Curious about any TN options I have - Software Dev/Engineer - Degree in Finance

AlexDTO

New Member
Hi All,

I'm a Canadian citizen that recently made the switch from a career in finance (B.Comm 4 year Undergrad) to software engineering at one of the large tech companies where I have been employed in Canada full time for 6 months. My job title is Software Development Engineer, and I'm self taught and did not take any official classes related to computer science or engineering.

I have recently been wondering what it would take for me to get work status within the US for a different (or the same) company. I did some preliminary research on the TN visa and it seems that even those with computer science degrees have a tough time getting the visa.

Is there any chance or pathway for those with a 4 year degree in a different field? Does the work experience with a "engineer" title help my chances at all? If I am ineligible for the TN visa, am I completely out of luck?

Thanks for the help! This forum seems like a wealth of information.
 
Last edited:
The work experience does not count toward TN qualification. Your degree determined your eligible field. H1-B allows for cross-discipline hiring, but not TN. There is a difference between "hirability" which you appear to have, and TN eligibility.

Of course if you were transferred to a sister firm in US, on an L1 status, you could work in any capacity with that firm.
 
The work experience does not count toward TN qualification. Your degree determined your eligible field. H1-B allows for cross-discipline hiring, but not TN. There is a difference between "hirability" which you appear to have, and TN eligibility.

Of course if you were transferred to a sister firm in US, on an L1 status, you could work in any capacity with that firm.
Thank you for the reply Nelsona! So it would seem that my options would be H1-B for external hiring and L1 for internal transfers? I guess that makes it a bit more difficult for me but at least I have options. I'll look into the L1 status!
 
I am Mathematics graduate and got multiple TN. While getting 1st TN officer asked me couple of technical questions to get some idea about my experience, I abled to answer as had 10+ year experience.
 
Experience doers not count at the border for Math, and "a couple of questions" would not be sufficient evidence if it was needed.
 
Top