TNVisaApplicant2020
New Member
Hello!
Hope everyone is surviving the coronavirus! I wanted to get some advice on my visa situation:
I'm a Canadian citizen who works in the US (New York City). I started work in March 2019 on a TN visa that was approved in Calgary. It was approved for 2 years. I came back to Canada in mid-September to visit family. When I was heading back, my TN visa was rejected at the border, citing a mismatch between my job title and the NAFTA designation (which is weird because the job title does not need to exactly match the NAFTA designation title, it is the responsibilities that matter). This caught me by surprise, even though CBP always has the option to reject an application and has been cracking down on TNs since 2016.
The company's lawyers suggested that I re-apply at a different port-of-entry (Montreal) with the same TN application, but that was denied as well, citing the same issue. Subsequently, we tried applying on a J-1 student intern visa, which was actually approved by the State Department. However, at the border, the CBP officer thought that I was trying to "game" the system by switching visa types, and asked me to go directly though USCIS.
Fast forward 3 months - I received notice that my I-129 was approved (after receiving and responding to an RFE). Once I receive the paperwork from USCIS, I will be crossing the border once again and applying for TN visa status.
My question is as follows: given that I have 3 rejections by CBP (1 initial TN withdrawal, 1 TN denial in Montreal and 1 J-1 denial), what kind of questions should I expect?
Thank you in advance
Hope everyone is surviving the coronavirus! I wanted to get some advice on my visa situation:
I'm a Canadian citizen who works in the US (New York City). I started work in March 2019 on a TN visa that was approved in Calgary. It was approved for 2 years. I came back to Canada in mid-September to visit family. When I was heading back, my TN visa was rejected at the border, citing a mismatch between my job title and the NAFTA designation (which is weird because the job title does not need to exactly match the NAFTA designation title, it is the responsibilities that matter). This caught me by surprise, even though CBP always has the option to reject an application and has been cracking down on TNs since 2016.
The company's lawyers suggested that I re-apply at a different port-of-entry (Montreal) with the same TN application, but that was denied as well, citing the same issue. Subsequently, we tried applying on a J-1 student intern visa, which was actually approved by the State Department. However, at the border, the CBP officer thought that I was trying to "game" the system by switching visa types, and asked me to go directly though USCIS.
Fast forward 3 months - I received notice that my I-129 was approved (after receiving and responding to an RFE). Once I receive the paperwork from USCIS, I will be crossing the border once again and applying for TN visa status.
My question is as follows: given that I have 3 rejections by CBP (1 initial TN withdrawal, 1 TN denial in Montreal and 1 J-1 denial), what kind of questions should I expect?
Thank you in advance