TN Visa Employer Requirements: What Employers Must Know

Let’s face it. Typical employment sponsorship can be a demanding process for employers because it involves a lengthy process of petitioning the worker for a visa. For this reason, many U.S. employers would rather not hire foreign professionals.

This can be problematic for Canadian and Mexican citizens who are required to have a job offer from a U.S. employer before they can apply for a TN visa to enter the country.

Also Read: What is a TN Visa

However, unlike other employment-based visas, the TN visa does not have demanding compliance requirements for employers. Understanding this reality can make U.S. employers more receptive to recruiting foreign nationals for the TN visa. 

This guide will discuss the TN visa requirements for employers and show that the employer’s involvement in the TN visa process is relatively simple.

TN Visa Employer Requirements

First things first, TN visa employer requirements are refreshingly simple.

Unlike other employment-based visas, the TN visa process does not have demanding compliance requirements for employers. For example, TN employers are not required to obtain an LCA (Labor Condition Application) from the Department of Labor or pay fees associated with obtaining the visa. In most cases, TN employers do not even have to file Form I-129 to petition for the TN worker.

In fact, there’s just one requirement for TN visa employers, and that is providing the prospective TN worker with a support letter. This letter helps the adjudicating officer understand how the individual and their occupation will qualify for the TN visa. The TN support letter should contain:

• The job title.
• A brief description of the job duties.
• The duration of the employment.
• The remuneration the individual will receive.
• The individual’s TN visa qualifications (the educational and professional credentials that make the individual qualified for the job).

Watch Video – All about the TN Visa

Eligibility Criteria for Employers

The first criterion is that an employer must be a bonafide U.S. entity. 

This means that an employer’s business must be located and legally operating within the U.S., regardless of the owner’s nationality. It must be a genuine U.S. entity and not a front for self-employment in the U.S..

The second criterion is that the business must engage in activities that align with the requirements of the TN visa. This means the job the employer offers must be on the NAFTA (now USMCA) list of professions.

More than 60 professions are listed on the approved NAFTA Job list as eligible for TN visas. To qualify for the TN visa, the offered position must be one of these approved occupations. 

The eligible NAFTA professions are separated into four main groups of workers as follows: 

• General occupations (e.g.Accountant, Architect, Engineer, and Social Worker)
• Medical occupations (e.g. Dentist, Nutritionist, Pharmacist, and Veterinarian)
• Scientist occupations (e.g. Astronomer, Biochemist, Geneticist, and Geologists)
• Teaching occupations (e.g. College teacher, Seminary teacher, and University teacher)

To learn if your prospective job meets the TN visa job requirements, please see the complete NAFTA Job List. 

If the job you have been offered is not specifically named among the approved professions, but is closely related to one, you may still qualify. 

To learn if you are eligible, please Contact TN Visa Expert to help you navigate the TN visa process. 

Required Documentation for TN Visa At The Border

The documents required for the TN visa application are generally as follows:

• Proof of Canadian or Mexican citizenship (usually a valid passport)
• TN Support letter (also called TN Employment letter) from the US employer.
• The Employment Contract. 
• Work Experience Letter.
• Employer’s materials regarding the Company’s business. 
• Proof of your educational and professional qualifications for the position.
• Proof of paying the application fee.
• Proof of the applicant’s strong ties to his or her country of origin. 
• If the TN visa is submitted at the border with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a filing fee of only $56 is required (this includes a $50 TN processing fee and $6 fee for the issuance of the I-94 Arrival/Departure Record Card)

Additional documentation may be required at the border for certain occupations.

Application Process

The TN visa application process is relatively easy. If you’re a Canadian or Mexican citizen and want an easy route to working in the U.S. in a professional capacity, go for the TN visa.

There are different ways to apply for the TN visa, depending on whether you’re Canadian or Mexican.

