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.
Springfield TN guide: give each offer its own evidence sheet
When two offers differ, a single blended description can obscure the actual professional arrangement. Keep employer-specific duties and terms attached to the offer they describe.
Hypothetical example: one position involves design analysis and another customer development. Record actual duties, period and compensation for each. TN requires eligible Canadian or Mexican citizenship and temporary listed professional work; selecting favorable phrases from both offers does not establish a genuine qualifying job.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Compare genuine deliverables
- Apply the credential rule to the claimed profession
- Select and document the actual arrangement
Springfield guide: compare offers using the applicant’s actual citizenship
Different employers may describe a Canadian resident’s options differently. Establish actual citizenship before relying on either employer’s preferred route.
Hypothetical example: a permanent resident receives two U.S. offers with different immigration suggestions. TN requires eligible Canadian or Mexican citizenship; Canadian permanent residence alone is insufficient. An employer’s description cannot change that underlying fact.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Use the same accurate personal facts in both assessments
- Assess the complete alternative route
- Confirm the process for the selected proposal
Springfield E-2 guide: keep competing purchase terms separate
A comparison of businesses should preserve the actual ownership, financing and operating evidence for each. Combining attractive terms from incompatible offers can create a proposal that no party has agreed to.
Hypothetical example: one acquisition offers clear management rights while another leaves the seller in control. Assess how the applicant will develop and direct the actual business. Treaty nationality of applicant and enterprise matters, generally including at least 50% enterprise ownership by nationals of the relevant treaty country.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Record rights and direction for each enterprise
- Trace each genuine financial arrangement
- Compare capacity and actual conditions
Springfield L guide: compare the actual U.S. operations
A choice between two company roles may involve organizations at different stages. Keep each operation’s relationship, employment history and launch evidence together rather than borrowing support from the other.
Use separate headings for the established subsidiary and the proposed launch. Under each, identify the real ownership link, business activity and employee history. Generally a qualifying foreign year must be continuous and full-time within the relevant preceding three years. The organization’s incorporation date does not establish when regular, systematic, continuous goods or services began. An operation with less than one year of U.S. doing business falls within new-office treatment; a different subsidiary’s long history is not automatically its history.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Give each possible operation its own factual record
- Attach resources to the selected role and organization
- Preserve a clean record when the choice changes
Springfield guide: compare a real transfer with a real acquisition
An applicant can consider employment within a group and an independent business purchase at the same time. Assess complete alternatives rather than combining a transfer’s history with an acquisition’s desired rights.
Hypothetical example: a manager has a related-company offer and a separate purchase opportunity. L-1 requires qualifying organizations, the relevant foreign employment and managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge work. The purchase does not automatically acquire the employment relationship or history supporting the offer.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Build the transfer case from actual organizations and work
- Build the investment case from the genuine transaction
- Compare the unresolved conditions honestly
Springfield family guide: compare household plans without changing the status rules
Two proposals may offer different school support, spouse opportunities or relocation benefits. Compare those practical terms while assessing each person’s actual immigration eligibility and activities.
Use one column for each employer’s real household offer. A school allowance in one proposal and anticipated spouse work in another concern different facts; identify the actual person, relationship, age, activity and location under each. Do not combine the attractive parts into a family plan no employer has offered. A more generous package may change affordability, but it does not enlarge dependent work rights or establish anyone’s permission to begin the proposed role.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Compare benefits without merging the proposed activities
- Keep the classification distinctions intact
- Use one accurate set of individual immigration records
- Respect the order of immigrant entry
Springfield guide: compare an investment offering with an actual gift proposal
A project’s commercial terms and an employer’s Gold Card sponsorship offer address different funding arrangements. Compare their complete obligations and individual immigration conditions rather than treating the lower headline amount as the whole decision.
Hypothetical example: an applicant considers an offering with a claimed reduced threshold and a corporate gift proposal. For EB-5, assess actual project qualification, lawful source and path, capital at risk and the applicable job method, requiring at least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor. Another project’s category or employment figure cannot automatically establish this offering’s conditions.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Keep the EB-5 facts attached to the project
- Keep the official gift framework intact
- Compare later obligations and real timelines
- Compare complete alternatives rather than the smallest headline