
- Build the move around actual documents
Compare job evidence with gift-payment evidence
Direct EB-5 and individual Gold Card planning call for different records. EB-5 requires qualifying at-risk investment and job creation. Gold Card uses the stated gift framework within applicable immigrant-category requirements. Accurate financial documentation matters to both, but it does not make their legal tests interchangeable. The financial decision is whether to place capital at risk in a job-creating enterprise or make the distinct official payment required by the Gold Card process; calling both a payment hides their different evidence and consequences. Hypothetical example: A Canadian builder of harps has proceeds from selling a workshop and wants US residence with her spouse. She must decide whether she can support EB-5's capital and job records or whether Gold Card eligibility and a gift payment fit the family's facts.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- For EB-5, examine qualifying positions
- For Gold Card, separate fees from gifts
- Keep immigration milestones distinct