TN – NAFTA Professionals

Overview

30,000 TN visas have been delivered in 2019. The TN visa is a U.S. visa category for NAFTA professionals.

Eligibility

To petition for a TN, you and the position offered should be eligible.

Candidate’s Requirements

• You should be a Mexican (TN2) or Canadian (TN1) citizen,
• and you wish to pursue one of the NAFTA occupations listed above
• and fulfill the requirements here for the occupation.

See if you qualify for TN jobs for free!

Position’s Requirements

The TN occupation should be part of the NAFTA occupations list.

You and the entity should have an employer-employee relationship (W-2 part-time or full-time, no 1099 contract).

You can work part-time or full-time for an employer and work for one or multiple employers as long as each job qualifies as a NAFTA occupation. In that case, you will need one TN visa for each employer; however, you can hold multiple TN visas simultaneously.

Length of Stay

TN Visa & Employment Duration

The TN can be granted for up to 3 years and renewed as long as you and your occupation qualify. It can be less:

• if the period of your offer of employment is less: in this case, the TN will be issued for the indicated time of your offer of employment,
• if your passport is valid for less than 3 years, the TN will be issued until the expiration date of your passport.

You’ll be tied to working for your employer(s) willing to take on the TN obligations. As long as you are employed at your TN employer, your TN is valid until its expiration date. If you are laid off or decide to end your current employment, your TN visa will stay valid for 10 days after your last day working for your TN employer. You’ll have 10 days to transfer your TN visa or file a change of status.

Visa & Employment Transfer

Change of Employer

As long as your TN is valid and you and your new occupation are eligible for a TN, you will be able to change your employer. To change your employer, your new employer will need to file the form I-129 with USCIS (if you are still in the USA), or you can request your TN outside the USA as you did the first time (see the process below).

Transfer to Another Visa

There are no restrictions on filing for or getting another type of visa other than the TN when you have a valid TN visa or after.

Compensation & Benefits

While you are in the United States, you have the right to:

• Be paid fairly: Your employer must pay you for all work you do, and at least the federal legal minimum wage.
• Work in a healthy and safe workplace, free from discrimination, harassment, and exploitation: Your employer must comply with all relevant federal and local workforce laws and regulations.

It’s your responsibility to conduct your research and negotiate your compensation and benefits before accepting an offer from a U.S.-based company.

Family

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can be your dependents and will be able to come and live in the United States with you under a TD visa.

Your spouse and children with a TD can study in the United States.

Your spouse with a TD cannot file for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD).

Process

Parties Involved

You can do it yourself or use an agency to help you.

Process Step by Step

Here is the process in this correct order:

1. Find a job at an entity willing to hire you as a NAFTA professional
2. Apply for the TN (at the U.S. embassy for Mexicans or at a port of entry when you travel to the United States for Canadians)
3. Get the TN visa and travel to the USA (if you are outside the USA)

You can not skip any steps. For example, if you haven’t received a job proposal from an entity willing to hire you as a NAFTA professional, you won’t be able to apply for a TN visa.

Job Search Duration

Your job search duration (step 1 above) will vary depending on your profile and the difficulty U.S. employers face in hiring in your field. In addition, you might need to pass a U.S. license to be authorized to work in your field in the USA.

By using USponsorMe, you’ll save 10x more time; see why here. Our jobs are open to NAFTA professionals. But more importantly, when you subscribe to one of our USponsorMe+ plans, we will tell you if your project is feasible with a TN or what is missing in your profile to be possible, how long we estimate your job search will take, and select TN jobs for you and send them to you.

The time it takes to secure a job using USponsorMe varies depending on the number of jobs you receive and apply for each month, your suitability for the jobs, the quality of your applications, and your performance during job interviews. For example, a USponsorMe member with all necessary licenses and credentials, an American resume and cover letter rewritten by an expert, who applies for five or more targeted jobs on USponsorMe weekly and is prepared to master job interviews, typically receives an ideal job offer with visa sponsorship within four months.

Visa Process Duration

The visa process is step 2 above.

For Canadian candidates, it is immediately at the port of entry.

For Mexican candidates, getting an appointment at the consulates/embassies takes 3 weeks. There are nine consulates and 1 US embassy in Mexico.

Visa Fees

Fees for a TN visa are estimated to be up to $1,250 USD.

TN Jobs

USponsorMe is a job board that lists open jobs offering TN visa sponsorship. You will need to log in to see our listing. Creating an account and browsing jobs is free.