Unsure if you Qualify? Email us

Canadians – Apply at a U.S. border crossing

Canadian citizens may apply for the TN visa at a U.S. port of entry by simply submitting their documents to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers at the border crossing. 

Not all border crossings process TN visas. Therefore, applicants should plan ahead to ensure they are entering at a border crossing that does. Our TN Visa Expert Kit has a list of all border crossings where you can apply for a TN visa. 

When entering by air, you can apply for the TN visa by submitting your documents to officers at a preclearance center in a Canadian international airport. If the airport you departed from does not have a preclearance center, you can apply for the TN visa at the U.S. airport when you land.

Canadians – Apply by Mail with USCIS

Alternatively, Canadians may choose to apply for the TN visa by filing Form I-129 with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Applicants must complete the form, include all relevant documentation, and mail it to the USCIS Texas Service Center.

Once USCIS approves Form I-129, the candidate can then apply for admission to the United States at the U.S. port of entry or at a designated pre-clearance/pre-flight inspection station with proof of their Canadian citizenship and the approval notice for Form I-129. 

The advantage of applying by mail is knowing the visa decision before making travel plans. However, even with an approved Form I-129, an immigration officer may still interview applicants when entering the U.S. 

Whether you apply at a border crossing, preclearance location, or with USCIS, the employer’s role is limited to providing the applicant with the TN employer letter.

Mexicans – Apply at U.S. Consulate or Embassy

Mexican nationals must apply for the TN visa at a U.S. Consulate or Embassy in Mexico, by completing the DS-160 online nonimmigrant visa application, paying the appropriate visa fees, and scheduling a visa interview. 

If approved, they’ll receive a TN visa stamp in their passport, and can travel to the United States as a TN non-immigrant to begin their employment. Here again, the employer’s role is limited to providing the applicant with the TN employer letter.

Legal Considerations for TN Visa Employers

While the TN visa does not have strict regulatory requirements, here are a few legal considerations that TN visa employers should know about:

Maintaining Compliance with TN Status Requirements

Remember that the TN visa is designed to allow U.S. employers to hire Mexican and Canadian professionals for temporary work in the U.S. in certain professional occupations. Thus, compliance with TN status requires that:

• The offered job must be on the NAFTA-approved job list
• The individual’s job duties must correspond with the generally accepted duties of professionals in that occupation.
• The individual will not perform duties outside the scope of their TN status.
• The job must be temporary – its duration should not exceed 3 years.

Legal Obligations Under TN Visa 

The TN employer is required to:

• Provide the TN employee with a TN visa employer letter explaining how the individual and the job being offered qualify under NAFTA.
• Ensure the individual qualifies for the position being offered.
• Demonstrate a readiness to pay the individual for services to be rendered.
• Keep accurate records related to the TN visa holder’s employment. 

Legal Support and Services for TN Visa Employers

One secret to successfully obtaining a TN visa is to receive the guidance of an experienced immigration attorney who specializes in TN visas. This is where TN Visa Expert comes in!

Our legal support and services extend to both applicants and their prospective U.S. employers to ensure that the individual submits a strong application.

Overview of Our Legal Packages

The TN ExpertKit – Employer Edition is the best option to help employers navigate the process of hiring a TN worker. It contains everything a TN employer needs to help their TN applicants successfully obtain the TN visa.

For example, it contains:

• Detailed step-by-step instructions on how to write the TN visa employer letter
• Sample TN employer letters for a wide range of occupations 
• Information about the TN visa eligibility requirements  
• Information on why a job title is important and how an employer can choose the most suitable profession 
• How an employer can determine if the job duties of the position being offered comply with the TN requirements
• A list of the most common mistakes employers make when applying for TN visas and how to avoid them.
• A checklist of the documentation required for a successful TN visa application.
• Information for the TN employee to prepare for the border interview
• Information for dependents of TN employees to obtain their visas 

The TN ExpertKit – Employer Edition will save you money, save you time, and ensure your employee’s success. 

Wondering how? Here’s how:

• Money.

