Call for help with TN application.

yjustin

New Member
Please whoever can share some experiences similar to my case!!!
Thank you very much!!!

Q1:
I've got a bachelor degree, 4 years, but not awarded in Canada. I do have notarized statement of the certificate, degree and transcripts in English and hometown language.
I've got a master degree, awarded in Canada.
The job requirement does mention the minimal education is bachelor or equivalent.
In this case, do I still have to do the evaluation on the bachelor degree?

Q2:
Without getting the TN successfully, I don't wanna resign yet (2 weeks notice) just in case get stuck on TN application. But as far as I read on internet, I can not just go to a POE, holding an offer with start date showing 2 weeks later to apply for TN, then turn back the same day so I can comfortably extend my resignation letter. Any good tips on this??

Thank you very much!!!
 
A1: if Master's degree is in the same field as that of your proposed, you should be ok. If possible though (time permitting), might be a good idea to get equivalency done though I dont think its required
A2: your approach is right...do not resign until you have TN. Go to the POE (even with start date out by 2 weeks), get your TN, enter the US, spend a few hrs and then turn back. Just dont tell the officer at the border "I am turning back immediately"...basically tackle things intelligently. CBP officers understand too that not everyone can just show up the border, get TN and go straight to work...hope you get the point. Good luck. keep us posted
 
A1: if Master's degree is in the same field as that of your proposed, you should be ok. If possible though (time permitting), might be a good idea to get equivalency done though I dont think its required
A2: your approach is right...do not resign until you have TN. Go to the POE (even with start date out by 2 weeks), get your TN, enter the US, spend a few hrs and then turn back. Just dont tell the officer at the border "I am turning back immediately"...basically tackle things intelligently. CBP officers understand too that not everyone can just show up the border, get TN and go straight to work...hope you get the point. Good luck. keep us posted

OMG, your response is so fast, thank you so much. :):):)
Just to be specific,
1. both Bachelor and Master degree are in Computer Science, job title should be Software Engineer. Right now, the employer (a staffing company actually, will work under w2) helped to push the start date from Aug 15th to Aug 22nd after talking to the end client. I saw the CES (UoT) does degree evaluation but at least taking 8 weeks. Even if going with the rush option by paying extra, no guarantee it'll be done any time sooner. So, not sure if it's gonna make it.
2. I heard this trick somewhere, but the thing is, the location of the job is at Memphis TN(14 hours driving at least), the closest POE is Rainbow Bridge at Niagara. If I drive down there 2 weeks before start date, wonder if the CBP officer will ask why I choose to get TN there instead of YYZ(toronto airport). According to some webpage, YYZ does have the highest successful rate in TN application(99% or so), Rainbow bridge is relatively low(about 94%). But at YYZ, you have to show the flight ticket on the same day to apply for the TN, right? So I am a bit tempting to take a short trip on a weekend in order to raise the probability of getting it successfully. :):):)
 
1. I think Masters should be fine. Dont think you will need equivalency done for Bachelors in your specific case (will let nelsona and CalgreenCard confirm too)
2. They wont ask you this Q :). I work in a place which is 14 hrs from where I lived in Canada. ~9 days prior to my job start, I traveled to the closest POE (with thankfully a solid package) [I'm a computer Engineer by profession and was applying in the Engineer category], got my TN within an hour and then traveled to my work location after a week. You'll be fine getting a TN ~2 weeks ahead of start date. All the best!
 
Again, thank you very much.
I didn't expect your case is so similar to mine. Thank you for sharing it.:):):)
Hopefully I can get some input from nelsona and CalgreenCard on my case soon.
But whatever you said is already encouraging enough.
I will definitely keep you and the forum posted on my case.
:):):)
 
Only thing different is the degree. Generally I have seen Computer system analyst as the TN profession CompSci graduates use for their TN applications
 
read this also: http://www.tnvisabulletin.com/nafta...e-for-a-computer-systems-analyst-tn-visa.html

"Because of the bias toward requiring a Computer Science degree for this TN category, I recommend bringing a copy of the OOH entry for Computer Systems Analyst to present to any inspector who questions whether your degree is suitable."

One imp thing to note about CSA: " Although the systems analyst will do some programming, the TN category has not been expanded to include programmers."

Read this thread as well: http://forums.immigration.com/threa...sters-in-mechanical-engg.330244/#post-2426423
 
The problem is you do not have an engineering degree, and the job you are offered is and engineering job. If the border denied your TN on the basis of non-matching degree they won't typically let let you change the category on the fly, since the job description of CSA and SE are not the same.
 
The problem is you do not have an engineering degree, and the job you are offered is and engineering job. If the border denied your TN on the basis of non-matching degree they won't typically let let you change the category on the fly, since the job description of CSA and SE are not the same.

Thank you very much, Nelsona, for the response.
Actually, last night when I was scanning my Bachelor degree, I just noticed it was an Engineering degree. So, now it seems, if going with SE, using my Bachelor degree would match better, but that means I have to get it evaluated. Right?
Are you actually implying that using a CS degree to support a SE offer would most likely get rejected for TN? :(:(:(
 
if you go with your bachelor's degree and it is not from Canada/US, you will need to get equivalency. Remember you want to show up at the POE with a super solid package to avoid any refusal of TN. Who is drafting your TN letter i.e. employer OR you for the employer OR a lawyer of the employer? Depending on the degree that they plan to use for your TN application (in line with your job function), choose the TN profession accordingly
 
First, the TN category must line up with the job. THEN the degree should line up with the category.
If the degree is not from North America (remember it is NAfta) including México, it must be equivalenced. Non-English must be translated.

