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 an urban planner or geographer role
Urban planner, a category that also covers geographer, requires a baccalaureate or licenciatura degree. Many practicing planners hold a master's degree, but the baseline requirement is a baccalaureate, so the file should document whichever degree is actually held rather than assuming a higher credential is needed. The category is one of the listed USMCA professions, so the credential is assessed against the profession being claimed rather than against whatever job title the employer happens to use. TN also requires prearranged employment with a United States employer or entity: a planner intending to take assignments for their own account cannot be admitted in this category.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Document the degree that is actually held
- Confirm the field connection when the degree is in a related discipline
- Match the employer letter to planning duties
How a post-acquisition move tests residence status against corporate eligibility
When a company acquisition prompts a proposed move to a US role, two separate eligibility questions arise: whether the corporate relationship still qualifies after the acquisition, and whether the applicant's own status, permanent residence or citizenship, fits the intended category. An acquisition can change the first answer without changing the second, so both need to be checked again rather than assumed to carry over. The individual question is often the sharper of the two. TN is available to citizens of Canada or Mexico, and permanent residence in Canada does not satisfy that condition however long it has lasted. The L categories turn on the employment relationship rather than on nationality, and E-2 turns on treaty nationality, so the same person may be eligible under one heading and not under another.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Reassess the corporate relationship after the acquisition
- Recheck the applicant's employment history against the new timeline
- Confirm the applicant's own status fits the intended category
How to evaluate a proposed move after a company acquisition
An acquisition can change who the qualifying employer actually is. Before treating a planned move as a continuation of an existing role, confirm that the corporate relationship required by the relevant category survived the transaction in a form that still qualifies. E-2 carries conditions of its own that an acquisition can disturb quietly. The enterprise must be at least fifty percent owned by nationals of the treaty country or otherwise controlled by them, the investment must be substantial, irrevocably committed and at risk, the enterprise must not be marginal, and the investor must develop and direct it. New shareholders can change the first of those without anyone changing a job title.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Trace the ownership change through the deal
- Reassess role and tenure under the new structure
- Time the filing to the corporate facts
How an acquisition changes the L1 qualifying relationship
When the foreign employer is acquired, the qualifying relationship that supported an earlier plan may no longer exist in the same form. A transfer proposed after an acquisition needs fresh evidence of the new corporate link, not a reference back to the pre-acquisition organizational chart. Where the United States entity is itself newly established, the new office requirements apply on top of the relationship question: secured premises, the qualifying relationship documented, and the financial ability to begin doing business and to pay the employee. Initial new office L admission is limited to one year, so the timing of the acquisition affects how much of that year remains usable.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Establish the post-acquisition ownership picture
- Reassess whether the prior employment still counts
- Update the role description for the surviving entity
Comparing L1 and E2 after a company acquisition
An acquisition can change which corporate relationship or investment actually exists on paper, even when day-to-day work feels unchanged. Comparing L1 and E2 against the post-acquisition structure, rather than the pre-acquisition plan, avoids building a case on a relationship that no longer applies. The two categories also carry different consequences that belong in the comparison rather than in a footnote. L-1A allows a maximum period of stay of seven years and L-1B five, while E-2 has no equivalent maximum but requires the qualifying enterprise, the treaty ownership and the investor's control to persist throughout. Neither category confers permanent residence.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Re-check the qualifying relationship after the deal closes
- Re-check who actually controls the investment for E2
- Rebuild the timeline before choosing a category
How an acquisition changes a planned relocation
When the employer behind a planned move is acquired, the qualifying corporate relationship the case relies on may no longer be the one that exists at filing time. Reconfirm the ownership and control structure after the deal closes before assuming the original plan still applies unchanged. The household side deserves its own checkpoint at the same moment. Dependent status generally extends to a spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one, and what a spouse may do for work differs by category: an L-2 spouse in valid status is generally employment authorized incident to that status, while a TD spouse is not work authorized by that status at all.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Reconfirm which entity is the actual employer
- Separate the deal timeline from the visa timeline
- Reassess the underlying category, not just the paperwork
Investment planning after a company acquisition
A recent acquisition changes what an EB-5 filing needs to show about the investment vehicle, and has less bearing on a Gold Card contribution, which does not depend on any particular business structure. EB-5 requires a qualifying enterprise and ten full-time jobs tied to the $800,000 targeted or infrastructure investment, or $1.05 million standard investment; if the acquiring or acquired entity is meant to serve that role, its post-acquisition structure and job counts need fresh documentation. The two routes differ in kind and not only in amount. EB-5 places capital at risk in an enterprise and depends on that enterprise creating qualifying jobs, with conditional residence followed by a petition to remove the conditions. The Gold Card route involves payments made by the applicant to the United States government and depends on separate EB-1 or EB-2 eligibility standing on its own.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Reassess the qualifying enterprise
- Compare that to a contribution-based route
- Account for dependents and unresolved risk