New TN Small Company???

nellytech

nellytech

Member
Hi everyone,

I recently received a job offer from a startup firm. The salary is noticeably better than my current TN job but I am worried about taking this offer.
My previous TN was a much larger scale firm and was fairly straightforward and easy to obtain TN.
All the data was readily available on Google, and it was a much bigger company.

I want to accept this new offer but the job is for a small startup firm, and I am worried CBP will deny the petition.
Has anyone had any experience applying for a TN with a much smaller company? Do they give a harder time regarding documentation?

I hired a personal lawyer and they advised that a tax return might help, but the firm hasn't filed one yet since the firm was established fairly recently.
All I showed last time was the offer letter, application letter, my degree, and transcripts, followed by some basic questions, and it was approved.

I am scared they will deny this role altogether and my personal lawyer is advising me to avoid this TN petition altogether.
Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you.
 
The size of the company would not determine whether a TN application is successful or not. You can have more than one TN active too. If you meet the criteria and have all the required documentation for your application, just as you did for your current TN, there's no reason for this application to be denied. Just ensure you tell the CBP officer you do not want to cancel the existing TN, (you want them concurrent).
 
Based on the TN classification I am going for, along with the previous TN petition I had, I meet the criteria with a direct match. Degree matches category, along with job title. Maybe that's why I got approved so easily last time, especially considering it was my first job out of college and had no prior work experience. Asides from that, that is good to know. I can essentially try getting this TN and if it doesn't work out then I can still keep my old TN this way. Thank you for clarifying this.

Regarding this new petition, it's the same job title, degree match, etc. Just a noticeably smaller company. It's good to hear the size of the company shouldn't matter but I have no clue why my lawyer is so insistent on saying this case will most likely fail. I thought TNs weren't like H1Bs in the sense that a company does not have to provide revenue/loss statements, tax returns, etc. on TN petitions. My lawyer keeps insisting without these documents showing the company's financial strength, the petition is weak and will most likely be denied. The only document I was thinking of showing beyond the typical TN applicant letter and offer letter would be the company's article of incorporation? I will reach out to the company for that, but otherwise, I have no clue what else could make the petition "strong".
 
I'm not sure why your lawyer thinks you will be denied. It does sound that your lawyer does not know the TN process at all. In fact, most people do not use a lawyer for a TN petition and you will see this if you take a look around this forum. You do not need to provide your company's article of incorporation, just your new employer's TN letter, education credentials and basically whatever other support documentation you had for the first TN application.
 
You are absolutely right. Based on what I read online, it's supposed to be fairly straightforward. Either you qualify, or you don't. It's just that simple. My lawyer specializes in H1B approvals, tons even during the Trump era, but I believe you are right. It looks like he is treating the TN like an H1B, which isn't necessary.

It doesn't help that the company hiring me has never dealt with a TN either, so I thought it might be safer to hire a lawyer and leave things in their hands. Based on the experience so far, I'm not sure it was the right move...
 
Update: I was approved but only for 1 year (even after requesting 3 years). The CBP officer was afraid the job might not actually exist, etc, and was worried. I explained it's obviously a real company, just a small business, and she granted me 1 year on that basis and was told to come back after a year with pay stubs, and more documentation to show its existence. I guess I'll be headed back in a year, but I wonder if I could've avoided this if I filed with USCIS. The company has filed an H1B before and was approved, so I'm a bit confused how the officers based the decision solely on the company size when even H1Bs are being approved for small businesses.

Anyone have any insight into this?
Thanks.
 
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