TN for Research

Y

yfarhanah

New Member
Hello everyone,

I am a Canadian citizen with a foreign medical degree and bachelors in science. I am currently living in US on H4. I have been offered a "Research Director" job from a hospital. Since the words, "Research Director" do not appear in the NAFTA occupation list, is it necessary that my TN letter state "Research Assistant" as the job title? My supervisor has already signed the letter and I am not sure if I should go back and have him change the job title. I noticed that Physicians can do research and teaching on TN status - I could perhaps fit into this category as well but do I need the exact words or Research Director as the job title would be okay too?

Would you recommend that I travel to Canada and back to get TN status or head to JFK for TN status? Does it really matter?

Has anyone had trouble with degree equivalence?

Many thanks and best regards.
 
yfarhanah said:
Hello everyone,

I am a Canadian citizen with a foreign medical degree and bachelors in science. I am currently living in US on H4. I have been offered a "Research Director" job from a hospital. Since the words, "Research Director" do not appear in the NAFTA occupation list, is it necessary that my TN letter state "Research Assistant" as the job title? My supervisor has already signed the letter and I am not sure if I should go back and have him change the job title. I noticed that Physicians can do research and teaching on TN status - I could perhaps fit into this category as well but do I need the exact words or Research Director as the job title would be okay too?

Would you recommend that I travel to Canada and back to get TN status or head to JFK for TN status? Does it really matter?

Has anyone had trouble with degree equivalence?

Many thanks and best regards.
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You cannot just head to JFK to get a TN. In order to obtain a TN from a Port of Entry you have to be an applicant for admission. You would have to be getting off a flight from a foreign country in order to apply for a TN at the JFK Port of Entry.

That being said, the job title "Research Director" will most likely get your application more closely scrutinized. The deciding factor will be in how the job is described in the letter and the job description that is provided to the CBP Officer. You can not be a manager supervising other employees under the TN classification. The title "Director" may lead the Officer to believe that you are a manager so you will have to clearly document and explain what your duties will be.

FB
 
You will need to have your foreign degree evaluated, and translated if it is not in English, unless the link between your degree and TN category is crystal clear.
 
Thank you Firebug4 and nelsona for your feedback. What is the procedure for getting the foreign degrees evaluated?
 
Thanks nelsona. I submitted an application for degree evaluation to ECE (Educational Credential Evaluators) but the process seemed lengthy and so I took a letter from a senior member of the Department stating that they have reviewed my degrees and believe that is it equivalent to an MD in US. -- Bad idea! I was denied TN status and told that they cannot grant TN status without a formal degree evaluation. I wonder if this incident would stored in my records/profile or have any impact whatsoever?

I am now waiting to obtain official evaluation before heading back to the border. Is there any way to expedite the evaluation process - I paid for 24Hr rush service but since the agency needs to contact educational institutions back home, I am not sure how long this may end up taking.

I'll really appreciate your feedback.
 
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nelsona said:
Find a degree eval company. Like WES or University of Toronto, to name 2.
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will Credential Evaluation Service by CGFNS be acceptable to the officers at the border? I have it since 2008 and was wondering if I can use that as proof of evaluation if they ask for it?
 
I don't see why not. It's not a case of them 'asking' for an eval. Evaluation of non-North american degrees is a requirement. You have an eval, use it.
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nelsona said:
I don't see why not. It's not a case of them 'asking' for an eval. Evaluation of non-North american degrees is a requirement. You have an eval, use it.
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Thank you. I wanted to make sure coz all I have seen people mentioning so far are U OF T and WES evaluation. Thanks. *relieved*
 
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