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.
Peterborough TN guide: compare two offers without blending their evidence
An applicant comparing offers should keep each employer’s actual proposal intact. A TN assessment concerns eligible citizenship, a listed profession, qualifications and the specific employment arrangement—not a composite of the most favourable features of several jobs. Hypothetical example: a flood-risk analyst must decide whether to accept a U.S. employer’s revised fieldwork role or remain with the original research role. The decision is which actual description is documentable, not which draft sounds more professional. For a Canadian applicant, decide early whether the facts call for a border request or an employer-filed petition; the role cannot involve running the applicant’s own U.S.-based enterprise.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Build one duty sheet per employer
- Apply the credential requirements separately
- Finalize evidence for the actual choice
Peterborough guide: compare U.S. options using actual citizenship
Canadian permanent residence and U.S. route eligibility answer different questions. When comparing offers or business opportunities, start with the applicant’s actual citizenship and intended activity rather than assuming residence in Canada makes all options available. Hypothetical example: a marine-sediment analyst with Canadian permanent residence and French citizenship is offered a listed professional role. The threshold decision is whether any claimed route matches nationality as well as the activity. Residence evidence belongs in the personal file, but it cannot supply citizenship where the route requires it.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Correct assumptions in each proposal
- Assess the different route on its own requirements
- Include individual family and process questions
Peterborough E-2 guide: compare ownership rights rather than percentages alone
A minority stake and a full acquisition can create very different rights and obligations. Read the actual governance and funding documents to assess whether the applicant can develop and direct the enterprise and meet the other E-2 requirements. Hypothetical example: a precision-fermentation founder can buy voting shares in a U.S. company or enter a management agreement with no equity. The real decision is whether either arrangement gives the treaty investor an authentic role developing and directing a nonmarginal enterprise after funds are committed at risk. A price comparison does not resolve that control analysis.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Create a control-rights comparison
- Compare actual qualifying commitments
- Assess the whole business before choosing
Peterborough L-1 guide: choose a launch role that matches the actual work
A business deciding between a management launch role and a specialist assignment should use the actual responsibilities and applicable new-office requirements. The strongest wording from two different roles should not be combined into a job the company does not intend to create. Hypothetical example: an independent wheelchair-design manufacturer can send either its operations lead or its materials-testing specialist to form a U.S. office. The decision is which person will perform the actual first-year role and whether that role has the right L-1 foundation. Each candidate must have the qualifying year abroad; L-1A and L-1B also have different seven- and five-year total-stay limits.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the proposed launch alternatives
- Use the appropriate A or B requirements
- Base later steps on actual operations
Peterborough guide: compare a transfer role and an ownership proposal cleanly
An L-1 transfer and an E-2 investment can be considered in the same consultation, but each needs its own coherent facts. Compare the actual choices instead of constructing a hybrid arrangement from unrelated evidence. Hypothetical example: a clean-room validation engineer may transfer to a related U.S. affiliate or purchase a separate calibration laboratory. The decision is whether to preserve a related-company transfer with a qualifying foreign year or make an at-risk treaty investment in a nonmarginal enterprise. Neither path borrows the other’s evidence, and L-1A and L-1B have seven- and five-year caps.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Name the concrete decision
- Identify the requirements that separate the choices
- Compare the next commitments and family implications
Peterborough family guide: compare household needs across the proposed routes
A route comparison should include the activities each family member actually intends to undertake. The principal’s preferred offer or business does not automatically satisfy spouse employment, children’s study or individual timing needs. Hypothetical example: a neonatal-equipment sales manager receives a U.S. offer while the spouse plans to run an online language school and the child will turn twenty-one during an immigrant process. The decision is whether the principal’s route accommodates those separate plans, not whether the family agrees in principle to move. Each person’s status and timing needs a record of its own.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Record needs before choosing an option
- Preserve the differences between dependent statuses
- Reassess the family plan after selecting the route
- Respect the order of immigrant entry
Peterborough guide: compare available assets and different immigrant obligations
A household choosing a residence strategy should separate the assets it could use from the legal requirements of the pathway. EB-5 investment and the official Gold Card gift framework involve different obligations, evidence and risks. Hypothetical example: a geospatial-data company founder has enough liquid capital for an EB-5 project but is also considering the official Gold Card payment framework. The key decision is whether to accept investment risk tied to job creation and conditional residence, or an official government gift that is not a recoverable commercial asset. Gold Card is not a conventional visa; current official individual eligibility and payment instructions control.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify what is actually available
- Compare the governing requirements accurately
- Choose with individual uncertainties visible
- Distinguish capital, official gifts and residence stages