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.
Match the actual profession before choosing credentials
Central Saanich applicants with interdisciplinary backgrounds should identify the real TN profession and then explain the relevant education, rather than assemble a hybrid standard. Make a document map before requesting letters: citizenship, selected listed profession, actual duties, qualification, licence if applicable, and the employer’s remuneration and duration. The map makes it clear what is proven and what still needs correction. Canadian or Mexican citizenship is required, and TN cannot be used for a US business the professional solely controls. For Canadian applicants, decide whether the final facts support a request during border inspection or whether the relevant I-129 route is preferable; document preparation remains the same in principle. In either sequence, do not treat a polished title, a future licence, or a broad career history as proof of the required present condition.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Read the duties first
- Use that profession’s requirements
- Keep ownership and process accurate
Check the fact each proposed route actually requires
A Central Saanich resident may hold Canadian PR, varied qualifications and interests in a company. None of these records should be used as a substitute for a different eligibility condition. Start by assigning each proposed route to the person who actually meets its conditions. Canadian permanent residence may be relevant background, but it is not citizenship for TN and does not replace treaty nationality, qualifying foreign employment, or immigrant-category eligibility. The practical decision is which condition can be proven now without recasting the facts. A first review can end with a simple route matrix: person, required condition, document that proves it, and unresolved issue. That format prevents a household from spending on a pathway that belongs to a different family member or depends on an event that has not happened.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate residence from TN citizenship
- Read the corporate facts
- Review immigrant funding and eligibility
Explain committed working capital without artificial spending
A Central Saanich investor should describe the reserve’s actual purpose, ownership and commitment. Neither a blanket exclusion nor automatic acceptance based on its label is a sound account of the facts. The decision is not whether a reserve is called working capital; it is whether the money is owned and controlled by the investor, committed through enforceable business obligations, and exposed to the enterprise’s success or failure. An E-2 file should show lawful source and path, treaty nationality, qualifying ownership, development and direction, substantiality, and a real enterprise that is not marginal. The first review should end with a clear choice: commit the funds on terms that create genuine business exposure, change the transaction structure, or wait until the record is ready. A large uncommitted balance may be financially prudent, but it is not automatically qualifying capital.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Trace the reserve
- Connect the funds to the investor
- Preserve the business rationale
Show the service actually delivered by outside support
A Central Saanich company should connect an outsourcing agreement to the work performed in support of its new US operation. A vendor’s promised scope is not always the same as actual operational coverage. The decision is what the vendor agreement must say before it is signed. A warehouse contract that promises service “as required” gives the officer nothing to weigh; one that states staffed hours, named deliverables and the manager’s right to set priorities, reject work and terminate shows a function being managed. Negotiate those clauses before drafting the petition.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Explain the applicant’s primary duties
- Address the new-office proposal
- Support the qualifying relationship and service
- Hypothetical example: an equipment dealer whose only US staff are a warehouse vendor’s
- Match each L-1 condition to its record
Distinguish supported management from committed investment
A Central Saanich applicant may manage a function using outside services or direct an enterprise with operating reserves. The assessment should identify what is actually performed and what is actually committed. The decision is which money will actually leave the owner’s control. Reserves kept in a Canadian account can fund a subsidiary that transfers a head grower under L-1B, but they are not an E-2 investment until they are irrevocably committed to a US enterprise. Match the route to the funds the owner is genuinely prepared to spend and risk.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Evaluate the transfer evidence
- Evaluate the treaty investment
- Resolve the real dependencies
- Hypothetical example: a greenhouse grower’s protocols, transferred or invested
- Ask the accountant and the lawyer these questions
Read personal and corporate obligations separately
Central Saanich families may receive support through a company while each person’s status, work permission and financial obligations remain distinct. The decision is whether the executive should move under an L-1A petition, with an L-2 spouse working incident to status, or accept the company’s offer of a corporately funded Gold Card, where each included spouse or child carries its own stated amount. The spouse’s shareholding in the Canadian company is her own and changes neither answer.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Use actual employment authorization
- Assess the immigrant family
- Clarify the benefit and charges
- Hypothetical example: a company-paid move, a shareholder spouse and two children
- Records that settle each person’s route
Follow the legal entitlement and the actual commitment
Central Saanich applicants using company resources should distinguish an individual’s EB-5 capital from an employer’s corporate Gold Card support. The source and agreement matter more than a general statement that the company will pay.
Establish lawful entitlement, source and path through the actual distribution and investment. Capital generally is US$1.05 million or US$800,000 for qualifying TEA or infrastructure cases, with statutory adjustment beginning January 1, 2027. At-risk funds, ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor and management or policy-formulation participation remain required.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Trace the EB-5 contribution
- Read the Gold Card arrangement
- Preserve the actual residence sequence
- Hypothetical example: an employer offers to ‘sponsor’ its operations vice-president
- Sequence the decision so that nothing is resigned or sold too early