Crossing border for TN visa and returning back

[fuzzylogic61]

I'm planning to cross the border on August 30, 2019. My employment start date is September 9, 2019. I've the following questions:

- How early I can cross the border to obtain TN status?
- Can I just cross the border to obtain TN status and return back?

 

[Amberleaf]

Please read through the prior posts. You will see that there are no hard rules for this.
Generally up to one week in advance is fine.
Generally, yes, you can obtain TN status and immediate.y return to Canada.
Four years ago, I wend to Queenston/Lewiston bridge POE (in Niagara Falls area) and obtained TN for myself (and TD for family) and returned to Canada same day. We flew to California to start my new job four days later. No issues.

You may also modify your TN support letter to not have a specific start date and say you will start employment after obtaining TN status.

After you obtain your TN status, please post your experience here on this forum to be helpful to future readers, to keep this forum up to date.

 

[1AurCitizen]

You may also modify your TN support letter to not have a specific start date and say you will start employment after obtaining TN status.

If the start date, Sept 9th, is specific as OP stated, then your suggestion modifying the support letter to disguise the date may be viewed as falsification. False pretenses to obtain a visa is considered unethical.

 

[dannyblaze]

If the start date, Sept 9th, is specific as OP stated, then your suggestion modifying the support letter to disguise the date may be viewed as falsification. False pretenses to obtain a visa is considered unethical.

I find this bizarre. Start dates are generally tentative and can move - I was given a start date on my employment offer recently but clearly could not meet it because the law firm the employer used took an eternity to prepare my TN package. So it was moved out by two weeks.

Your TN starts on the day CBP stamps your passport, so I don't get the obsession with start dates. My letter stated I'll work for a period of up to 3 years. I even told the CBP officer I wanted to give 2 weeks notice to my old employer and he said OK. This shouldn't be an issue.

 

[1AurCitizen]

I find this bizarre. Start dates are generally tentative and can move - I was given a start date on my employment offer recently but clearly could not meet it because the law firm the employer used took an eternity to prepare my TN package. So it was moved out by two weeks.

Your TN starts on the day CBP stamps your passport, so I don't get the obsession with start dates. My letter stated I'll work for a period of up to 3 years. I even told the CBP officer I wanted to give 2 weeks notice to my old employer and he said OK. This shouldn't be an issue.

My point was.. if there is a stated start date, as OP claims to have a specific date, then an already prepared letter shouldn't be modified to state anything different merely to obtain a visa. What is bizarre about that?

 

[dannyblaze]

My point was.. if there is a stated start date, as OP claims to have a specific date, then an already prepared letter shouldn't be modified to state anything different merely to obtain a visa. What is bizarre about that?

I think it was clear Amberleaf was suggesting whoever prepared the TN support letter can revise it accordingly, not for the OP to make edits to a signed document.

 

[Amberleaf]

I was not suggesting the original poster commit Fraud or Unethical behavior. The desired start date is one week and one day before the desired start date. I don't see any issues. If you search earlier posts sometime people are told they are too early and to come back to the POE closer to their start date. (usually this is two weeks or more, when they ask you to come back). If that happens, no big deal, you just have to make a second trip to the POE closer to your start date.

I agree start dates are tentative on a number of factors, background check, reference checks, drug tests, immigration authorization, etc. Any of these can delay a start date.

I was trying to say, in general, if you want to avoid the "your are too early" situation at the POE, have the TN support letter say you will start after TN status approval.

 

[nelsona]

As I have always suggested, the TN letter should avoid specific start date, merely request a certain duration (since the date will be ignored by CBP and simply be dated 3 yrs less a day from the day you petition. Amber's suggestion of starting "after TN approval" is excellent.