Engaging the services of a professional to help you write the TN visa Employer letter can cost you between $1,000 to $2,500. But the TN ExpertKit – Employer Edition kit is only $149. And it’ll help you create an even better TN employer letter than most professionals would.

• Time

The kit arms you with step-by-step instructions on writing the letter and provides numerous sample letters. This helps you write a winning TN employer letter quickly and easily.

• Employee’s success

The kit offers numerous resources to ensure employees succeed with their TN visa application. For example, it helps determine whether an applicant qualifies for the TN, provides a list of documentation, and supplies a list of common mistakes to avoid. Importantly, it helps candidates prepare for the border interview, which impacts the final outcome of the application.

Having the opportunity to review the common questions that Officers ask TN visa applicants at their interview, will put the applicant on the right path to success.

That’s what our TNVisaExpert Expert kit does for you. It gives you the kind of questions you should expect from Officers and prepares employees on how to best answer them. 

Thus, the TN Visa Expert Kit helps TN applicants scale all the hurdles they might expect at every stage of the TN visa application process. 

Money-back guarantee 

Customer satisfaction is our top priority. We are confident in the effectiveness of the service we offer, which is why we back it up with a 100% money-back guarantee. 

If you purchase our TN Visa Expert service and are denied your TN Visa, please contact us and we will gladly refund your money.  

Our money-back guarantee policy:

• Does not apply to people who were denied the TN visa before purchasing the TN Visa Expert kit.
• Is valid for only 90 days after your purchase (because of credit card refund restriction time limits). If you plan to apply more than 90 days after your purchase, email us, and we may provide an exception for an extra 3 days.
• Does not apply to people who were denied because they were not eligible for a TN visa. 

Renewals and Extensions

While the TN visa is valid for three years, extensions can be obtained every three years, with no limit on the number of extensions. 

To learn more about TN renewals and extensions, please see TN visa renewals.

The process of renewing the TN visa is the same as applying for the initial visa. The applicant will need to meet all of the requirements of the TN visa as outlined above. 

However, applicants renewing their TN visas may be scrutinized more to ensure that their intent to stay in the U.S. is still of a temporary nature. 

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that renewing a TN visa is easier than the initial application. Having a strong application the second time around continues to be of critical importance, because the stakes are much higher, considering that a denial would force the employee to immediately depart the United States which would put their employment in jeopardy. 

That is why it is so important to engage the services of an experienced TN visa consultant when navigating the renewal process, to ensure you have a strong TN employer letter that adequately demonstrates how you qualify for the visa, and to show immigration officials that your intention to remain in the country is temporary in nature. 

Job Education Requirements for TN Visa

Remember that most of the NAFTA Occupations have an education requirement. It is very important to ensure that your position has a similar educational requirement. If it does not, you will most likely not qualify for the TN Visa.

An example is the bookkeeper job title, which some people use to apply for “accountant” TN Visas. Although some companies prefer to hire candidates who have completed college, bookkeepers are not required to hold college degrees.

A bookkeeping job will not qualify under NAFTA for the “Accountant” TN Visa if the candidate secures a job offer that does not require a degree. The reason is that the requirements say “TN Accountants” require a degree. 

When completing your TN application, ensure your job educational requirement is similar to that required by the TN visa occupation. If your job doesn’t require a degree, you cannot apply for a TN visa under an occupational category that requires a degree.

Do You Have Proof of Your Educational Qualifications?

The TN visa requires applicants to provide proof that they have the educational and professional qualifications for the position. 

If the NAFTA occupation you are applying for has an education requirement, make sure you are able to prove you have met this requirement by providing your academic degree, academic evaluation, or other professional qualifications as applicable to the position.

Requirements for Licensed Professionals

TN occupations are not equal. While a few do not require a degree, many do. Others require that you have a degree and a professional license. If your profession is a licensed profession, make sure to provide proof of your license to show you are licensed in your field (example: social worker who seeks employment in a clinical position). 

