Denied TN application: "temp agency not allowed"

B

BrianG

Registered Users (C)
All -

I can definitely use any and all advice you may have. My fiancee (also a Canadian) flew through Vancouver today to apply for a new TN visa. She is applying to work in a biology-related role at a pharmaceutical company, though it's contract work (she's being placed and paid by a staffing agency). She was denied.

The explanation given was that:

a) They don't permit people to work via "temp agencies" - they said they would have approved it if the letter of support came from the pharmaceutical company itself
b) The letter didn't properly state the TN job category (biologist); but the agent stressed that this wasn't the primary concern

Point (b) can certainly be easily changed on the letter, but point (a) was one I couldn't find support for anywhere online. She's done contract work through a third party agency in the past as well, and hasn't been denied a TN previously.

She says she was never offered the opportunity to withdraw her application or anything; she was simply made to give a sworn statement affirming various statements made in her letter, and then was given forms I-831 and I-877 ("Record of Sworn Statement in Administrative Proceedings") and turned away. We have no idea how big of a mark this is on her record.

Certainly a consultation with a lawyer seems prudent now, but has anyone else run into or heard of anything like this before?

Thanks...

-Brian
 
Brian, but trying to bust your chops but.....

Again, another reason to do renewals, extensions or new TN's by mail or online......once you're here it's much easier to handle things if something goes wrong. Assuming she was here and then went back to get the new TN.
 
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Hi simsd,

Wasn't really an option - she was expected to start work pronto. I doubt she would have gotten the offer if she told them they'd have to wait weeks for the application to go through (at least, last I heard it takes at least a few weeks).

-Brian
 
Hmm... this is sounding like any TN application at the border is dicey... ALL my TN's since 1997 have been all for "Temp Agencies" that contracted me out to an employer. My current TN expires in early August I think I'd better get my "Temp Agency" to fill by mail by the end of April....
I hate US election years all sorts of weird stuff starts happening.
 
I see your dilemma. Food for thought in the future, is that she could pay an additional premium processing fee of $ 1,000 to in addition to the $300 I-129 and they will process it by mail in 10 working days - again this is assuming she is already here.

Any how, on to your problem. The issue is how to get her here and then try and make all of this happen. One of the issues is that she had TN's in the past through agencies. These may have been given to her based on the assumption that the temp agency was was actually employing her as a biologist. If no assumption was made in that respect, and it was all above board, then she may have a leg to stand on to get a TN. The thing is, how long will the company wait. By the time the dust settles, and everything clears, the opportunity may be gone.

Perhaps the way the letter was phrased created a problem. Suppose the letter was crafted as follows in terms of the job description:

"You will act in the capacity as a biologist to provide information to pharmaceutical companies pertaining to blah, blah blah". You see the issue is a little bit tricky in the sense that normally you would work for the company that directly pays you and do the work directly for that same company.

I had a similar situation, but not exactly the same. I was a Scientific Technician for the company I worked for. Now normally the scientific technician works either under or in direct support of an engineer. In our case, there was no engineer on staff, but the majority of our work was to receive plans and specifications from an engineer, do the design work, and then send it all back to the engineer. The engineer had the overall vision, but we laid out the nuts and bolts of how the final product would look. We received an RFE once for this and crafted a letter that was acceptable.
 
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Thanks simsd. Yes, I suspect that we may need to modify the wording to resemble your suggestion, i.e. emphasize that she'll be working for the staffing agency, but will be doing her duties on site at a client's lab.

Unfortunately, I don't even think 10 working days (2 weeks) would have been an option - they really wanted her to start on Monday.

-Brian
 
Just spoke with my fiancee, and the issue wasn't even so much that it was a temp agency; the agent seemed to object that there was any kind of in-between whatsoever; he wanted her to work directly for the pharmaceutical company.
 
Yah,

That's what my suspicion was also. How was the officer with her? Helpful? A pain? Did he/she provide any suggestions? Occasionally and I mean occasionally one of them will provide a suggestion.

How did she get her TN before?
 
