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Overview. The TN classification allows a citizen of Canada or Mexico to enter the United States temporarily to engage in business activities at a professional level. It rests on INA 214(e) and is implemented at 8 CFR 214.6. The trade agreement behind it is now the Agreement Between the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and Canada, known as the USMCA, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement; both the statute and the regulation have been rewritten to refer to the USMCA. 8 CFR 214.6(a).
The professions list. Eligibility depends on falling within one of the professions set out in Appendix 2 to Annex 16-A of Chapter 16 of the USMCA, which carried forward the list formerly known as NAFTA Appendix 1603.D.1 without changing the professions themselves. Each entry specifies the minimum education requirement and, for some professions, an alternative credential. The full annotated list, with its education and credential requirements, appears on the companion page, Professions Qualifying for TN Status Under the USMCA. 8 CFR 214.6(c).
A closed list, strictly applied. The classification is unavailable to a professional whose occupation does not appear on the list, however distinguished the credentials. Where the list requires a baccalaureate or Licenciatura degree and offers no alternative, experience cannot be substituted for the degree, and where the list does allow an alternative such as a post-secondary diploma plus three years of experience, the alternative must be met on its own terms. 8 CFR 214.6(c).
Business activities at a professional level. The phrase means work that requires at least a baccalaureate degree or the appropriate credentials establishing professional status in a listed profession. The activities must be prearranged and performed for a United States entity, which may be an individual. 8 CFR 214.6(b).
No self-employment. The classification does not authorize establishing a business or practice in the United States in which the professional will in substance be self-employed, and a professional is deemed self-employed when rendering services to a corporation or entity of which that professional is the sole or controlling shareholder or owner. 8 CFR 214.6(b).
Licensure for the classification is not licensure to practice. For several professions, including architect, engineer, forester, land surveyor, and lawyer, a state or provincial license is listed as an alternative to a degree and therefore functions as a qualifying credential for the classification. That is a separate question from whether the state where the work will occur requires its own license, registration, or bar admission before the professional may lawfully practice there. Satisfying the appendix does not dispense with state practice requirements, and meeting a state practice requirement does not by itself satisfy the appendix.
Canadian citizens: no visa, admission at the border. A citizen of Canada is generally visa exempt under 8 CFR 212.1(a)(1) and applies for TN admission directly with a Department of Homeland Security officer at a Class A port of entry, at a United States airport handling international traffic, or at a pre-clearance or pre-flight station. 8 CFR 214.6(d)(2).
Mexican citizens: a visa first. A citizen of Mexico must obtain a TN nonimmigrant visa at a United States consular post and then present a valid passport and the valid visa at a Class A port of entry, an international airport, or a pre-clearance or pre-flight station. 8 CFR 214.6(d)(1). The Department of State places TN and TD in the non-petition-based visa application fee tier of $185, rather than the higher petition-based tier that applies to categories such as H, L, and O.
Documentation on application. Whether presented to a consular officer or to a Department officer at the border, the documentation must establish citizenship and show both the professional nature of the work and the applicant’s qualifications. It commonly takes the form of a letter from the prospective United States employer, or from a foreign employer where services are being provided to a United States entity, supported by diplomas, degrees, or evidence of membership in a professional organization. A degree earned outside Canada, Mexico, or the United States must be accompanied by an evaluation from a reliable credentials evaluation service. The documentation must affirm all of the following. 8 CFR 214.6(d)(3).
Period of admission. A qualifying applicant is admitted in TN classification for a period not to exceed three years, and the confirming document bears the legend indicating multiple entry. 8 CFR 214.6(e). Admission is also subject to the general rule allowing up to ten days before the validity period begins and ten days after it ends, during which work is not authorized. 8 CFR 214.1(l)(1).
Visa validity is not the same as authorized stay. For a Mexican citizen, the TN visa governs only the period during which admission may be sought, and its validity and permitted number of entries are set by the reciprocity schedule for Mexico published by the Department of State. The authorized period of stay is set separately at admission and runs for the period granted by the inspecting officer. A visa may expire while the authorized stay continues, and a long visa validity adds nothing to the period of stay. A Canadian citizen holds no visa at all, so for Canadians the admission record is the only document that measures authorized stay.
