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.
Rebuild a referred Selkirk-area TN opportunity from primary documents
When an opportunity is introduced through a supplier, recruiter, or personal contact rather than a direct employer relationship, rebuild the file from primary documents: the employer's own offer, the applicant's citizenship and credential records, and a duty description confirmed directly with the hiring company rather than passed along secondhand.
Hypothetical example: a Selkirk applicant is told about an opportunity by a business contact who is not part of the hiring company. Request the employer's own offer letter and duty description directly, since the contact's summary cannot substitute for the employer's confirmation of the position.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask the employer for its own written account
- Confirm the profession match with the actual hiring company
- Build the file around confirmed, not assumed, facts
Confirm citizenship documents before assuming a Selkirk household shares one status
A household that has lived in the Selkirk area for years, and appears fully settled, may still include members with different citizenships or different underlying Canadian statuses. Confirm each person's actual documents before assuming that long-term local residence answers a citizenship or status question that only a document can answer.
Hypothetical example: a family has lived in the Selkirk area for over a decade, and it is assumed within the household that everyone has the same status. Request the actual citizenship or permanent-resident documents for each person, since length of residence in Canada does not establish citizenship.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Do not infer citizenship from years of local residence
- Check each person's opportunity against its own requirements
- Keep a record of what is confirmed versus assumed
Document an informally arranged U.S. investment before relying on it for E-2
A business opportunity arranged informally between people who know each other in a smaller community still needs to be documented with the same rigor as any E-2 proposal: a written purchase or investment agreement, a traceable and lawful source of funds, and clear evidence of the operating enterprise.
Hypothetical example: two acquaintances agree over several conversations on the outline of a Selkirk applicant’s investment in a small U.S. business, without yet drafting a formal agreement. Request the actual written terms and obtain appropriate legal review before making a binding commitment. Distinguish unsigned proposals from executed agreements and identify the real payment, cancellation and escrow conditions.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Put verbal understandings into signed documents
- Document the funds independently of the relationship
- Confirm the enterprise's operations with real records
Document a small first-year U.S. office honestly when staffing is minimal
A new U.S. office connected to a smaller Selkirk-area company may start with very limited staff, sometimes just the transferee alone at first. That should be described accurately, with a realistic staffing and financing plan supporting the role within one year, rather than presented as a larger operation than it actually is. This is an L-1A new-office planning question: the U.S. organization must have been doing business for less than one year, sufficient premises must be secured, and the required continuous full-time foreign year must have been managerial or executive. The intended operation must support the qualifying role within one year of approval; initial new-office approval is limited to at most one year.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe a minimal initial team honestly
- Explain the beneficiary's early tasks accurately
- Keep the extension evidence grounded in what actually happened
Weigh a family-connected transfer against a locally introduced investment on their own facts
A Selkirk-area resident weighing a transfer to a related company against buying into a locally introduced business should build a complete, document-based description of each option before comparing them, rather than letting a shared personal connection to both opportunities blur the analysis.
Hypothetical example: a Selkirk resident could either take a role at a related U.S. operation of a family business or invest in an unrelated business a friend has proposed. Build a separate, complete file for each, including ownership, employment, and funding facts, before comparing what each would actually require.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Keep the two options in separate files
- Assess the legal requirements independently of personal relationships
- Compare the household impact of each option realistically
Plan a Selkirk-area household's move without assuming shared paperwork
A Selkirk-area family relocating together should still document each person's citizenship, status, and intended activity individually, rather than assuming that agreeing on a shared moving date and destination resolves each person's separate immigration questions.
Hypothetical example: a Selkirk household's move is organized around one member's job offer, while another intends to continue a small home-based business serving Canadian clients after the move. Document that activity explicitly, since a home-based business is still a work activity that needs its own review under the applicable status. TD does not authorize this employment. A qualifying E or L spouse is employment-authorized incident to valid qualifying status with appropriate evidence; the Canadian customer base does not itself authorize the work.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Record who is actually working, not just who is named on the offer
- Review each child's school and status timeline directly
- Plan for a staggered arrival if one is likely
Compare a project pitched locally against the official Gold Card terms directly
Where a Selkirk-area household has been offered both a locally promoted U.S. EB-5 project opportunity and general information about the Gold Card framework, each should be checked against its own official source: official EB-5 requirements together with the project's actual offering documents, and the current official FAQ for the Gold Card terms, rather than comparing informal summaries of each.
Hypothetical example: a Selkirk household is deciding between a locally promoted EB-5 project and pursuing the Gold Card process. Request the project's actual job-creation methodology and offering documents rather than a general description, since only the documented evidence can be assessed against the applicable requirements. The applicable method must establish ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor, alongside qualifying lawful capital at risk and the investor’s required management or policy participation.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Pull the EB-5 project's actual job-creation evidence
- Pull the Gold Card's current official terms separately
- Compare the two using only verified figures and requirements