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 an engineering test plan to the professional assignment
A hypothetical Fort Saskatchewan engineer preparing TN evidence should show what the applicant will evaluate and decide, not merely attach a technical test sheet. The employer’s description and supporting records should explain the proposed professional responsibility.
Identify who designs the validation, interprets results and authorizes corrective action. Explain how the applicant contributes and which other duties are included. Hands-on testing is not automatically excluded, but technical equipment alone does not prove that every task is engineering. A finished report should not be attributed to the applicant if others performed the work.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Attribute the work and its purpose
- Prove the qualification by its actual route
- Complete the applicant and arrangement record
Identify Mexican citizenship when assessing a Canadian permanent resident for TN
A Fort Saskatchewan permanent resident of Canada may also be a Mexican citizen. TN citizenship eligibility should be assessed from the citizenship actually held, rather than rejecting or accepting the applicant solely because of Canadian residence.
Canadian permanent residence alone does not satisfy TN’s Canadian-or-Mexican citizenship condition. Actual Mexican citizenship may satisfy that particular condition, while the remaining requirements still need assessment. Do not wait for a hypothetical Canadian citizenship grant before identifying the nationality the person already holds, and do not treat a pending grant as citizenship already acquired.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Record citizenship and Canadian status separately
- Assess the professional case independently
- Use the process appropriate to the actual citizenship
Read a minority buyer’s operating rights before relying on an E-2 plan
A hypothetical Fort Saskatchewan buyer should identify what a minority share actually permits them to do. A contract can protect an investment without giving the buyer the management authority relied upon for E-2 development and direction.
E-2 requires the relevant treaty nationality and a qualifying enterprise, generally based on at least 50% treaty-country ownership. This is different from the applicant’s own control. Development and direction may be established through at least 50% ownership or operational control through a managerial position or another corporate device. Read the complete executed arrangement rather than using one percentage to answer both questions.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate enterprise nationality from personal authority
- Identify decisions the investor actually controls
- Retain the capital and business requirements
Plan a new office differently for a function manager and a knowledge specialist
A hypothetical Fort Saskatchewan group may open a U.S. procurement function or an equipment-diagnostics operation. Both require an authentic corporate-transfer foundation, but the additional new-office evidence must fit the actual L-1A or L-1B proposal.
The new-office framework applies where the qualifying U.S. organization has been doing business for less than one year. A registration date or website alone does not establish the required operating activity. Document the qualifying relationship, continuing business foundation and required continuous full-time year abroad within the relevant three-year period. Initial new-office approval is limited to one year.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Use the true operating history
- Explain the managerial new-office showing
- Explain the specialized-knowledge new-office showing
- Keep ownership and future timing accurate
Compare a procurement transfer with a minority investment proposal
A Fort Saskatchewan applicant may be offered a transfer to manage a group function or may instead buy a minority interest in the U.S. business. Compare the real alternatives without assuming a managerial title makes either category available.
L-1 requires qualifying entities, continuing business and the required foreign employment. An ordinary L-1A foreign year may be managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge work, while the U.S. work must meet the managerial or executive standard. New-office L-1A has the distinct foreign managerial/executive and first-year support requirements. A promised investment does not replace the employment history. Establish one continuous full-time qualifying year abroad within the relevant preceding three years; ordinary foreign work can be managerial, executive or specialized knowledge, while the U.S. duties must fit the requested L classification.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Test the employment-transfer foundation
- Test nationality, capital and control for E-2
- Do not confuse an investor proposal with an E-2 employee case
- Compare the actual documents and household consequences
Separate a household’s engineering work, study and investment roles
A Fort Saskatchewan household may plan a principal’s U.S. assignment, a spouse’s remote technical work and a child’s studies at the same time. Describe each activity and location before assuming that one principal’s application answers the entire family plan.
Dependent eligibility generally concerns an eligible spouse and unmarried children under 21. TD permits study but not employment. Qualifying E and L spouses may work incident to valid status with the appropriate evidence, while children do not receive that spouse authorization. The principal’s approval alone is not the spouse’s admission or status record. Eligible TD, E and L dependents may study while maintaining their status; school enrolment does not extend that status, and immigrant CSPA rules do not extend temporary dependent eligibility.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the actual dependent category
- Describe work without relying on payment labels
- Keep a permanent-residence plan separate
- Use separate records for separate commitments
Separate project employment evidence from a proposed public-purpose gift
A hypothetical Fort Saskatchewan applicant may compare an EB-5 project employing workers with a philanthropic project connected to a Gold Card discussion. Identify the actual recipient and legal purpose before assuming that either form of public or economic benefit satisfies the other route.
Current general EB-5 thresholds are US$1,050,000 or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure project, with statutory adjustments beginning January 1, 2027. Show lawful at-risk capital invested or actively being invested and at least ten qualifying permanent full-time jobs per investor under the applicable method. A project-wide hiring figure does not itself establish every investor’s allocation. Managerial or policy engagement also needs actual supporting rights.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Read the EB-5 capital and job requirements
- Read the Gold Card gift terms
- Compare the outcome and remaining obligations