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 employer’s actual commitment
North Saanich applicants should distinguish a recruiter’s encouraging message from accurate evidence of the proposed professional engagement. The decision that settles most cases is refusing to travel on an email. A TN applicant presents a signed letter from the employer describing professional duties, pay and duration, together with the profession's own credential; until that letter exists in final form, the offer is a conversation, and a start date agreed by a talent team is not a document.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify agreed terms
- Apply the professional requirements
- Review ownership and the route
- Hypothetical example: an accountant told that TN is guaranteed
- Reconcile every inconsistency before the port of entry
Separate Canadian residence from the evidence each US route needs
North Saanich residents should identify the actual citizenship, employment, business and financial facts relevant to their proposed category. Canadian permanent residence and Canadian citizenship answer different questions. A first review should create a route-by-route table showing the passport that supports nationality, the employer or enterprise record, the qualifying employment history, and the source of funds. The reader must decide whether a proposed route is available to the individual, rather than assuming a Canadian residence card supplies every required nationality or status condition.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Begin with the TN citizenship test
- Read the employment and business history
- Use real financial and residence evidence
Compare actual performance with the plan that preceded it
A North Saanich investor should explain what the business has really done instead of treating an original forecast as permanent evidence of its economic capacity. A current E-2 review compares the business’s present record with the applicant’s remaining commitments, not merely with the optimism of the original plan. It should identify what has been paid or bound by an irrevocable obligation, what remains available but uncommitted, and how the enterprise is actually producing revenue and employment. The reader must decide whether to apply on the existing evidence, complete a necessary commitment first, or revise the plan to describe the business that will really operate.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Review current operating results
- Apply the complete investor conditions
- Address nonmarginality on the applicable timeline
Reconstruct the qualifying history before relying on the new-office plan
North Saanich companies should establish the applicant’s actual foreign employment and duties alongside the proposed US operation. A new-office case begins with a completed foreign-employment analysis, then tests whether the proposed US entity can become a functioning business that supports the requested role. The first review should produce a single dated file containing the foreign payroll and duties, entity-relationship proof, premises record, budget, and first-year staffing plan. The company must decide whether those documents show an operational launch rather than incorporation plus an aspirational chart.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Read the service period accurately
- Explain the qualifying role
- Meet organizational and first-year conditions
Compare an actual transfer record with an operating investment
A North Saanich applicant may be reconstructing foreign employment for L-1 or assessing an enterprise’s current performance for E-2. Neither route should rely on a summary that conceals material changes. The decision is which record the applicant can actually produce. For L-1 it is a day count of the qualifying year abroad built from travel history and payroll, because days worked in the United States do not count toward that year. For E-2 it is the target's current financial statements, because a plan written before a lost contract no longer describes the enterprise.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Assess L-1 employment and duties
- Assess the treaty enterprise
- Resolve the live proposal
- Hypothetical example: a drone-survey company's operations lead with US project days
- Reconstruct, then decide
Keep each family record tied to the question it answers
North Saanich households should distinguish travel, civil documents, work permission and payment evidence instead of assuming one complete-looking file establishes every person’s case. The decision for a household built around an E-2 principal is who will carry which document. The spouse's right to work is real but must be evidenced to an employer, an adult child is not a derivative at all, and a younger child must plan for the twenty-first birthday from the day of entry.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Check individual work authorization
- Review immigrant family eligibility
- Reconcile actual programme payments
- Hypothetical example: an E-2 principal, a working spouse and two children of different ages
- Which record answers each member's question
Distinguish an accessible document from a satisfied requirement
North Saanich applicants comparing EB-5 and Gold Card should examine what financial records prove. A translated source document or an earlier donation receipt may still leave the actual immigration requirement unanswered. The decision for an applicant with overseas earnings is which chain of records to build first: the employment contracts, tax filings and bank statements that trace the money, ordered and translated, or the programme instructions that say what a gift must be. A charity receipt and a translated statement each answer a narrower question than the applicant hopes.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Complete the EB-5 evidence
- Follow Gold Card’s actual gift instructions
- Respect case and residence milestones
- Hypothetical example: a retired pilot's overseas earnings and a charity receipt
- Sequence the records before choosing
- Hypothetical example: a software consultant’s earn-out is not yet capital