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.
TN document file for an Erin land surveyor: what to ask for and what only you can supply
Hypothetical example: an Erin land surveyor preparing a TN file splits it in two. The employer controls the support letter, duty description and statement of who pays; those can still be changed and should be requested in draft. The applicant controls citizenship evidence, the degree and transcript, and the provincial licence; those are fixed and only need to be current and complete. Ask for the employer's set early because it is the part that can still be corrected. Hypothetical example: a Canadian forest-products economist is offered a fixed-term analysis role by a U.S. pulp producer. She must decide whether the employer will describe an Economist position and place her on its payroll before she orders an expedited transcript. That decision determines whether the record set is worth completing.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- What to ask the employer to write
- What only the applicant can supply
- What to sort out separately
Canadian permanent residence and US work: an Erin millwright supervisor with an Indian passport
Hypothetical example: an Erin millwright supervisor is a Canadian permanent resident and Indian citizen. Permanent residence in Canada is not Canadian citizenship: he cannot use TN, and E-2 depends on treaty-country nationality. L classification is nationality-neutral, but it remains available only if his employer has a qualifying US entity, he completed the required year abroad, and the proposed duties meet L-1A or L-1B rules. Hypothetical example: an Indian citizen who holds Canadian permanent residence manages procurement for an industrial refrigeration-controls manufacturer with a U.S. affiliate. He must decide whether to pursue a company transfer now or wait for Canadian citizenship. The passports, the affiliate records, and the three-year employment timeline answer different parts of that decision.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Two doors that are closed
- The door that stays open
- The practical differences to plan for
Committing the money: how an Erin arborist couple structures a staged US purchase for E-2
Hypothetical example: two Erin arborists structure a staged purchase of a US tree-care business. E-2 requires capital to be irrevocably committed and at risk, which sits awkwardly beside a purchase that pays part of the price later. The commitment must genuinely leave the buyers' control while any holdback or adjustment is narrowly defined. Ask for the payment mechanics early because an officer will examine them. Hypothetical example: a Canadian owner of a commercial-kitchen exhaust-cleaning business wants to buy a U.S. operator whose seller insists on a refundable deposit. She needs to choose between that protection and a negotiated an escrow release that makes the funds genuinely committed. The signed agreement and wire trail, not the broker's description, settle the point. The buyer must also hold nationality of the appropriate treaty country, then operate a real, non-marginal enterprise with authority to direct it; a careful payment structure cannot cure a failure of those separate requirements.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Where the money must be by the time you apply
- Holdbacks, adjustments and goodwill
- What the borrowing may be secured on
First US office: what an Erin fencing and arena footing supplier must produce in year one
Hypothetical example: an Erin fencing and arena-footing supplier opens its first US warehouse and sends its sales director to lead it. A new-office petition provides one year, not a permanent position. The initial filing must show secured premises and capacity to support a managerial or executive role within that year; the extension must show that it happened. Design the first year around producing that evidence rather than around the sales target alone. Hypothetical example: an industrial refrigeration-controls manufacturer leases a small U.S. service bay and wants to transfer its Canadian operations director to open it. The owners must decide whether they can hire and delegate during the first year, rather than merely sending their strongest technician to win contracts. The lease, cash forecast, and hiring schedule will be compared with the extension evidence. The proposed transferee generally also needs an uninterrupted qualifying employment year abroad during the three years leading to the petition, and the L-1A maximum period is generally seven years.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- What the opening file has to contain
- The trap in sending your best salesperson
- What the extension will actually be judged on
L-1A or E-2 for a minority owner of an Erin precision machining shop
Hypothetical example: a thirty-percent co-owner of an Erin precision-machining shop compares an employer-sponsored L-1A transfer with buying a US machine shop for E-2. On L-1A the company files and can end the employment; on E-2 the individual commits qualifying capital and must develop and direct an enterprise that continues to qualify. His existing Canadian ownership does not by itself establish either route. Hypothetical example: the owner of a Canadian custom-orthotics manufacturer can either transfer to oversee a related U.S. subsidiary or personally acquire a controlling stake in an unrelated distributor. She must decide whether she wants an employer-based role built on a qualifying corporate relationship or an investment she controls and funds herself. The ownership documents and purchase terms settle that choice.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- What his thirty per cent means on each route
- Who can stop it, and when
- Questions to put to each counterparty
One household, four answers: an Erin physiotherapist's family and the questions each must answer
Hypothetical example: an Erin physiotherapist moves with a husband who runs a Canadian business, a nineteen-year-old who wants summer work and a thirteen-year-old attending school. Her TN depends on her profession, qualification and US employer; TD permits the dependants to study but not work. Each person's citizenship, age, intended activity and status must be assessed separately. Hypothetical example: a Canadian environmental economist receives a U.S. offer while her spouse plans to continue a design practice, a twenty-year-old hopes for paid campus work, and their younger child will start school. They must separately decide statuses and permitted activities before the move. One principal's work authorisation does not settle the other three questions.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- The principal and the spouse
- The nineteen-year-old
- The thirteen-year-old and the household calendar
EB-5 or the Gold Card: what an Erin business seller gives up under each
Hypothetical example: an Erin business seller compares EB-5 with the Gold Card. EB-5 currently requires $1,050,000, or $800,000 for a qualifying targeted-employment-area or infrastructure investment, placed at risk in an enterprise creating at least ten full-time jobs. It leads to two-year conditional residence and I-829. The Gold Card instead uses a nonrefundable processing fee and government gift; re-verify its terms before money moves. Hypothetical example: a recycling-equipment distributor has sale proceeds and wants a route that includes a spouse and a nineteen-year-old. The family must decide whether it is prepared for investment risk, job-creation evidence, and conditional residence, or for a non-investment payment under current Gold Card terms. The project documents and current programme terms answer different questions.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- The money behaves differently
- The obligations that continue
- Who in the family each one reaches