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 forester or sylviculturist role
Forester, including sylviculturist, qualifies through a baccalaureate or licenciatura degree, or a state or provincial license. A provincial forestry licensing body in British Columbia can be a source of license-path documentation, but as with other license-alternative categories, the license itself must authorize forestry practice. The first review should produce a short credential route decision: degree or licence, the original record that proves it, and any translation or evaluation needed. It should also test the employer's actual duties against the forester category before the letter is drafted. TN is for a Canadian or Mexican citizen in a listed profession; it does not permit self-employment.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Choose and document one path clearly
- Address a foreign or differently structured credential carefully
- Match duties to forestry management, not equipment operation
How residence status factors into planning for a business with cross-border operations
A business operating in more than one country raises separate questions about the company's qualifying structure and about the individual applicant's status. Permanent residence in Canada does not establish an individual's nationality for treaty-based categories, and a company's multi-country footprint does not by itself establish a qualifying corporate relationship for employment-based categories. Each element needs its own evidence. A first review should separate status documents from corporate records and produce a route choice rather than an assumption. For L-1, the person generally needs one continuous qualifying year abroad within the three years before filing in a managerial, executive, or specialized-knowledge role, and stay is capped at seven years for L-1A or five years for L-1B. Canadian PR itself does not replace those facts.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Confirm what the corporate structure actually shows
- Confirm the individual applicant's nationality separately
- Keep the entity and individual questions on separate tracks
How to frame a business with operations in more than one country
A company operating across borders is not automatically a qualifying multinational structure for immigration purposes. The corporate relationship between the entities, and the specific role being filled, both have to be documented on their own terms before any transfer or investment plan is built around them. When the actual question is E-2, the multinational relationship is not the test by itself. The investor needs treaty nationality and must develop and direct a U.S. enterprise supported by a substantial investment irrevocably committed and at risk; the enterprise cannot be marginal. Decide first whether the evidence is stronger for a transfer, an investment, or neither, rather than using a cross-border brand as a substitute for the governing condition.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Document the corporate relationship precisely
- Confirm the qualifying employment history
- Separate the business case from the immigration case
Documenting a qualifying relationship across a multinational structure
A business with operations in several countries does not automatically have a qualifying relationship for this category in each one. What matters is proving ownership and control between the specific foreign entity where the person worked and the specific U.S. entity receiving them, not the group's overall footprint. For L-1, the individual generally needs one continuous qualifying year abroad within the three years before filing with a qualifying organization, in a managerial, executive, or specialized-knowledge role. The classification has a seven-year total cap for L-1A and a five-year cap for L-1B. A new office adds a business-plan and premises question; it does not relax the relationship or employment requirements.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Map the actual chain of ownership
- Confirm which office is the actual employer
- Keep entity names and roles consistent across filings
Comparing L1 and E2 for a business with operations abroad
A company operating in more than one country can sometimes support either an L1 transfer or an E2 investment, but the two categories test the multinational structure in different ways. Comparing them side by side, rather than defaulting to the more familiar option, shows which facts the company can actually document. The decision should begin with the fact that cannot be changed quickly: qualifying employment history for L-1, or treaty nationality, ownership and committed capital for E-2. L-1 ordinarily needs a continuous qualifying year abroad during the three years that precede filing and has a seven-year L-1A or five-year L-1B cap. E-2 requires capital committed irrevocably, with the investor bearing the business risk, in a non-marginal enterprise the investor will develop and direct; it is not a direct permanent-residence route.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Test the corporate relationship for L1
- Test the investment structure for E2
- Match the category to the documentable structure
How a multi-country business supports a transfer
Operating in several countries does not by itself establish a qualifying relationship for an intracompany transfer; the file has to show which specific foreign entity and U.S. entity are legally connected as parent, subsidiary, branch or affiliate, and how the person's foreign employment and proposed U.S. role fit that structure. Map the actual corporate chain before assuming the broader group counts. The household should make its decision only after the corporate and personal eligibility timelines are mapped together. For L-1, the transferee generally needs one continuous qualifying year abroad within the preceding three years with the related organization, and the U.S. role must independently qualify. L-1A has a seven-year total limit and L-1B a five-year total limit, which can affect schooling, housing, and a later route discussion.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the two entities that actually matter
- Confirm the foreign employment history lines up
- Match the proposed U.S. role, not just the title
Sourcing investment funds from a multi-country business
When investment capital comes from a business operating across several countries, the sourcing trail becomes the central evidence question for EB-5, and a simpler but still material question for Gold Card. EB-5 requires the full $800,000 targeted or infrastructure amount, or $1.05 million standard amount, to be lawfully sourced and placed genuinely at risk in a qualifying enterprise generating ten full-time jobs. Gold Card requires a $1 million contribution plus $15,000 per person, without the job-creation structure, but the funds still need a documented lawful origin. The choice is not simply an investment amount comparison. EB-5 requires capital at risk in a qualifying enterprise, the required job creation, and conditional residence before conditions are removed. Gold Card is not a conventional visa; it is described as a payment by the applicant to the U.S. government. Decide which route's governing requirement can actually be documented, rather than assuming that money from the same business works identically for both.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Trace funds across jurisdictions
- Match the enterprise to the category
- Plan for dependents and remaining risk