TN Visa denied - 'Arrangements for pay' question

A

adeels

New Member
Hello,

I am a Canadian citizen that is relocating to the U.S. for a temporary assignment. I work in the oil & gas sector and am going to work for an affiliated company in the States.

The agreement is that I will continue to be paid in $CAD by my existing company while in the States.


At the port of entry recently, my TN Visa application was denied because the border agents were insisting that for a TN Visa, I should be getting paid by the U.S. employer instead (and/or in $USD).

I don't know where on the U.S. Department of State website it specifically says that. All I can see is that the letter of employment should include 'arrangements for your pay', which it technically does. The way it works is the back-end for my situation is that the my company ends up billing the U.S. company separately (I think), so I continue to get paid in $CAD.


Regardless, my TN Visa application was denied and I am going to let my company's HR/immigration services deal with this.

I wanted to ask if anyone has had a similar experience as a Canadian with a TN Visa that is still getting paid by the Canadian company.

Did my company's HR / immigration services screw up here or did I just run into inexperienced customs officers?


Any info would be helpful. Thanks
(Sorry for posting this again, forgot to complete the title last time)
 
adeels said:
Hello,

I am a Canadian citizen that is relocating to the U.S. for a temporary assignment. I work in the oil & gas sector and am going to work for an affiliated company in the States.

The agreement is that I will continue to be paid in $CAD by my existing company while in the States.


At the port of entry recently, my TN Visa application was denied because the border agents were insisting that for a TN Visa, I should be getting paid by the U.S. employer instead (and/or in $USD).

I don't know where on the U.S. Department of State website it specifically says that. All I can see is that the letter of employment should include 'arrangements for your pay', which it technically does. The way it works is the back-end for my situation is that the my company ends up billing the U.S. company separately (I think), so I continue to get paid in $CAD.


Regardless, my TN Visa application was denied and I am going to let my company's HR/immigration services deal with this.

I wanted to ask if anyone has had a similar experience as a Canadian with a TN Visa that is still getting paid by the Canadian company.

Did my company's HR / immigration services screw up here or did I just run into inexperienced customs officers?


Any info would be helpful. Thanks
(Sorry for posting this again, forgot to complete the title last time)
Click to expand...


The intent of TN status is to go work in US and get paid in US only.

I think in your case, it should be L1 visa(double check), where employee from the company is transfered to US (same company) for work and he gets paid from the parent company (CAD in ur case)
 
SS0033 said:
The intent of TN status is to go work in US and get paid in US only.

I think in your case, it should be L1 visa(double check), where employee from the company is transfered to US (same company) for work and he gets paid from the parent company (CAD in ur case)
Click to expand...

That is probably the case I think... Is there any documentation that explicitly states this? That the TN visa requires the U.S. company to be the one paying the employee?

Because in my case, the U.S. company is affiliated (I think they have a small stake) but are not the parent company. Although I will remain an employee of my parent Canadian company through all this, so it is similar to a transfer.
 
do you plan to stay in US for greater than the validity period of a B-class status? Seems like the B is a more appropriate path for you esp. since you wont be paid by a US source
 
The plan is to be there for 3 years and then return to Canada and continue working for the same company.
 
The problem is that only US companies can apply for TN (either as an employer or as a client). Your Cdn firm as no standing in this. This would be considered a B1 entry (if the work and relationship qualifies).
 
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