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 documents for a computer systems analyst offer
This category has two qualifying paths: a baccalaureate or licenciatura degree, or a post-secondary diploma or certificate plus three years of directly related experience. It is also one of the most frequently questioned TN categories, because many technology job titles describe work that is not systems analysis. Build the file around duties, not the title on the offer letter.
Titles like "software engineer," "developer," or "IT specialist" are not themselves listed USMCA professions. If the arranged duties are actually systems analysis, meaning evaluating, designing, or integrating computer systems and workflows, say so in duties language, not just the title. If the duties are primarily coding without systems analysis, the systems-analyst category may not fit and should not be used to describe a different job.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate the job title from the duties
- Document whichever path applies, completely
- Keep the comparison file current as the offer evolves
- Commit to one qualifying path and evidence it completely
Planning a household move when family members hold different Canadian status
One household can contain a Canadian citizen, a Canadian permanent resident, and a citizen of another country, and each faces a different set of routes. Planning as though the household shares one status leads to a plan that works for some members and not others. Each person's status has to be mapped before any shared timeline is set.
List every household member and, next to each name, the actual citizenship and immigration status held today, not the status a family member assumes they share. A Canadian citizen spouse may qualify for a category unavailable to a permanent-resident spouse who was born elsewhere and never naturalized. This list, built early, prevents a shared plan from being built on an assumption that only holds for part of the household.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Map each person's status before mapping the move
- Recognize that dependent status follows the principal, not the household
- Sequence confirmations before setting a date
- When no qualifying citizenship exists, change the question
How to plan when household members hold different citizenships
Different citizenships in one household change which category each person can use, and dependent status does not carry citizenship-based eligibility on its own. Map each person's route separately before assuming the household moves together on one filing.
A route like E-2 requires the principal applicant to hold the nationality of a qualifying treaty country and to control a qualifying at-risk investment; a spouse's citizenship does not substitute for this. If the intended principal applicant does not hold that nationality, look at whether another category fits their own facts before assuming the investment plan can proceed as an E-2 filing.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Check the principal applicant's own eligibility first
- Confirm dependent status separately from citizenship
- Document the sequence, not just the outcome
- Decide who the principal investor will be before any account is opened
Planning an L1 move for a household with different citizenships
L2 status for a spouse and children follows from the L1 beneficiary's classification, not from the family members' own citizenship. Differing nationalities within a household do not change L2 eligibility, but they do change what documentation each member needs to prove the qualifying relationship to the principal applicant.
A spouse of any nationality qualifies for L2 status by proving a valid marriage to the L1 beneficiary, typically through a marriage certificate, and children qualify by proving the parent-child relationship, typically through a birth certificate. When family members hold different citizenships from each other or from the beneficiary, the relevant proof is still the civil document establishing the relationship, not a shared nationality. Gather these records early since translation or authentication can take time depending on the issuing country.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Confirm the relationship documentation each member needs
- Understand what L2 status does and does not authorize
- Sequence the filings around the principal case
- Prove each relationship to the principal, document by document
L1 and E2 planning when household members hold different citizenships
L1 eligibility depends on the corporate relationship and the worker's role, not on the worker's nationality, so a mixed-citizenship household does not by itself block that path. E2 eligibility depends on treaty nationality of the principal investor or enterprise, so a household with different citizenships needs to identify which member, if any, actually holds a qualifying nationality before treating E2 as available.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate the worker's category from the household's citizenships
- Check who actually holds treaty nationality for an E2 plan
- Confirm dependent status separately from the principal applicant's category
- Test whether one person can actually satisfy either framework
Planning a move when a household holds more than one citizenship
A family with mixed citizenships does not share one eligibility answer. Each person's route depends on that person's own nationality, status and role in the plan, so the household has to be broken into individual cases before any single strategy is chosen.
The principal applicant's own citizenship decides which categories are even on the table. TN is limited to Canadian and Mexican citizens with a qualifying profession and credentials; a Canadian citizenship or permanent residence in another country does not extend TN eligibility to a spouse of a different nationality. An L1 route instead depends on a qualifying employment relationship abroad and a qualifying role, regardless of nationality. E2 depends on the person holding the qualifying investment being a national of a treaty country.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the route available to the person taking the job or investment
- Determine each dependent's own status separately
- Do not assume shared eligibility across the household
- Ask what each person will actually do all day
Comparing EB-5 and Gold Card options for a household with mixed citizenship
Neither EB-5 nor the Gold Card requires a specific treaty nationality, so mixed citizenship within one household is not itself a barrier under either program. What differs is how dependents are counted financially and how each person's own admissibility is reviewed. Plan the comparison around the individuals in the household, not just the principal applicant.
Unlike E-2, which requires treaty-country nationality, EB-5 and the Gold Card do not require the principal or dependents to hold a particular citizenship. That does not mean citizenship is irrelevant: each spouse and child still needs documentation establishing the qualifying family relationship, and each person's own background is reviewed independently during processing.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Confirm each family member's own status question
- Compare how dependents are counted financially
- Plan for admissibility and visa availability separately per person
- Ask which route survives a change of mind