Are you actually implying that using a CS degree to support a SE offer would most likely get rejected for TN? :(:(:(

Yes. the tnvisabulletin info even said so. but since your degree is an engineering one, no need to even discuss further. get the evaluation (you will need this in future anyway) and move on.
 
Thanks a bunch, Nelsona and Hello Mister.
I will go get it evaluated. But presenting the CS Master degree along with the Engineering Bachelor shouldn't harm anything, right?

They are having an attorney to handle my case and even set up a conference call to answer my related questions. But during the call, the attorney told me something that made me having a second thought on his expertise. He told me as long as your degree is not from USA, all need to be evaluated, including the Canadian ones. I was like :confused::confused::confused:. Anyway, I hope he can do a good job on preparing the offer letter and other related documents. I also mentioned my resume might need to be rephrased somewhere if it's projecting me as a developer or programmer too much, or something like that.
 
No, a Cdn degree need not be evaluated for TN purposes, but yours is not from Canada, so..... In any event, going forward, if you were to apply for an H1-B, or better yet, a Green card, even a Cdn degree would likely need to be equivalenced, so you getting this out of the way now is good anyway.

I would not include any extraneous documentation. You are not applying for a job. the firm provides evidence that they will be using you for a job that falls under a particular TN category and you are presenting evidence that you meet the requirements of TN, which are strictly a related bachelor degree and Cdn citizenship.

lawyers are unfamiliar with TN because it was designed to avoid using a lawyer in the first place, for simplicity/expediency sake. If not for them getting a lawyer involved, you would probably be working already.
 
No, a Cdn degree need not be evaluated for TN purposes, but yours is not from Canada, so..... In any event, going forward, if you were to apply for an H1-B, or better yet, a Green card, even a Cdn degree would likely need to be equivalenced, so you getting this out of the way now is good anyway.

I would not include any extraneous documentation. You are not applying for a job. the firm provides evidence that they will be using you for a job that falls under a particular TN category and you are presenting evidence that you meet the requirements of TN, which are strictly a related bachelor degree and Cdn citizenship.

lawyers are unfamiliar with TN because it was designed to avoid using a lawyer in the first place, for simplicity/expediency sake. If not for them getting a lawyer involved, you would probably be working already.

1. I(the attorney) shall prepare the offer letter after receiving the questionnaire;
2. Letter of support shall be prepared by me
(the attorney);
3. MSA with the client
(I don't know 'the client' is me or the end client who I will be working for);
4. SOW from client
('client', same as above I assume);
5. All pages of unexpired Canada / Mexico Passport;
6. Education documents including transcripts, diploma’s / degrees and transcripts;
7. Education Evaluation: If the beneficiary has no evaluation done earlier, we need to get it done by an evaluation service (I shall help get this done);
8. Resume; and
9. Experience letters.


Thank you very much Nelsona for your reply.
I reviewed the checklist of required documents forwarded to me from the staffing agency, see above, originated from their attorney. I was required to provide item 5 to 9. Even SOW and MSA are in the list. I googled them and found those are mostly for H-1B, plus the fact that the attorney also said all non-US education degrees or diploma were required to be evaluated, I highly believe he is treating my case as a H-1B application. I called the staffing agency and told them how I thought about the case being completely complicated and could've been done faster, but they kept telling me they've been in the industry for more than 20 years, and the attorney is a dedicated in-house one who is also experienced. Up until today, the agency only issued me an offer between me and them. They are still waiting for the attorney to prepare the offer letter, letter of support etc.
All I can thing of is either this agency is hiding something from me about the way it's being handled, or both the agency and the attorney are actually not as experienced as they claimed at all.
 
5, 8, and 9 are completely irrelevant.
7 covers 6.
This guy is either clueless or looking for a hefty fee.

And wtf is a letter od support, MSA, and SOW? You go to the border with ONE TN letter from the sponsor. period.
 
Thank you Nelsona!

I've got more questions after some new change came up

The start date of the offer is pushed to early September, which gave me enough time to deal with getting TN.
The following are the documents that were finally sent to me from the agent, prepared by the attorney.
1. Offer letter (by using title: System Analyst, not the one I expected, but it's fine)
2. Education evaluation documents from Trustforte Corporation (not a majorly accepted organisation as far as my search on Google goes)
3. Petition letter (this one really pissed me off, but anyhow).

The new change is, I have a better offer waiting to be extended some time next week. As it's a direct hire from a big corporation, so the process is taking a bit long. We agreed that I am still gonna use TN for this to-be-extended offer. I am thinking, if I can successfully get TN for the first time using the 1st offer, the second time or future application for TN would be much easier.
1. Could any one of you please confirm if my thought is correct?
If the first TN is under title System Analyst, say only one week later, I go back to the POE applying for a new TN under (Software) Engineer.
2. Would there be any trouble of doing this?
This better offer is a perm full time, TN only allows 3 years although it can be renewed unlimited times, as what I read from internet.
3. Is there anything that need to be noted or avoided on the perm full time offer letter if the letter will be used to apply for TN?

I am looking forward to your reply.
Thank you.
 
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