TN Help (Engineer)

J

jdangles400

New Member
I'm Canadian with no current ties to the US. I've been offered a job as a "Civil Engineer" for an office in Michigan...I have a civil engineering bachelor and masters degree, and I am licensed in both Ontario and Michigan. I have an employment letter from my potential employer as well as all of my original degrees/licenses.

The office I would be working at is in Michigan, but I will be getting payed through their Canadian offices. So the letterhead on the employment letter references their Canadian operations. I would need to work 2-3 days per week in the US, and then WFH (in Canada) other days. Is there any flags I should be aware of?

I feel like I've crossed all my T's, but still feel a bit nervous.
 
Does your "employment letter" meet the requirements of a TN letter, listing the TN category you are applying under, as well as a job duty description that matches that category? Does it have the duration of employemnt as no more than 3 years?

In essence, your Cdn employer is sending you to work for their US "client".

The fact that you are being employed by the Cdn office might make getting a TN unnecessary, and the CBP officer may tell you that. Depending on the type of work you would be performing in US, some in your situation simply enter US on B1, working occasionally in US for your Cdn employer, but you should be "allowed" to get a TN, and that would cover all type of work, and the TN would avoid having to justify your future entries into US, so it would not be wrong for you to insist on CBP issuing you a TN, even though you are not being hired by the US firm.
 
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Hi nelsona, yes the TN letter has those requirements. I live in a border city. I would be employed by their US office, but live in Canada and get payed through their Canadian payroll system. Maybe a bit of a non-traditional setup.

But I will definitely insist on a TN because I would hate to justify going into the US 2-3 times per week. I would be physically working on job sites (construction docuementation, etc.)
 
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