You can make this L-1B move with your family, but settle each person’s entry status and your Ontario home plan before leaving, because those choices drive your tax and rental obligations.

Before crossing the border

Prepare each family member’s entry packet

Have the employer supply the L-1 petition/approval documents for your actual case; a Canadian citizen under an approved blanket petition may present the employer-completed Form I-129S to CBP at an eligible port or preflight location. If the accompanying people are your spouse and unmarried children under 21, seek L-2 admission for them. Canadian citizens generally do not need a visa stamp for this classification; Canadian permanent residents who are not citizens need the relevant nonimmigrant visa. [USCIS I-129S](https://www.uscis.gov/i-129s); [USCIS family rules](https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-2-part-l-chapter-2); [State Department citizenship rule](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/citizens-of-canada-and-bermuda.html)

Immediately after arrival

Save and inspect every I-94 after admission

Use CBP’s [I-94 site](https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home), choose “Get Most Recent I-94,” and save each person’s record; compare the class of admission and admit-until date with the family’s documents. The eligible spouse’s unexpired I-94 should identify L-2S for status-based work authorization; children are not work-authorized merely because they hold L-2 status. Report any later U.S. address change through [USCIS’s online account](https://my.uscis.gov/file-a-form) within 10 days of moving. [CBP](https://www.cbp.gov/travel/international-visitors/i-94); [USCIS L-2 employment guidance](https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-10-part-b-chapter-2); [USCIS address guidance](https://www.uscis.gov/ar-11)

Before a lease or sale starts

Choose what to do with the Ontario family home

If you keep the home available for your use, retain that fact in your Canadian-residence assessment. If you convert it to a rental, document its fair market value at conversion; if choosing the subsection 45(2) election, attach a signed letter describing the property and election to the Canadian return for the change-of-use year, and do not claim capital cost allowance. If you sell as a Canadian nonresident, prepare the applicable CRA nonresident-vendor notification: it is generally due within 10 days after disposition. [CRA residence folio](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/technical-information/income-tax/income-tax-folios-index/series-5-international-residency/folio-1-residency/income-tax-folio-s5-f1-c1-determining-individual-s-residence-status.html); [CRA change-of-use rules](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/personal-income/line-12700-capital-gains/principal-residence-other-real-estate.html); [CRA nonresident sales](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/information-been-moved/disposing-acquiring-certain-canadian-property.html)

When Canadian nonresident treatment begins

Arrange Canadian withholding on Ontario rent

For rent paid while you are a Canadian nonresident, arrange for the payer or agent to withhold 25% of gross rent and remit it to CRA by the 15th day of the next month. To seek 25% withholding on estimated net rent instead, you and a Canadian-resident agent submit NR6 to CRA before the first relevant rent payment if possible; reduced withholding begins only after CRA approval. Complete the related section 216 rental return, Form T1159; CRA ordinarily allows two years after the end of the rental-income year, but an approved NR6 carries an earlier following-year filing requirement. [CRA rental-income instructions](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/information-been-moved/rental-income-non-resident-tax/filing-reporting-requirements.html)

Throughout the move year

Record the departure date and track both tax systems

If you become a Canadian emigrant for tax purposes, enter your departure date on the Canadian departure-year income-tax return. Count U.S. days under the IRS test: at least 31 days in the current year and a weighted 183 days across three years; depending on arrival and prior travel, you may not become a U.S. tax resident in the arrival year. Once U.S. resident, account for Ontario rental income on the federal return, generally Schedule E, and assess a foreign tax credit for eligible Canadian income tax. Separately assess FBAR if your combined foreign financial accounts exceed US$10,000 at any time in a calendar year. [CRA departure guidance](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/individuals-leaving-entering-canada-non-residents/leaving-canada-emigrants.html); [IRS presence test](https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/substantial-presence-test); [IRS rental guidance](https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc414); [FinCEN](https://www.fincen.gov/report-foreign-bank-and-financial-accounts)

Before Ontario coverage is relied on

Put family health coverage in place

Arrange employer-provided U.S. coverage or apply through [Washington Healthplanfinder](https://www.wahealthplanfinder.org/us/en/health-coverage/get-started/special-enrollment-en.html): a move to Washington is a qualifying event and its special-enrollment application window is 60 days. Ontario’s extended out-of-country OHIP provision requires Ontario to remain your primary home, so a Seattle relocation is not a sound basis for relying on that exception. [Washington Healthplanfinder](https://www.wahealthplanfinder.org/us/en/health-coverage/get-started/special-enrollment-en.html); [Ontario OHIP](https://www.ontario.ca/page/ohip-coverage-while-outside-canada)

After securing a Seattle address

Enroll eligible children and obtain work records

If your children will attend Seattle Public Schools, complete [online enrollment](https://registration.powerschool.com/family/gosnap.aspx?action=45197&culture=en) for each child. Supply two address proofs dated within eight weeks and each child’s Certificate of Immunization Status or applicable exemption; age proof is also requested for kindergarten, first grade, and preschool applicants. For an eligible working adult who needs a Social Security number, start the free application using [SSA’s noncitizen instructions](https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10107.pdf), then attend the required appointment with original immigration and identity documents. [Seattle enrollment](https://www.seattleschools.org/enroll/enroll-my-student); [Seattle immunizations](https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/health-services/immunizations); [SSA](https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10107.pdf)

Within 30 days of moving

Get a Washington license and handle any vehicle

Obtain a Washington driver license within 30 days after moving, before registering a vehicle in Washington. If bringing a Canadian car into the United States, CBP says to complete EPA Form 3520-1 and DOT Form HS-7 for the federal import and retain its foreign registration and purchase documents; importing is separate from Washington registration. [Washington DOL](https://dol.wa.gov/moving-washington); [CBP vehicle-import rules](https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/importing-car)