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.
East St. Paul TN guide: separate the deliverable from the next job
An assignment can have a clear first deliverable and an undefined later role. A TN file should describe the actual temporary professional work rather than assume that completing one stage authorizes everything the employer may request afterward.
Hypothetical example: the applicant will produce a technical analysis and may later provide routine support. Identify confirmed duties and optional work separately. TN requires eligible Canadian or Mexican citizenship, a listed profession and its particular qualifications. Canadian permanent residence does not replace citizenship, and a professional title alone does not establish the real work.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Define what has actually been offered
- Build evidence for the current proposal
- Review the handoff before starting different activity
East St. Paul guide: do not let a project milestone substitute for citizenship
Canadian residence and completion of a professional project do not establish citizenship or eligibility for a future U.S. assignment. Use the applicant’s actual identity and proposed activity when reviewing what comes next.
Hypothetical example: a Canadian permanent resident expects a citizenship decision before a later U.S. project phase. Record the decision as pending until it occurs. TN requires eligible Canadian or Mexican citizenship and the applicable professional criteria; a project milestone or expected citizenship outcome does not supply that requirement in advance.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the status already held
- Assess a genuine alternative independently
- Plan the individual process before the transition
East St. Paul E-2 guide: plan the operation after seller support ends
A seller’s training period can help explain a purchase but does not establish the investor’s control, qualifying capital or full enterprise requirements. Review how the business will actually operate when that support changes or ends.
Hypothetical example: the seller provides initial instruction and keeps approval rights over certain decisions. Identify the actual management and voting terms and how the investor will develop and direct the enterprise. Qualifying treaty nationality matters for the applicant and business; generally at least 50% of the enterprise must be owned by nationals of the relevant treaty country.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Read the rights retained during and after training
- Separate purchase capital from service payments
- Test the ongoing enterprise
East St. Paul L-1 guide: show the operational handoff in a launch plan
A new-office proposal should explain who performs work before and after the planned handoff. Separate the actual organization and role from a forecast that assumes all support will appear on schedule.
Hypothetical example: the transferee begins a U.S. operation and expects to delegate recurring services after initial orders. Describe the applicant’s duties, who will take over and what is already in place. Establish qualifying organizations and generally one continuous full-time qualifying foreign year within the relevant preceding three-year period. Registration alone does not establish doing business.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify current and proposed responsibilities
- Apply the correct A or B launch requirements
- Record what the handoff achieves
East St. Paul guide: compare a company handoff with a seller handoff
A transferee taking over a company function and an investor taking over a purchased business may both describe a handoff. The two arrangements still need different evidence and should not be treated as interchangeable routes.
Hypothetical example: the applicant could receive a role in a related U.S. company or acquire a business with temporary seller support. Record the employer, ownership and actual duties in each. A related-company transfer depends on qualifying organizations and employment; a purchase’s management rights do not retroactively create that history.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify who creates the applicant’s authority
- Test the substantive route requirements
- Review the transition for the household as well
East St. Paul family guide: reassess activities when the first assignment ends
A household may plan one set of activities during a project and another after its handoff. Review each person’s actual status and intended work or study rather than assuming the principal’s completed task changes everyone’s permission.
When the principal’s training assignment ends, identify what the spouse or child now proposes to do in the related business. List the real tasks, who requests them and where they will be performed; call paid holiday work employment rather than treating it as a family visit. Record relationships, citizenships and ages alongside the proposed status. Completing the principal’s project neither authorizes the next person’s work nor proves that a business need can be filled by a dependent.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the activity beginning after the handoff
- Preserve the dependent distinctions
- Check permission at the transition, not just at arrival
- Respect the order of immigrant entry
East St. Paul guide: distinguish an investment exit from a government gift
An investment’s projected exit and a corporate gift proposal address different financial arrangements. Compare EB-5 and Gold Card without assuming a business milestone establishes capital return, reusable sponsorship or residence timing.
Hypothetical example: an offering describes expected project completion and a possible later return of capital. Review actual lawful source and path, capital at risk and qualifying jobs under the applicable standalone or regional-center method, at least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor. A forecast is not a guaranteed exit or government approval; the actual agreements and risk need separate analysis.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the EB-5 investment obligations
- Read the official corporate framework on its own terms
- Keep individual outcomes separate from financial milestones
- Build a funding plan that does not depend on a promised exit