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.
Confirm the offer that exists after internal approvals
A Langford applicant should distinguish a proposed position from the actual employer commitment used in a TN assessment. The next decision is what the position is called and what it actually requires. TN is granted for a listed profession, so an offer headed project manager needs a duties description that shows engineering work requiring the degree, or it should be re-titled to match the profession the applicant will actually practise.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Establish the professional requirement
- Record agreed terms accurately
- Use the relevant process
- Hypothetical example: engineer or project manager
- Sequence before the port of entry
Keep citizenship separate from employer funding approval
A Langford resident’s permanent residence in Canada and an employer’s willingness to pay costs do not establish principal TN nationality eligibility. The decision for a permanent resident is whether to wait for Canadian citizenship, which would open TN, or to build a different route now. For many, that means a year of qualifying employment with a Canadian company that has a US affiliate, because L-1 turns on employment and corporate relationship, not on the transferee’s citizenship.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify current citizenship
- Assess another route on its own merits
- Review the household individually
- Hypothetical example: a developer with a PR card
- Start with nationality and the affiliate’s actual existence
Connect goodwill to the business actually being acquired
A Langford buyer should identify the actual rights and enterprise behind a price allocation rather than treat goodwill as guaranteed future revenue. A useful first review produces a source-and-use schedule rather than a headline purchase price. It marks each amount as paid, placed under a binding escrow condition, contractually due, or still available to the buyer, then matches it to the specific business asset or obligation. The buyer must decide whether to make the next payment only after the records show its source, destination, and commercial consequence.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Read the acquisition terms
- Maintain the investor conditions
- Support the economic plan
Explain the role beyond its spending limit
A Langford company should show the transferee’s actual authority and work instead of using a department budget as the complete managerial explanation. The decision that follows is where the manager will actually sit: a signed lease for identifiable space that the US entity controls, or a desk arrangement that can be cancelled monthly. Choose the premises evidence before the petition is drafted, because the first-year plan, the staffing timeline and the extension request all rest on it.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe duties and support
- Meet the first-year conditions
- Complete the qualifying transfer
- Hypothetical example: a coworking desk as the only premises
- Sequence the extension evidence from day one
Compare spending authority with an investor’s directing rights
A Langford applicant may manage a budget for an employer or acquire a business with personal capital. Those arrangements need different qualifying evidence. The decision that usually settles the comparison is time. L-1A is capped at seven years and L-1B at five, after which the transferee must leave L status or move to another basis. E-2 can be extended while the enterprise continues to qualify, but it gives no direct path to permanent residence. Choose the route that fits the length of the plan.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Review the L-1 basis
- Review the E-2 basis
- Identify the actual work and exposure
- Hypothetical example: an HVAC firm’s branch or a purchased company
- Compare whose capital and organization support the move
Do not treat a funded family package as immigration permission
A Langford household may receive employer support or a private service quotation while individual eligibility and status remain unresolved. The first decision for the household is whether the spouse enters as a TD dependant, who cannot work, or seeks a separate TN as a professional in a listed occupation. The second is what the eldest child will hold on turning 21, because TD ends at that birthday regardless of the principal’s remaining period.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Check work authorization
- Review immigrant family facts
- Reconcile programme and private charges
- Hypothetical example: a nurse spouse and a child approaching 21
- Which record settles each person’s route
Compare an actual currency contribution with a private service quotation
A Langford applicant should distinguish funds committed to an investment from money charged for assistance. Neither an exchange estimate nor a premium service fee settles the immigration outcome. The comparison should begin with a classification chart, not a currency conversion. For EB-5, identify the investor, the lawful origin and transfer path of the capital, the project documents, the required employment evidence, and the conditional-residence stage. For Gold Card, identify the applicant's qualifying EB-1 or EB-2 theory, admissibility and visa availability, then preserve the official payment directions separately from any adviser invoice. The decision is whether the household is prepared for an at-risk commercial investment with job-creation duties or for the distinct official gift framework.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Establish the EB-5 facts
- Identify the official Gold Card payment
- Follow real residence milestones