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.
Ritchot TN guide: explain the pay records without losing the professional evidence
Compensation records can explain an employment proposal, but the TN assessment still concerns actual temporary listed professional work and the applicant’s qualifications. Keep those evidence categories distinct.
Hypothetical example: an offer includes base pay and an incentive tied to customer results. Identify actual tasks, deliverables and the employer rather than inferring the profession from the pay arrangement. Eligible Canadian or Mexican citizenship and a listed profession’s requirements cannot be replaced by a compensation figure.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the work behind the payment
- Provide the actual credential records
- Explain the real employer and ownership
Ritchot guide: a Canadian pay record does not establish TN citizenship
Canadian payroll and permanent residence can be relevant background without establishing Canadian citizenship. Identify what each document actually proves before assuming a Canadian employment history opens a particular U.S. route.
Hypothetical example: a permanent resident has years of Canadian pay records and receives a U.S. offer. TN requires eligible Canadian or Mexican citizenship; Canadian permanent residence alone is insufficient. The employment record does not change the citizenship shown by the applicant’s actual documents.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate residence, employment and citizenship
- Use employment history for the route that needs it
- Review the process for the actual nationality
Ritchot E-2 guide: unpack a combined acquisition invoice
A seller’s combined invoice is a commercial document, not a determination of qualifying E-2 capital. Reconcile its components with actual funds, security and commitment before relying on the headline amount.
Hypothetical example: the invoice combines equipment, operating funds and charges, with part financed separately. Identify what was actually paid and the governing terms. E-2 requires substantial lawful capital committed at risk relative to the enterprise, with no universal fixed minimum; the total alone is insufficient.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Assign each amount its real purpose
- Read the borrowing behind the payment
- Preserve the nonfinancial conditions
Ritchot L guide: connect launch funding with the actual operation
A new-office budget should distinguish resources available for premises, payroll and operations from money already spent elsewhere. The relevant role and business requirements cannot be replaced by a combined funding total.
Prepare a reserve schedule that distinguishes past training expenditure from funds available for premises, wages and operations. Match it to the actual organization and ownership evidence. A new office concerns U.S. doing business for less than one year; incorporation alone does not demonstrate regular, systematic, continuous goods or services. Keep the employee’s record separate from the budget and generally establish a continuous full-time qualifying foreign year within the relevant preceding three years. A large training investment cannot substitute for either the employment record or the enterprise’s real activity.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate money already spent from resources available to launch
- Use the budget to answer the correct role question
- Compare expenditures with the work they actually supported
Ritchot guide: distinguish employer resources from the applicant’s investment
Money available to a company can matter to a transfer proposal without automatically being the applicant’s E-2 capital. Identify ownership, source and commitment before treating business resources as interchangeable evidence.
Hypothetical example: an employee could transfer to a related U.S. operation or acquire a separate business using personal financing. For L-1, assess qualifying organizations, required foreign employment and managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge work. The company’s budget does not create missing qualifying history.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe whose money supports which arrangement
- Assess the actual investor transaction
- Compare the evidence the funding cannot replace
Ritchot family guide: separate financial support from permission
A household budget can show how a move might be funded without establishing what each person may do in the United States. Review the activities behind allowances, projected wages and school expenses.
Review the household budget for income attributed to a spouse or child. For each entry, identify the proposed employer, real tasks, location and time period, then record the person’s citizenship, relationship, age and intended status. A hoped-for holiday job or remote income stream should not be treated as already authorized simply because the budget needs it. Mark contingent income clearly and discuss a workable financial alternative without assuming financial need changes the immigration rule.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the activity behind every projected wage
- Apply dependent work and study rules precisely
- Keep financial assumptions outside the age calculation
- Respect the order of immigrant entry
Ritchot guide: compare capital, charges and gifts line by line
A combined EB-5 funding request and a Gold Card sponsorship budget may both be large, but their components have different purposes. Identify the legal and financial character of each payment before comparing totals.
Hypothetical example: a project requests capital and an administrative charge together. Separate actual qualifying capital at risk from expenses, document lawful source and path and assess the applicable job method, requiring at least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor. A receipt or headline sum does not establish every requirement or guarantee capital return.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Reconcile the EB-5 request
- Reconcile the official gift framework
- Preserve later obligations in the comparison
- Use separate totals for qualifying capital and official charges