Under the North America Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”), qualifying Canadian and Mexican citizens can enter the U.S. to work temporarily at a professional level as TN non-immigrants. TN status can be granted for a period of up to three years and extended in three-year increments indefinitely. TN status is available only to Canadian and Mexican citizens who have job offers in the U.S. To qualify for TN status, the offered position must fit within one of the listed professions set forth in 8 C.F.R. Sec. 214.6(b)-(c) Appendix 1603.D.1.
The following is a list of jobs considered professional under NAFTA.
Profession | Minimum Education Requirements And Alternative Credentials |
Accountant | Bachelors Degree or C.P.A, C.A., C.G.A., or C.M.A. |
Architect | Bachelors Degree or state/provincial license |
Computer Systems Analyst | Bachelors 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) | Bachelors 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 | Bachelors Degree |
Engineer | Bachelors Degree or state/provincial license |
Forester | Bachelors Degree or state/provincial license |
Graphic Designer | Bachelors Degree or post-secondary diploma and three years experience |
Hotel Manager | Bachelors 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 | Bachelors Degree or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate, and three years’ experience |
Interior Designer | Bachelors Degree or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate, and three years’ experience |
Land Surveyor | Bachelors Degree or state/provincial/federal license |
Landscape Architect | Bachelors Degree |
Lawyer (including Notary in the province of Quebec) | L.L.B., J.D., L.L.L., B.C.L., or Bachelors Degree (five years) or membership in a state/provincial bar |
Librarian | M.L.S. or B.L.S. (for which another Bachelors Degree was prerequisite) |
Management Consultant | Bachelors Degree or equivalent professional experience as established by a statement of 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 and actuary) | Bachelors Degree |
Range Manager/Range Conservationist | Bachelors Degree |
Research Assistant (working in a post-secondary educational institution) | Bachelors 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 | Bachelors Degree |
Sylviculturist (including forestry) | Bachelors Degree |
Technical Publications Writer | Bachelors Degree or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate and three years’ experience |
Urban Planner (including Geographer) | Bachelors Degree |
Vocational Counselor | Bachelors Degree |
Medical/Allied Professionals
Dentist | D.D.S., D.M.D., Doctor en Odontologia or Doctor en Cirugia Dental or state/provincial license |
Dietitian | Bachelors Degree or state/provincial license |
Medical Laboratory Technologist (Canada)/Medical Technologist (Mexico and the United States) | Bachelors Degree or post- secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate and three years’ experience |
Nutritionist | Bachelors Degree |
Occupational Therapist | Bachelors Degree or state provincial license |
Pharmacist | Bachelors Degree or state provincial license |
Physician (teaching or research only) | M.D., Doctor en Medicina or state/provincial license |
Physiotherapist/Physical Therapist | Bachelors Degree or state/provincial license |
Psychologist | State/provincial license or Bachelors Degree |
Recreational Therapist | Bachelors Degree |
Registered Nurse | State/provincial license or Bachelors Degree |
Veterinarian | D.V.M., D.M.V., or Doctor en Veterinaria or state/provincial license |
Scientist
Agricultural (Agronomist) | Bachelors Degree |
Animal Breeder | Bachelors Degree |
Animal Scientist | Bachelors Degree |
Apiculturist | Bachelors Degree |
Astronomer | Bachelors Degree |
Biochemist | Bachelors Degree |
Chemist | Bachelors Degree |
Dairy Scientist | Bachelors Degree |
Entomologist | Bachelors Degree |
Epidemiologist | Bachelors Degree |
Geneticist | Bachelors Degree |
Geochemist | Bachelors Degree |
Geophysicist (including Oceanographer in Mexico and the United States) | Bachelors Degree |
Horticulturist | Bachelors Degree |
Meteorologist | Bachelors Degree |
Pharmacologist | Bachelors Degree |
Physicist (including Oceanographer in Canada) | Bachelors Degree |
Plant Breeder | Bachelors Degree |
Poultry Scientist | Bachelors Degree |
Soil Scientist | Bachelors Degree |
Zoologist | Bachelors Degree |
Teacher | Bachelors Degree |
College | Bachelors Degree |
Seminary | Bachelors Degree |
University | Bachelors Degree |
Canadian citizens may apply for admission in TN status directly at a U.S. Class A port of entry, a U.S. international airport, or a U.S. pre-flight inspection station. Mexican citizens no longer need to be beneficiaries of approved I-129 petitions filed by their employers, rather Mexican TN applicants may now apply directly for TN visas at U.S. consulates. Spouse and children of TN applicants can be issued TD visas if eligible.