Read the general eligibility basics overview
A Larouche resident should establish actual citizenship before treating a US offer or investment option as a particular immigration route. The first review should identify the person's passport nationality, immigration status in Canada, proposed US activity, and the record that establishes each fact. That order prevents a promising offer from being treated as proof of route eligibility. Hypothetical example: A Namibian citizen with Canadian permanent residence has an offer to manage a US warehouse and an option to buy a small company. The person must decide whether corporate employment facts, treaty nationality, or an immigrant-investment record actually support any route before spending money on an application.
Separate residence from the treaty tests
Canadian permanent residence alone does not meet TN’s Canadian-or-Mexican citizenship requirement. E-2 depends on actual qualifying treaty nationality and enterprise ownership. A salary quoted in Canadian dollars or an account held in Canada does not establish either citizenship test. Start with a current passport and the underlying citizenship evidence, then keep those facts distinct from a Canadian work permit, permanent-resident card, tax residence, or mailing address. A first review asks which route's nationality rule is engaged and whether the proposed enterprise has the required ownership nationality. Do not infer TN eligibility from a Canadian employer, a Canadian salary, or years of residence. The concrete decision is whether the individual has qualifying citizenship for the route under consideration; if not, the review should move to a route with different governing conditions rather than recast the same facts.
Apply other routes to the genuine record
L-1 requires qualifying corporate ties, foreign service and actual US capacity; a publication or an escalation title alone is insufficient. EB-5 needs capital, jobs, participation and lawful funding evidence. Gold Card retains EB-1/EB-2 eligibility, admissibility and availability, so budgeting fees does not independently establish the right to relocate or work. Next, test the facts that nationality does not answer. For L-1, assemble the entity relationship, the qualifying foreign employment chronology, and a realistic US role; one continuous qualifying year must fall within the three years immediately before the request, and L-1A and L-1B stays are generally capped at seven and five years respectively. For EB-5, capital must be at risk, the job requirement must be met, and conditional residence follows the applicable later immigration stage. Gold Card is a payment by the applicant to the U.S. government under its official process, not a conventional visa, and eligibility still requires the applicable EB-1 or EB-2 basis.
What else is on your mind?
Does Canadian permanent residence give me access to TN?Is a matching job title enough for TN?Can years of experience replace a degree for TN?Can my own U.S. company employ me under TN?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.