Requirements for Management Consultants

The Management Consultant is one of the few NAFTA Occupations that does not require a degree. Many TN applicants think this allows them to apply for any job as a Management Consultant. But that is not the case.

First, the “TN Management Consultant” is one of the most scrutinized occupations. When an Officer sees a TN Visa Application for a Management Consultant, he will review it more closely to verify the individual is a Management Consultant and that the position really requires a Management Consultant. There are numerous requirements that must be met for this Occupation. You must make sure you meet them all.

Many applicants think that showing just their work contract will be sufficient. Do not be fooled. The work contract should be just one of the many items in your TN visa document checklist that you need to support your TN Visa application.

Additionally, if your job is a full-time position disguised as a Management Consultant position, the Officer is likely to discover this and deny you.

Make sure you have prepared your application correctly and have gathered the documents necessary to show you are qualified to be a Management Consultant. Contact us if you are not sure what must be provided so we can help.

Requirements for Systems Analyst / Programmer

The Systems Analyst NAFTA Occupation allows for a broad range of computing-related jobs to qualify for the TN Visa. By definition, a Systems Analyst analyzes computer systems and designs ways to improve them to be more efficient.

One of the biggest challenges for candidates applying for TN visas as Computer System Analysts are describing their job details correctly. 

Remember that the job details must align with the generally accepted duties of people in that profession. The problem is that many System Analysts include programming as part of their job duties, but TN officers do not recognize programming as an acceptable job duty for System Analysts. As a result, including programming in your job duties as a Systems Analyst will likely lead to a denial.

Keeping this in mind, please prepare your TN Visa Application carefully when applying under the Systems Analyst occupational category.

Requirements for Engineers

If you are applying under the Engineering NAFTA Occupation, there are a few things you should be aware of.

Recently, Immigration Officers have been requesting applicants to provide proof of a professional engineer license for this occupation. Make sure to provide proof of your professional license at the time of your application. It is also important to prepare your TN Visa support letter to include details of your professional licensure as well.

The “Engineer” occupational category covers various engineering specializations, including Mechanical Engineers, Civil Engineers, Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and more. However, challenges can arise for Software Engineers.

Many software engineers who apply for the TN Visa under the Engineers occupation category are denied their TN Visa. One reason for this is that NAFTA requires engineers to have a degree in engineering, but most Software Engineers typically have degrees in Computer Science. 

The  Cronin memo issued in 2000 clarifies that Software Engineers are “Engineers” under the law, meaning that Software Engineers can now apply for the TN Visa under the Engineer occupational category. 

Software Engineers who do not have engineering degrees must prove to the adjudicating officer that their degree is closely related to software engineering.

In such cases, the final decision rests with the immigration officer. Such applications may still be denied based on officer discretion. For this reason, Software Engineers may be better served applying for a different visa type, such as the H-1B visa, or under a different occupation.

Conclusion

In summary, U.S. employers should not be afraid of recruiting prospective TN workers because a TN employer’s role in the TN visa application process is simple and straightforward. 

There’s no labor attestation or prevailing wage requirements. Employers are only required to provide the applicant with a TN support letter, setting out the employee’s qualifications for the TN occupation. 

Our TN Visa Expert Kits can help make the process even less challenging, by guiding employers and their workers regarding the TN visa requirements, to lead you to a favorable outcome. 

Additionally, our kits are created by lawyers, so they are accurate and precise. Plus, they have helped many people successfully obtain TN visas. To learn more, please see our TN ExpertKit – Employer Edition. 

FAQ about TN Visa Employer Requirements

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jacob Sapochnick

Author Jacob Sapochnick serves as the Managing Partner/CEO of a prominent law firm that focuses on immigration law. Boasting an extensive legal background spanning over a decade, he adeptly merges his enthusiasm for law with cutting-edge technology to aid clients worldwide in their journey to immigrate to the United States.