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 hotel manager position
Hotel manager qualifies through a baccalaureate or licenciatura degree specifically in hotel or restaurant management, or a post-secondary diploma or certificate in hotel or restaurant management plus three years of experience in hotel or restaurant management. A general business degree without the hotel/restaurant management field, and without the experience alternative, will not fit either path.
An applicant holds a general business administration degree and three years of front-desk supervisory experience at a hotel. Because the degree is not specifically in hotel or restaurant management, check whether the diploma-or-certificate-plus-experience path is available instead, which requires a post-secondary credential specifically in hotel or restaurant management, not a general business credential, together with three years of hotel or restaurant management experience.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Match the degree field, not just the degree level
- Document management-level duties, not operational duties alone
- Gather the credential and experience evidence together
- Test the degree field before anything else is ordered
PR versus citizenship when a dependent nears an age cutoff
Permanent residence and citizenship are not interchangeable for US visa planning, and the gap matters most when a dependent child is approaching a classification age limit. TN and L2 dependent status generally tracks a child under 21; permanent residence in Canada does not extend or freeze that age, and only the principal's citizenship determines TN eligibility in the first place. Map the dependent's exact birthdate against the expected filing and travel timeline before assuming a later status change will preserve dependent treatment.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate the principal's basis from the child's basis
- Track the age calculation against the filing date
- Plan the sequence, not just the outcome
- Give the child their own file from the first conversation
Planning around a dependent's age-out on an E2 or L1 timeline
A child's derivative status as an E2 or L1 dependent ends at 21 regardless of how long the principal applicant's own status continues. The planning question is not whether the dependent can stay attached to the family's status indefinitely, but what independent status or transition the dependent will need before that birthday, and how early that transition has to start to avoid a gap.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Confirm the exact age-linked rule
- Sequence the timeline around the birthday
- Separate the dependent's plan from the principal's
- Count backward from the birthday, not forward from today
Planning L2 status when a child nears twenty-one during an L1 new-office case
An L1 new-office petition is typically approved for a limited initial period before an extension is needed, and that timeline runs independently of a dependent child's age. If a child is approaching twenty-one, the family should treat the child's status question as a separate calendar from the employer's case, because reaching the age limit generally ends eligibility for the derivative classification regardless of how the underlying petition is progressing.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Track the age deadline apart from the case timeline
- Separate the derivative status question from the underlying petition
- Document the relationship and consult before the threshold
- Keep two calendars and let neither hide the other
L1 and E2 planning when a dependent is nearing 21
A dependent child who is close to turning 21 changes the timing pressure on either route more than it changes which category fits the principal applicant. Compare how L2 and E2 dependent status actually ends at that age before assuming either visa buys more time than the other.
Neither L2 nor E2 dependent status converts a child into an independent visa holder past 21; the child stops qualifying as a dependent regardless of which route the parent uses. If the plan assumes extra years because one category feels less strict, verify that assumption against the dependent definitions rather than against general reputation. This is a family-timing constraint, not a difference in how L1 or E2 treats minors.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Confirm what age-out actually means here
- Separate the principal applicant's category fit from the age question
- Build the filing sequence around the real deadline
- Ask what each route offers the child, not the parent
How a dependent's age affects family visa planning
A derivative dependent who is approaching 21 needs a separate, earlier assessment than the working parent. TD status for a TN worker's child, L2 status for an L1 worker's child, and E2 dependent status for an investor's child all end at 21 regardless of how much time is left on the principal's authorization. Planning has to treat the child's timeline as its own problem, not a footnote to the parent's case.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the applicable age rule for each category
- Assess each child separately, not as a household unit
- Plan the timing of applications relative to the birthday
- Do the arithmetic for each child separately and in writing
Weighing EB-5 and Gold Card timing against a dependent's age limit
A child's age-out analysis requires the actual immigrant classification, petition dates and visa-availability rules. Filing an EB-5 petition before the child's 21st birthday does not by itself freeze the child's immigration age. Ask counsel to calculate CSPA protection and the required next steps for each route being considered, including any underlying EB-1 or EB-2 petition used in a Gold Card plan, rather than comparing advertised processing sequences.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Calculate CSPA age and the required next step
- Build an evidence file that supports the calculation
- Decide who monitors the calculation over time
- Name the person who owns the calculation and reviews it