Two routes to more time. A United States employer, or a United States entity where the professional is employed by a foreign employer, may file with USCIS for an extension of stay on the prescribed form with the fee set by 8 CFR 106.2; the beneficiary must be physically present in the United States when the request is filed. Alternatively, the professional may depart and apply at a designated port of entry, before the current admission expires, for a new three-year period of admission supported by a fresh employer letter meeting the documentary requirements. 8 CFR 214.6(h)(1), (h)(2).
Extension of status is not the same as visa renewal. A USCIS extension of stay adds authorized time in the United States but issues no visa. A Mexican citizen whose TN visa has expired will still need a new visa from a consular post before returning after any departure, even though the extension of stay remains valid. Conversely, obtaining a new visa abroad does not by itself extend an authorized stay already granted.
Length and repetition of extensions. An extension may be approved for a maximum period of three years, and the regulation states that there is no specific limit on the total time that may be spent in TN status, provided the professional continues to engage in qualifying business activities for a United States employer or entity and otherwise maintains status. 8 CFR 214.6(h)(1)(iii), (iv).
Readmission during an unexpired admission. Where the intended professional activities and employer have not changed and the admission record has not expired, readmission for the remainder of the authorized period may be granted without presenting the employer letter and supporting documentation again and without the prescribed fee. Where the admission record has been lost but the admission period has not lapsed, a new one may be issued for the time remaining. 8 CFR 214.6(g).
Employment authorization is not the same as status. TN work authorization is tied to the specific employer and activities approved, under 8 CFR 274a.12(b)(19). Where a timely extension request is filed before the authorized stay expires, employment with the same employer may continue for up to 240 days from expiration, or until the request is denied if that comes first. 8 CFR 274a.12(b)(20).
Changing or adding an employer. A new or additional United States employer must file Form I-129 with supporting documentation, including a letter describing the services, the time needed, and the terms of remuneration, and employment with the new or additional employer is not authorized before the request is approved. The professional may instead present the documentation at a port of entry on an application for readmission. 8 CFR 214.6(i).
Grace period after employment ends. A professional in TN status does not fail to maintain status solely because the qualifying employment ceases, for up to sixty consecutive days or until the end of the authorized period, whichever is shorter, once per authorized period. Work during that interval is not authorized unless another provision allows it. 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2).
Temporary intent is a live requirement. Temporary entry means entry without the intent to establish permanent residence, and the applicant must satisfy the inspecting officer that the assignment will end at a predictable time and that departure will follow its completion. 8 CFR 214.6(b). INA 214(e)(1) expressly makes the presumption of immigrant intent in INA 214(b) applicable to TN applicants, and the TN regulation contains no counterpart to the provision that shields certain other classifications from denial on the strength of a pending permanent residence filing. Pursuing permanent residence while holding TN status therefore raises issues that do not arise in the same way in the H-1B, L, or O contexts.
No numerical limit and no labor condition application. INA 214(e) as it now reads contains no cap on TN admissions; the former transitional ceiling on Mexican professionals is no longer in the statute, although the subsection heading still refers to an annual numerical limit. Neither the statute nor 8 CFR 214.6 requires a labor condition application, a prevailing wage determination, or a labor certification. The Department of Labor’s role is confined to the labor dispute provision described below.
Premium processing. An application for TN classification filed with USCIS is designated for premium processing at a fee of $2,965 (fee at time of this publication, but this fee is subject to change), with a fifteen business day timeframe. 8 CFR 106.4(c)(10), (e)(10).
TD family members. The spouse and unmarried minor children of a TN professional may be admitted, readmitted, granted a change of status, or granted an extension for the same period granted to the principal, in TD classification. No fee is required for their admission, and their confirming documents bear the multiple entry legend. Canadian family members are visa exempt on the same footing as the principal, while others must present a valid TD visa unless exempt under 8 CFR 212.1. TD status carries no work authorization; USCIS guidance confirms that study is permitted. 8 CFR 214.6(j).
Labor disputes. Where the Secretary of Labor certifies or otherwise informs USCIS that a strike or other labor dispute involving a work stoppage is in progress and that the entry of a TN professional may adversely affect the settlement of the dispute or the employment of a person involved in it, the document authorizing entry or employment may be refused. Consequences also follow for a professional already working who participates in such a dispute. 8 CFR 214.6(k).
Related pages. The qualifying occupations and their credential requirements are set out on Professions Qualifying for TN Status Under the USMCA. For an orientation to the other temporary work classifications, see Common Work Visas. For the general framework governing requests to remain longer in a nonimmigrant classification, see Extension of Stay. Questions about a particular TN or TD matter may be directed to the firm through the contact page.