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.
Keep competing job proposals in separate evidence files
An Esquimalt applicant considering two employers should compare the real offers rather than combine their most useful features into one description. The first review should result in one document set for the chosen role: citizenship evidence, a credential record, a duties-based support letter, the contemplated period and any state authorization needed for the work. The applicant must decide which employer and position will be presented before travel. A Canadian may seek TN admission through inspection at a port or preclearance facility, while an employer can use Form I-129 with USCIS where that process fits. The classification cannot be used to provide services to an enterprise the applicant owns or controls as a personal business.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Match each job to its profession
- Prepare the selected engagement
- Review the ownership and process
Distinguish residence, citizenship and country of birth
Esquimalt residents comparing US routes should record these facts separately because they answer different eligibility questions. A first review should produce a matrix with citizenship, country of birth, Canadian status, employer or enterprise, past work, source of funds and family relationships in separate columns. That prevents a Canadian PR card from being used as proof of citizenship, treaty nationality or immigrant chargeability. The decision is often whether an existing route is actually available now or whether a different sequence—such as acquiring qualifying foreign employment before an L-1 filing—is required. Do not make a move date depend on an identity document that does not answer the governing test.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Use citizenship for the relevant nonimmigrant tests
- Use the real transfer or investment facts
- Review immigrant availability accurately
Explain who directs the business while the seller assists
An Esquimalt buyer should describe the real transition arrangement without assuming that all seller involvement either defeats or establishes the E-2 case. The first review should separate the purchase price, equipment or lease commitments, working capital, seller consulting fee and any refundable escrow. It should also compare the business plan with the documents that control authority after closing. The investor must decide whether funds have become irrevocably committed and exposed to commercial loss, or whether a condition still permits recovery. A credible application also needs a real enterprise that is not marginal; a seller’s past revenue may be relevant but does not automatically establish the buyer’s future operation.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Read effective authority
- Reconcile payments with their purpose
- Support the operating enterprise
Describe authority before relying on senior access
An Esquimalt transferee’s invitations to board meetings may provide context without establishing the role required to lead a new US operation. The first review should produce a dated new-office file: corporate relationship, qualifying foreign employment, secured premises, funding, projected hiring and a description of what the transferee will manage after launch. The company must decide whether the business is ready to support that role within the first year or is still only an idea with a future lease and future staff. L-1 requires one continuous qualifying year abroad during the preceding three years. The relevant maximum stay is generally seven years for L-1A and five years for L-1B.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify decisions and operational support
- Document the first-year business proposal
- Keep the foreign history accurate
Compare employment authority with acquisition authority
An Esquimalt applicant may advise a corporate board or purchase an enterprise with temporary seller support. Assess what the person will genuinely direct or do under each proposal. A useful first review sets the two records beside each other. The L-1 file asks whether qualifying companies exist, whether the person completed an uninterrupted year working outside the United States for the foreign company in the three years before filing, and whether the proposed job fits the requested classification. The E-2 file asks who will own and run the enterprise, how funds reached it and what commercial exposure they carry. The applicant must decide whether the project is an employer-led transfer or a personally controlled investment, rather than choosing based on a title alone.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Explain the transfer’s qualifying role
- Explain the buyer’s effective rights
- Choose from current facts
Decide who is a principal and who may qualify as a derivative
Esquimalt households should identify actual immigration relationships instead of assuming that every relative fits in one principal’s case. Two facts decide most households before any form is chosen: whether the couple is legally married, because a British Columbia common-law partnership is not by itself a marriage that creates TD, L-2 or E-2 derivative status, and whether the partner’s own occupation is one that any route covers, because a trade certificate is not a listed TN profession and TD status does not permit work.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate work permission from family connection
- Review the immigrant family structure
- Budget for the selected structure
- Hypothetical example: a naval architect, a common-law welder and a stepchild
- Records and decisions in order
Compare independent investor cases with a qualifying family case
An Esquimalt family should identify the intended principals and eligible derivatives before comparing headline amounts between EB-5 and Gold Card. A first review should separate the routes into a capital-and-jobs file and an underlying-immigrant-eligibility-and-payment file. EB-5 requires the investor’s capital to be at risk and requires the applicable job outcome; residence is conditional before the later removal-of-conditions stage. Gold Card is not a conventional visa and does not convert a payment into a substitute for classification, screening or visa availability. The decision is not merely which headline amount the household can afford, but which legal conditions and records it can genuinely satisfy.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Apply EB-5 requirements per investor
- Apply Gold Card charges to the actual participants
- Maintain separate residence milestones