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 professional purpose of prototype work in an industrial-design assignment
A hypothetical Spruce Grove industrial designer should connect a prototype with actual design responsibilities. An attractive finished sample may illustrate a product without establishing the applicant’s contribution or the complete proposed TN activity.
Describe concept development, design choices and the applicant’s actual role in the work. Distinguish team contributions and ordinary manufacturing tasks. Do not imply that every hands-on activity is excluded, but do not use a portfolio to hide material responsibilities outside the proposed profession.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the decisions behind the sample
- Document the listed qualification independently
- Complete the professional arrangement review
Do not infer TN citizenship from a Canadian professional designation
A Spruce Grove resident may hold Canadian qualifications while remaining a citizen of another country. The TN review should identify citizenship actually held, rather than treating education or a professional designation as a nationality document.
TN requires Canadian or Mexican citizenship; Canadian permanent residence alone does not meet that condition. A pending future grant and citizenship already existing by law but awaiting documentation are different situations. Explain the actual record instead of drawing a conclusion from a Canadian address or credential.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- State the present citizenship and residence separately
- Give the qualification its proper role
- Assess alternatives without changing the facts
Explain the operating business when the property is held separately
A hypothetical Spruce Grove buyer acquiring premises and a business should show which entity owns each asset and how the operating enterprise uses the space. A combined purchase budget does not replace that explanation.
Identify the property owner, operating company, buyer and relevant use or lease rights. Preserve executed terms and explain related-party arrangements where they exist. Common ownership does not make the documents interchangeable or prove that the operating company has every right described in its plan.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Reconcile the agreements and entity roles
- Apply the investor conditions to the actual structure
- Show operation rather than only asset value
Show executive authority and operating support in a board-supervised new office
A hypothetical Spruce Grove executive opening a U.S. operation should explain both the board’s role and the resources that support executive duties. A governance title and a lease are relevant records, but neither describes the whole first-year plan.
Identify direction of management, policy-setting, wide discretionary authority and the level of supervision. The executive definition permits general direction from a board or higher authority; it does not require complete freedom from oversight. Show who will perform operational work instead of treating every task done by a titled executive as executive activity. The qualifying foreign year must be full-time within the relevant three-year period. U.S. visit days do not count toward that year, although brief visits do not automatically interrupt continuity.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Explain the executive function accurately
- Support the new-office conditions
- Retain the foreign employment and business foundation
Compare an executive’s delegated authority with a buyer’s investment rights
A Spruce Grove applicant may be considered for an executive transfer or may instead buy into the U.S. enterprise. Identify the real employment and ownership proposal before deciding which category to assess.
L-1 requires qualifying organizations, business operations and the applicant’s required foreign employment. For an executive role, explain policy, direction of management, discretion and general oversight. A board’s support can document the proposal without itself establishing every condition. Do not substitute a planned investment for the required employment record. 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
- Trace the executive transfer conditions
- Trace the investor’s role and capital
- Compare the actual source of authority
Do not substitute professional credentials or business ownership for a dependant’s work permission
A Spruce Grove spouse may be qualified to design products, own property or help manage the household’s business. Those facts can be relevant, but they do not by themselves establish permission to perform work in the United States.
Identify work, self-employment, remote services and any proposed unpaid assistance, together with the person’s location. A foreign payer or family relationship is not a substitute for immigration authorization. A professional licence may also involve separate practice rules that an immigration approval does not eliminate.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the planned activity concretely
- Apply the dependent distinctions
- Separate permanent-residence planning from present permission
Compare an investor’s participation rights with a government gift
A Spruce Grove applicant comparing EB-5 with Gold Card should identify the role and purpose associated with each payment. A project run by professional managers is not the same arrangement as a gift to the government.
EB-5 engagement can involve day-to-day managerial control or policy formulation; review actual governance rights instead of assuming every investor must run operations. Current general thresholds are US$1,050,000 or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure project, with adjustment beginning January 1, 2027. Lawful at-risk capital and at least ten qualifying permanent full-time jobs per investor remain required. Participation evidence does not replace those conditions.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Read the EB-5 rights and investment conditions
- Read the Gold Card official amounts and purpose
- Keep later obligations in the comparison