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.
Rockwood TN guide: reconcile the employer and customer descriptions
A client assignment may have several descriptions of the same work. Explain the real duties and relationships instead of submitting inconsistent records and assuming the most professional title controls.
Hypothetical example: the employer describes technical analysis while the customer schedule refers to routine support. Identify the actual deliverables and clarify the discrepancy using genuine records. TN concerns eligible Canadian or Mexican citizens performing temporary listed professional work, not a title selected from whichever agreement sounds strongest.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Compare the descriptions of the actual task
- Establish the applicant’s own qualifications
- Explain the real relationship and start conditions
Rockwood guide: distinguish a provider’s Canadian base from the worker’s citizenship
An assignment from a Canadian service company does not itself establish the worker’s eligibility for TN. Identify actual citizenship, employment and proposed work as separate facts.
Hypothetical example: a Canadian permanent resident works for a Canadian provider with U.S. customers. TN requires eligible Canadian or Mexican citizenship; permanent residence alone does not establish it. The provider’s incorporation or customer network cannot replace the applicant’s actual nationality.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Read the individual record before the company label
- Examine the route without manufacturing relationships
- Identify the appropriate individual process
Rockwood E-2 guide: document the enterprise that uses outside providers
Outside delivery, accounting or technical services can be part of a genuine business plan. Explain the actual enterprise and investor’s direction without assuming provider agreements establish all eligibility conditions.
Hypothetical example: an acquisition includes customer contracts while delivery is performed by a separate provider. Identify the actual business, management rights and what the investor will develop and direct. Assess treaty nationality of applicant and enterprise, generally at least 50% enterprise ownership by nationals of the relevant treaty country.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Map the business responsibilities
- Support operations and capital with their own evidence
- Read financing and transaction conditions accurately
Rockwood L guide: show what outside launch support actually covers
A new U.S. office may use providers for some activities while the transferee performs others. Describe that division accurately before claiming the operation supports a qualifying managerial or specialized-knowledge role.
Place the bookkeeping and delivery agreements beside the applicant’s proposed weekly tasks. Identify the tasks retained by the employee, provider exclusions and conditions not yet fulfilled. Establish the qualifying corporate relationship and a continuous full-time qualifying foreign year within the relevant preceding three-year period. A provider relationship cannot manufacture either. Date the U.S. organization’s actual regular, systematic and continuous goods or services: less than a year of doing business invokes new-office treatment, while registration or a vendor being available does not establish operations.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Map the purchased service before counting its support
- Explain what the provider contributes to the A or B case
- Keep completion evidence tied to retained duties
Rockwood guide: compare a transfer role with investor direction
A business may use the same outside providers whether an applicant joins as a transferee or investor. That shared operational feature does not make L-1 and E-2 eligibility interchangeable.
Hypothetical example: an employee considers moving into a related company or purchasing an independent operation served by similar vendors. L-1 needs qualifying organizations, required foreign employment and a qualifying managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge role. A common vendor does not itself establish corporate affiliation.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify what establishes the transfer
- Identify what establishes the investment
- Examine the applicant’s real responsibilities
Rockwood family guide: assess a relative’s proposed help as an actual activity
A business that uses outside support may also expect help from accompanying relatives. Identify the work itself and each person’s status rather than treating family assistance as automatically permitted.
If the business proposes replacing outside administration or delivery support with family help, retain the provider’s task description and write what the relative would actually do. Record location, age, relationship and intended status for that person. The intention to save a supplier expense does not itself authorize employment. Do not reduce a real business assignment to an informal family label or assume that not issuing the same invoice changes the underlying activity.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Compare the relative’s task with the provider’s scope
- Apply dependent distinctions without relying on the staffing plan
- Check records before cancelling the outside service
- Respect the order of immigrant entry
Rockwood guide: distinguish project assistance from government requirements
Advisers and commercial providers can perform useful work for an investor proposal. Their involvement does not establish qualifying jobs, lawful funds or an individual government decision.
Hypothetical example: a project presentation lists numerous suppliers and advisers. Review capital at risk, lawful source and path and the qualifying-job methodology for the actual structure, requiring at least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor. A supplier list is not itself a qualifying-job analysis, and professional charges should not automatically count as capital.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the actual EB-5 evidence
- Identify the actual Gold Card process
- Preserve the later individual conditions
- Check what each provider’s deliverable actually establishes