TN's good for 3 yrs. is this for real?

W

webtiger

Registered Users (C)
While surfing around for info on Bush's latest attempt at border control and immigration reform I stumbled upon this:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0807/5323.html

Specifically:
—The Department of Homeland Security will extend, from one year to three, the length of the NAFTA-created TN visa for professional workers from Canada and Mexico, removing the administrative hassle of annual renewals for these talented workers.

Doesn't this change require an amendment to NAFTA?
 
I know,

I just read the same thing. After all those years that I waited and paid for an H1!
 
The only question is, does the "package" have to go through Congress for approval? Politically, that could be tricky, as in this election year any proposals deemed as politically motivated could encounter resistance from the other side.
 
ahasnain said:
The only question is, does the "package" have to go through Congress for approval? Politically, that could be tricky, as in this election year any proposals deemed as politically motivated could encounter resistance from the other side.
Click to expand...

Nope, this will be effective in 30 days. This new law is in response for the failed comprehensive immigration reform.
 
I have a currently pending extension at VSC right now, if it meant I had to wait an extra 30 days before they process it I'd be happy to wait that out should it mean a 3 yr term rather than 1, but I'd guess this would only take effect for petitions received after 30 days..?
 
Not sure about that. My guess (and I am not a lawyer, this is just an opinion) would be you are correct, it would only take effect for petitions/extensions received after 30 days.

I do have another concern, which I invite anyone to offer their opinion on. TN is supposed to be a "temporary stay" status. In the past, renewals year after year were not a huge deal, compared to extensions of other visa types like H1B or L1b. Now, with the 3 year duration, would not renewals of TN status become more difficult, and subject to more scrutiny?? I mean, one renewal would mean a total of a 6 year term, 2 renewals a 9-year term. I would think that TN status renewals will become more "tricky". Any thoughts anyone????
 
That sounds pretty likely.

"The United States must compete for
foreign professional workers, and those who elect to lend their talents to the U.S. economy should be welcomed with open
arms, not given a bureaucratic runaround. Yet the roughly 65,000 workers who enter the United States each year on the
TN visa must go to the trouble of renewing their visa every year. This regulation will extend the TN visa duration to three
years – the same term as other popular professional visas."
 
As much as it is good news for a lot of us, there is a political message behind this. They are replying to Microsoft announcement that they will ship 1000 high end research and development jobs to Vancouver, BC.
 
Nerfy said:
does this mean that we can really do a TN->GC much like the H1B->GC process???
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It certainly makes things simpler because there's less of an issue timing the TN renewal around the I-485 filing. However, the TN does not have the same dual intent protections as the H or L, so I would not assume things will be the same.
 
This is all great and wonderful but has anyone found when this change takes affect? The news doesn't seem to have caught this snippet and most other, more publicly important immigration reform issues have a timeframe associated with it.
 
It will happen wwhen it happens.

I would not be altering plans in anticipation of it. keep renewing your TN ina timely fashion.

As was noted, you still can't keep TN while going for GC, it's not becoming the 'Canadaian H1-B' just yet.
 
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