Webtiger,

I believe that's the problem that BrianG is saying. But didn't you say you were able to work through and agency? If so, maybe you can shed some light on the subject for BrianG. Perhaps the letter needs to be crafted differently.
 
simsd said:
How was the officer with her? Helpful? A pain? Did he/she provide any suggestions? Occasionally and I mean occasionally one of them will provide a suggestion.
Click to expand...
No real suggestions, besides saying that they didn't care as much about the missing TN-friendly "biologist" job title, and that they would have given her a pass if she had been working directly for the pharmaceutical company. They weren't especially rude or friendly.

simsd said:
How did she get her TN before?
Click to expand...
Same way - just applied at the border. Never before through Vancouver airport, though...
 
Simsd and BrianG;
The opening paragraph of all my TN offer letters were this:

We are offering <Your name here> a 12 month, temporary position as a Scientific Technician/ Software Engineering Technician with <contract company name> <City, State> office. His starting salary will be paid at a rate of <hourly/monthly>, on a <weekly/bi-weekly/monthly> basis.

This seems to be the format they look for in the opening paragraph on the WA/BC border the past 3 years. The 2nd paragraph states position description with specific duties tied to software testing and reporting up to the "supervising software engineer"..
I have always taken a copy of the degree of my immediate supervisor/boss. Sometimes it gets taken and copied other times handed back to me without so much as a glance.

HTH
 
Webtiger,


Yours is similar to mine except we didn't have an engineer on staff. My concern is whether or not the company that BrianG's fiancee is working for is a staffing agency with no in the Biology or Lab experience or supervision for her. They may just be the intermediary which may be the problem.
 
I understand your concern my current contract is through a Temp Agency. When I went through the Truck Crossing last August the offer letter stated the work would actually be performed at a different company and location. Neither the 1st CBP agent nor his supervisor made any comment about that.
Guess I might have been lucky that time.
 
More Denial News

Check these recent articles from the CBC:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/04/04/winnipeg-woman.html#storycomments

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/03/31/bc-borderblocked.html

One could assume that some new order had been made to the CBP to stop the flow of TN's at the POE, due to the sudden influx of denials. The one guy was denied even though he had a valid TN, albeit he had extenuating circumstances with his 30 year old possession charge.

It appears as though the CSA and Scientific Tech applications are going to received even more scrutiny than usual. Not good!!!

Alta Al
 
Alta Al said:
Check these recent articles from the CBC:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/04/04/winnipeg-woman.html#storycomments

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/03/31/bc-borderblocked.html

One could assume that some new order had been made to the CBP to stop the flow of TN's at the POE, due to the sudden influx of denials. The one guy was denied even though he had a valid TN, albeit he had extenuating circumstances with his 30 year old possession charge.

It appears as though the CSA and Scientific Tech applications are going to received even more scrutiny than usual. Not good!!!

Alta Al
Click to expand...


Gee, these are very scary stories! I wonder though, if this guy from BC ever thought of acquiring the PR status in the US - before calling US as his "home".
 
That stuff scares me to death. I was in that category (Sci-Tech) for a long time, but got an H1 last year. That doesn't mean it still can't happen to me, but I feel a little more comfortable.

This article wasn't even about renewing the visa - it was just about traveling back and forth.

Taking what jobs from Americans? These guys that are adjudicating at the border don't even know what these jobs are to begin with!!!!!! Besides - when did CBP officers become the DOL for PERM?
 
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Yes, she still wants to come (since I currently work in the US and so did she, up until now) - and as far as I know, the opportunity hasn't sailed yet.

Thanks for the wording webtiger - I'm concerned, however, because I believe her TN letter said something to that effect already. (We plan to get another copy today so we can verify - the border agent retained the original.)

The temp agency does specialize in scientific placements (and her recruiter has a scientific degree), but no, they wouldn't be supervising her on-site.
 
So I re-read the original post I'm concerned about the I-831 and I-877 ("Record of Sworn Statement in Administrative Proceedings") records.
I take it your g/f filled these out and signed them before CBP escorted her back into Canada?
If so, I believe her denial is recorded for every crossing, land/sea/air, to view. At this point I would get a REALLY good US Immigration lawyer to guide you. She may find it impossible to cross even for a visit if she has a denial against her in the "system".
My .02 worth
 
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