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Trade NAFTA for Canadian and Mexican Citizen Professionals

Immigration Attorneys in Los Angeles, Lawyer, Lawyer, Attorney > Non Immigrant Visas > Student Visas > Trade NAFTA for Canadian and Mexican Citizen Professionals

Trade NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) status is available to professions that have been agreed to by all three nations. A list of these professions follows. The TN visa that is issued under NAFTA allows for one year periods of employment in the United States.

The major benefits of TN status to Canadian citizens otherwise eligible for H-1B visa status are the streamlined application procedures at ports of entry (applicants can apply at pre-inspection posts at international airports in Canada or at the border), the lack of any limit on the number of extensions of stay or applications for readmission and the absence of a limit on the number of TN admissions that may be granted. This last benefit obviously becomes most important if the 65,000 annual limit on H-1B visas is reached.

The benefits of the TN category to Mexican citizens are somewhat reduced due to additional paperwork that is required of Mexican but not Canadian citizens, and the need to apply for a visa at an American Consulate in Mexico. The paperwork required for a Mexican citizen to be approved for a TN visa is very similar to the requirements for a H-1B visa. Therefore, when appropriate it is a better choice to apply for the H-1B visa.

Only a United States employer can file an I-129 petition to classify a Mexican citizen as a TN professional, but either a United States or foreign employer may seek to have a Canadian citizen classified as a TN professional.

A TN applicant may be denied entry to the United States or denied approval of a petition or application for TN status if the Secretary of Labor certifies to the Citizenship & Immigration Service that a strike or other labor dispute involving a work stoppage is in progress and that the temporary entry of the Mexican or Canadian citizen in TN status may adversely affect the settlement of the labor dispute or the employment of any person involved in the dispute. A Canadian or Mexican citizen who has already started working in the United States and who is participating in a strike or other labor dispute will maintain TN status, but the period of participation in the strike or work stoppage does not lengthen the time period the individual is allowed to remain in the United States.

Spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age of TN principal applicant may apply for Trade Dependent (TD) status. Spouses and dependent minor children of TN professionals are issued an I-94 with a “multiple entry” notation. TD spouses and unmarried minor children may not accept employment unless otherwise authorized.

Tasoff and Tasoff

The information provided in this memorandum is very general and should not be relied on to make any decision in regard to petitioning the Immigration Service for a non-immigrant work visa for a foreign individual. Tasoff and Tasoff strongly suggest a consultation with an immigration attorney to determine the best category for each situation.

 

PROFESSION MINIMUM EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS AND ALTERNATIVE CREDENTIALS
Accountant Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or C.P.A, C.A., C.G.A., or C.M.A.
Architect Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state/provincial license
Computer Systems Analyst Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or Post-Secondary Diploma or Post Secondary Certificate and three years experience
Disaster Relief Insurance Claims Adjuster (Claims Adjuster employed by an insurance company located in the territory of a Party, or an independent claims adjuster) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree and successful completion of training in the appropriate areas of insurance adjustment pertaining to disaster relief claims; or three years experience in claims adjustment and successful completion of training in the appropriate areas of insurance adjustment pertaining to disaster relief claims
Economist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Engineer Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state/provincial license
Forester Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state/provincial license
Graphic Designer Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or post-secondary diploma and three years experience
Hotel Manager Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree in hotel/restaurant management; or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate in hotel/restaurant management and three years experience in hotel/restaurant management
Industrial Designer Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate, and three years experience
Interior Designer Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate, and three years experience
Land Surveyor Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree or state/provincial/federal license
Landscape Architect Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Lawyer (including Notary in the province of Quebec) L.L.B., J.D., L.L.L., B.C.L., or Licenciatura degree (five years); or membership in a state/provincial bar
Librarian M.L.S. or B.L.S. (for which another Baccalaureate or Licenciatura degree was prerequisite)
Management Consultant Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or equivalent professional experience as established by statement or professional credential attesting to five years experience as a management consultant , or five years experience in a field of specialty related to the consulting agreement
Mathematician (including statistician) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Range Manager/Range Conservationist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Research Assistant (working in a post-secondary educational institution) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Scientific Technician/ Technologist Possession of (a) theoretical knowledge of any of the following disciplines: agricultural sciences, astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering, forestry, geology, geophysics, meteorology, or physics; and (b) the ability to solve practical problems in any of those disciplines, or the ability to apply principles of any of those disciplines to basic or applied research
Social Worker Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Sylviculturist (including forestry) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Technical Publications Writer Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree, or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate, and three years experience
Urban Planner (including Geographer) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Vocational Counselor Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree

MEDICAL/ALLIED PROFESSIONALS

Dentist D.D.S., D.M.D., Doctor en Odontologia or Doctor en Cirugia Dental or state/provincial license
Dietitian Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state/provincial license
Medical Laboratory Technologist (Canada)/Medical Technologist (Mexico and the United States) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or post secondary diploma or post secondary certificate, and three years experience
Nutritionist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Occupational Therapist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state provincial license
Pharmacist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state provincial license
Physician (teaching or research only) M.D., Doctor en Medicina; or state/provincial license
Physiotherapist/Physical Therapist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state/provincial license
Psychologist State/provincial license; or Licenciatura degree
Recreational Therapist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Registered Nurse State/provincial license or Licenciatura degree
Veterinarian D.V.M., D.M.V., or Doctor en Veterinaria; or state/provincial license

SCIENTIST

Agricultural (Agronomist) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Animal Breeder Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Animal Scientist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Apiculturist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Astronomer Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Biochemist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Chemist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Dairy Scientist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Entomologist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Epidemiologist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Geneticist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Geochemist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Geophysicist (including Oceanographer in Mexico and the United States) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Horticulturist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Meteorologist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Pharmacologist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Physicist (including Oceanographer in Canada) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Plant Breeder Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Poultry Scientist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Soil Scientist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Zoologist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
TEACHER
College Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Seminary Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
University Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree

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