Quick TN question...

J

jonnythrice

Registered Users (C)
Hey all,

I'm from Montreal and I have an opportunity to work for a company in California. The job is Product Manager/Designer, which fits the description of Industrial Designer on the TN professions list (designing the product, preparing drawings, choosing the components for the product etc).

Now, I have a degree in Industrial Drafting and Design from a vocational school here in Montreal, which is great, because the requirements for Industrial Designer require a post-secondary diploma AND 3 years of experience, which I have.

BUT, I just noticed on some website that it has to be a diploma of a course of 2 years or more...my course was something like 15 months (intensive course, 15 months straight). If you were to add up the total amount of hours (1800 hrs total) it would be the equivalent of 2 years (4 semesters) of regular school. Apparently, the border guards dont care :(

Am I completely screwed because of this technicality? My diploma itself says nothing about the time it took to get the diploma, but the transcripts I have clearly show dates of Sept 1997 - Dec 1998.

Help!
 
I know..but its such a sketchy visa. I basically have to quit my job, , get rid of my apartment, get myself prepared to move etc....go to the border only to possibly be denied...and come back home to nothing :(
 
No, you go to the border FIRST, get the status and then quit your job. Who quits a job before getting the other one?
 
Well, from what I understand is that you have to begin work right away in the US...and I'd have to give my current employer at least 2 weeks notice.

So can I go to the border, get my TN1, turn around, come back to Canada for a few more weeks and THEN go to the US to work?
 
First there is no requirement ever to give notice to your employer. It's the other way 'round.

Second, you can arrange for a "meeting" with your new employer for the day you get your TN, cross the border and then go back, pack, move, notice etc.

If this wasn't the case, then only unemployed people could get TNs.
 
jonnythrice said:
Hey all,

I'm from Montreal and I have an opportunity to work for a company in California. The job is Product Manager/Designer, which fits the description of Industrial Designer on the TN professions list (designing the product, preparing drawings, choosing the components for the product etc).

Now, I have a degree in Industrial Drafting and Design from a vocational school here in Montreal, which is great, because the requirements for Industrial Designer require a post-secondary diploma AND 3 years of experience, which I have.

BUT, I just noticed on some website that it has to be a diploma of a course of 2 years or more...my course was something like 15 months (intensive course, 15 months straight). If you were to add up the total amount of hours (1800 hrs total) it would be the equivalent of 2 years (4 semesters) of regular school. Apparently, the border guards dont care :(

Am I completely screwed because of this technicality? My diploma itself says nothing about the time it took to get the diploma, but the transcripts I have clearly show dates of Sept 1997 - Dec 1998.

Help!
Click to expand...

So I had this same problem with regards to an intensive 14 month courses that had more hours than an equivalent 2 yr University course.
I simply had the schools provide me with their internal documents they used for the Provincial Education dept. that showed the total # of hours in the program.
I still got quizzed on the issue every couple of renewals but I managed to stay in the US on TN's for 11 years.....
 
Oh? Well, thats good to hear! I have transcripts that clearly show "1800 hrs" so hopefully that is enough proof.

Now I have another problem with my diploma....as I stated before, I went to a vocational trade school in the field of Industrial Drafting, which should be acceptable for Industrial Design. However, upon closer inspection of my transcripts, it says in french "diplome professionelle" (or "professional diploma") but in english it states "secondary vocational diploma".

For Industrial Designer, they state they require a POST-secondary diploma or certificate. :( Although, my diploma itself says NOTHING about secondary or post-secondary (it says in english "Diploma of Vocational Studies" Only on my transcripts does it actually say the word "secondary".

Do they only require the diploma when getting the visa? Here is an example I found online

uqat.ca/blogue/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/dep.jpg

A layer recommended I get my diploma evaluated in the US, to get a US equivalency, hopefully it will equate to a US Associate or at least Post-Secondary vocational degree.

What I thought was going to be a simple process has now become more complicated :(
 
I'm telling you. Go to the border. You could have had the TN by now. There is no requirement to have a North American diploma equivalenced, that is one of the stipulations of NAFTA.
 
I understand that...but unfortunately, my diploma is at the secondary level and not the post-secondary level, which is required for my TN1 :(
 
Well, thats the conundrum. My diploma just says "diploma of vocational studies" while my transcripts say "secondary vocational studies". So if they ONLY require my diploma, then its fine. Its the transcripts I'm worried about.
 
Did you graduate from High school? Was graduation a pre-requisite for entrance in this progrma? If it was, that is post-secondary. If it wasn't, then ....

In any event, I think you know where you are going to find this out! (Clue: somewhere directly south of where you are, where there a guy with badge and a pistol sits in a little Kiosk)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hello. For my case, I got my TN at Niagara Fall in late August and didn't start working in the U.S almost 4 weeks' later. I had no issues.
 
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