Hi,
I am struggling with my TN Visa application letter and would greatly appreciate some advice here please!
I had my bachelor’s degree in biology in Quebec and I am a Canadian citizen. I have been working for 3 years for a Contract Research Organization in a pre-clinical laboratory in Montreal (conducting drugs experiment on animals for developing pharmaceuticals treatment against human diseases). In those three years, I was a histology technician for 1.5 years, which basically is preparing and treating different animals tissue samples with chemicals and specific dyes so that the pathologist evaluate the tissue's structure under his microscope). I am not ASCP board certified (American Society for Clinical Pathology) for histotechnician (HT) or histotechnologist (HTL).
I now have a job offer in North Carolina as a histology technician in a Contract Research Organization (another pre-clinical laboratory providing research and testing services on rodents).
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My question is, am I eligible for the TN Visa under the scientific technician category?
I know that there are 5 elements to be considered in that category application;
(1) the applicant must work in direct support of a professional in a specific field such as agricultural sciences, astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering, forestry, geology, geophysics, meteorology, or physics;
(2) the applicant’s work must be interrelated with the supervising professional;
(3) the applicant must possess theoretical knowledge in a specific field such as [see disciplines listed at (1)], which should have been obtained through at least two years of training;
(4) the applicant’s job must be consistent with a scientific technician as described in the Occupational Outlook Handbook; and
(5) the applicant’s job must not be in the construction trades.
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(1) The person who will manage, coordinate and review my work is the laboratory manager who is ASCP certified as Histotechnologist and doesn't have a bachelor (In this case, I think she still could be considered being a professional in a biology discipline). Should it be the laboratory manager who writes the TN Visa application? Right now it has been written by the Business Management Vice President of the company.
(2) This means that my work must be managed, coordinated, and reviewed by the professional supervisor [see the answer (1)], and my work must provide input to that professional supervisor’s work. The "input to that professional" could it be by helping the laboratory manager to perform histopathological techniques on animals tissues in order to lessen the scientific studies workload of the company? Because that's the reason why my services are required for 3 years by the company.
(3) I should be fine with my Bachelor's degree in Biology and 3 years of work experience in toxicology/histology department in a previous Contract Research Organization.
(4) The job description is close to the definition of a biological technician referred to the OOH.
I am struggling with my TN Visa application letter and would greatly appreciate some advice here please!
I had my bachelor’s degree in biology in Quebec and I am a Canadian citizen. I have been working for 3 years for a Contract Research Organization in a pre-clinical laboratory in Montreal (conducting drugs experiment on animals for developing pharmaceuticals treatment against human diseases). In those three years, I was a histology technician for 1.5 years, which basically is preparing and treating different animals tissue samples with chemicals and specific dyes so that the pathologist evaluate the tissue's structure under his microscope). I am not ASCP board certified (American Society for Clinical Pathology) for histotechnician (HT) or histotechnologist (HTL).
I now have a job offer in North Carolina as a histology technician in a Contract Research Organization (another pre-clinical laboratory providing research and testing services on rodents).
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
My question is, am I eligible for the TN Visa under the scientific technician category?
I know that there are 5 elements to be considered in that category application;
(1) the applicant must work in direct support of a professional in a specific field such as agricultural sciences, astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering, forestry, geology, geophysics, meteorology, or physics;
(2) the applicant’s work must be interrelated with the supervising professional;
(3) the applicant must possess theoretical knowledge in a specific field such as [see disciplines listed at (1)], which should have been obtained through at least two years of training;
(4) the applicant’s job must be consistent with a scientific technician as described in the Occupational Outlook Handbook; and
(5) the applicant’s job must not be in the construction trades.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
(1) The person who will manage, coordinate and review my work is the laboratory manager who is ASCP certified as Histotechnologist and doesn't have a bachelor (In this case, I think she still could be considered being a professional in a biology discipline). Should it be the laboratory manager who writes the TN Visa application? Right now it has been written by the Business Management Vice President of the company.
(2) This means that my work must be managed, coordinated, and reviewed by the professional supervisor [see the answer (1)], and my work must provide input to that professional supervisor’s work. The "input to that professional" could it be by helping the laboratory manager to perform histopathological techniques on animals tissues in order to lessen the scientific studies workload of the company? Because that's the reason why my services are required for 3 years by the company.
(3) I should be fine with my Bachelor's degree in Biology and 3 years of work experience in toxicology/histology department in a previous Contract Research Organization.
(4) The job description is close to the definition of a biological technician referred to the OOH.
- Set up, maintain, and clean laboratory instruments and equipment, such as microscopes, scales, automated stainer, tissue processors, microtome, paraffin embedding machine, and incubators.
- Prepare and treat animal tissues samples with chemicals and dyes to make possible for the pathologist to examine the tissue structures under the microscope.
- Receive and store animals tissues samples, complete tracking documentation, and prepare pathology materials and data for shipment and archiving of studies.
