US Employer for TN visa?

P

pepelu

Registered Users (C)
Hello,

Background:
I’m a Mexican IT consultant working for a multinational company named AA. The Mexican branch (AA-MX) is hiring me and paying me in Mexico since many years ago. This company has a branch in the US (AA-US).

Scenario:
Company AA has a US customer and plans to send me to US to live and support the customer’s needs.

The US branch (AA-US) is sponsoring me in order to obtain my TN-2 visa, but AA-US will not hire me nor pay me and the sponsorship letter he is preparing specifically says that, I will remain paid and hired by the Mexican branch (AA-MX).

Confusion:
Is it possible to obtain TN-2 visa with this scenario?

I’m assuming TN-2 visa is only for professionals hired and paid by US employers.

I'll appreciate all your responses.
 
Temporary entry on TN by employees of Mexican or Cdn firms is common, with the foreign employer sponsoring the TN.

USCIS may require that the US customer sponsor your TN however, regardless of who pays you, especially if you are going to live in US.

I would be simply getting a TN letter from the customer, to avoid any rejection.
 
Thank you very much for your quick response.

Plans are for me to live in the US for more than one year maybe two, but my employer refuse to ask his US customer for the sponsorship, that is why the US branch is preparing the documents.

Two more things:

. Would I be in a better position if the US branch of my employer file a labor condition application (LCA) approved by the Department of Labor (DOL) and file an I-129 "Petition For Non-Immigrant Workers" with the INS before to fill DS-160 format and schedule an interview?

. If the US Embassy in Mexico denies me the TN, I also lose my B1?

Regards
 
As far as right now, TN's are not being issued for more than a 1 year period for mexicans via the consular processing way, so getting to maintain TN status for you for a 2 year period will need you to renew next year.

About your questions:

- You don't need an LCA approved (it takes to long anyways) to apply for a TN, LCA is for people going to the US on H1 visas. Your employer may still fill I-129 and it's supplementary form for Trade agreement related visas, the only disadvantages on this is the time a regular mail in takes compared to a regular visa application in the consulate (once you have your letter and support documents) and the cost of Premium processing, this means you can either have your company file I-129 and get the status approved before you go to the Consulate or you can just make an appointment following the same proccess you followed when getting your B1/B2.

If your employer still wants to file an I-129 for you to get your visa stamp at a US consulate, then yes, you will need to file I-129 before your interview as they will need to specify which US consulate will be dealing with your stamp processing if approved. Remember you can't start working in the US until your status is approved.

- If they reject you from a TN visa, it does not change anything to your current B1/B2 visa.

I hope this helps.
 
- If they reject you from a TN visa, it does not change anything to your current B1/B2 visa.
Click to expand...
Be careful. There is a mexican on this board who had a dely in his TN visa processing, and his B1/B2 was cancelled in the meantime.

If the I-129 is denied -- this will not affect visa, since you will not have applied for visa. However, once you apply for a consular visa, I believe all other current visas become viod.
 
Wow! than I'm a little lost too on this one as my friend didn't have any problems later on when he was rejected and his B1/B2 didn't got affected. He applied again a couple moths later and got approved at the same consulate but it might also have something to do with the fact his previous TN was denied due to a poorly written letter.

I'm working on making some more research then.

Thanks for the feedback Nelsona.
 
Like I said, I believe that this is normal procedure, howevr, as a Canadian, I'm not 100% up on visa processes and strategies.
 
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