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To: davidingram at shaw.ca
Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 9:45 AM
Subject: TN Visa application
Dear Sir/Madam
I got your email from a google search, and hope that you can help me avoid a embarrassing situation.
I realize this is a unsolicited request for advice, and will understand if you decide not to reply.
I have recently started employment and as part of my job function I will be doing some traveling to the US, on the particular project I am assigned to I require a TN visa. My employer has numerous projects in the US, and have prepared a TN visa application to present on my next visit to the US.
About 10 years ago I got a impaired driving charge. I understand this carries with it a criminal record.
In your opinion is will this affect the visa application process?
I started the pardon application about 2 months ago, which I do not expect there to be any problems with, however I am told it may take upwards of 6 months to be granted a official pardon.
Since I am a relatively new employee I am reluctant to inform my employer of my record unless absolutely necessary.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely
PXXXXXXXX
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david ingram replies:
An impaired driving charge is enough to keep you out of Canada officially, but if that is it, should be a mere blip at the US border.
In the reverse, you would be paying Canada $200 for a one time entry and giving a lot of details or $400 for a multiple pass to cover many entries.
You would have to ask for the pass at the Canadian border however. An FBI Agent named Carmack was turned back at the Vancouver Airport in August 1992 when he confessed to the Canadian official that he had an 8 year old DUI.
This was in spite of the fact that he possessed an invitation from the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada at the time, a ticket paid for by the Canadian Government and was to be a guest of some honour at 50 year celebrations of the building of the Alaska Highway at CARMACK in the YUKON Territories. He was a descendant of George Carmack, the man who along with Skookum Jim and Dawson Charlie discovered the Bonanza Claim outside Dawson City on Aug 16, 1896.
96 years later, the Canadian Immigration officer could care less about the discovery of gold in the Klondike. His concern was that this latter-day CARMACK, FBI Agent or not, had owned up to a DUI conviction and he turned him back "without" telling him he could purchase a pass at the airport.
I am telling you this so that if you have a bit of a hard time when trying to get your TN, you will just realize that the Homeland Security person who has got your application may be accepting one for the first time.
It used to be that there were specific NAFTA treaty officers assigned to most US crossings. That changed about 6 years ago and any officer who is approached has to deal with the paperwork. Many have managed to escape the dreaded TN and if you are his or her first one, you could have a bit of a problem.
Whatever you do, tell the truth. If caught in a lie now, no matter how little, you will be banned for a five year time period under an Expedited Removal, better known as an ER process.
Since you are the person at risk, if your TN letter says that your job duties are different than the TN letter provided by your employer, do NOT present it. If you work at any terms other than the letter, "YOU" are the guilty party. Clear it up with HR BEFORE going to the border.
The following are the rules and a list of the people who qualify for a TN:
On December 8, 1993, President Clinton signed the NAFTA Agreement, which took effect on January 1, 1994 under 101(a)(15).
TD - Spouse or Child of NAFTA Professional under 214(e)(2) (TN holder)
TN - NAFTA Professional - (North America Free Trade Agreement) PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS PERSON
A professional is defined as a person with a minimum of a bachelor's degree, who applies for a position, which requires a degree as its minimum entry-level requirement unless otherwise specified.
This is the one we heard about in the news. To meet this classification which is unique to Canadians, you must have a bone fide job offer and all licenses and degrees in place for your profession.
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CHECK LIST for the TN Visa
* An applicant for admission must establish Canadian citizenship
* The applicant must be entering the United States to engage in a profession or occupation at a professional level under NAFTA
* The applicant must be in possession of an offer or contract of employment from a United States employer stating:
1) The professional activity to be engaged in
2) Purpose of entry
3) Remuneration
4) That the position is temporary in nature and will not exceed one year (although it can be renewed)
* The applicant must provide documentation of his or her educational degree or professional qualifications
* The applicant must meet all licensing requirements
* Employment need not be full-time
* Permanent residence abroad is not a prerequisite
* Maximum period of admission of a TN is one year
* TN dependants accompanying the principal TN will be admitted under the "TD" classification for the same amount of time as the principal
* A $56 U.S. fee is required ($85.00 for renewal by mail)
* TN applicants are not permitted to enter as a professional to participate in any way to circumvent a strike
* SELF EMPLOYMENT IS NOT PERMISSIBLE
The following is a partial list of some who qualify under a TN Visa. Please note that extensive experience can equal a degree in many cases. All need a Bachelor or Baccalaureate degree unless otherwise noted. In some cases, 3 or 4 years of practical work in a discipline can count for one year of a University degree. Therefore if the University BA requires 3 years, you need 9 or 12 years of work experience to qualify.
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* Accountants - RIA or SIA or CPA or CGA or CMA or CA
** Actuaries (this is one of two classifications added since 1989)
* Agriculturalists
* Agronomists
* Animal Breeders
* Animal Scientists
* Apiculturist
* Architects - BA or state / provincial license
* Astronomers
* Biochemists
* Biologists
* Botanists
* Chemists
* Computer Systems Analyst - BA or Post-secondary Diploma or Post-secondary certificate and three years of practical experience. This does not get you to the USA, if your job is programming a computer. An Analyst might spend a day a month working on some modifications (in a testing mode for instance), but they better not be thought of as a "programmer" within the company.
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**** Computer Software Engineer *** This is NOT here as an approved occupation. However, Jackie Bednarz (US head of the NAFTA Section 16 Working group in Washington stated specifically that if a recognized University was to offer the degree, she would consider computer software engineers under the ENGINEER classification when a recognized University granted the degree. My understanding is that SFU and McGill are now granting such degrees and that the Professional Engineers of British Columbia have recognized graduates as members of their professional society. Note that TC and TN's were being granted for this category on a sporadic basis until the INS realized that no such "official" degree existed.
Jackie Bednarz also pointed out (She was part of the original negotiating team when the original FTA (Free Trade Agreement) was being negotiated in 1985, 86, 87 and 88, there was no such thing as the INTERNET, "web masters" and "web sites". When negotiating the job titles, no thought was given to the computer revolution, other than the computer system analyst designation, which at the time meant a main frame analyst for a $1,000,000 computer.
(Thanks to Stuart Lynne and Richard Pitt) (www.fireplug.net), the CEN-TA Group was an official member of the internet as far back as 1986 and thanks to Bill Gates himself (he told me to use Microsoft Xenix as my operating system) and Radio Shack Model 16 computers, CEN-TA was using "email" between offices in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver as early as 1983.
As another aside, Stuart Lynne and Richard Pitt went on to found WIMSEY, the FIRST ISP in CANADA. Bill Gates became quite famous as well.
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* Dairy Scientists
* Dentists - DDS, DMD, or state / provincial license
* Dental Technicians
* Dietitian
* Disaster Relief Insurance Claim Specialists - (claims adjuster employed by an insurance company located in the territory of a party or an independent claims adjuster) - BA and successful completion of training in the appropriate areas of insurance adjustment pertaining to disaster relief claims; or, three years experience in claims adjustment and successful completion of training in the appropriate areas of insurance adjustment pertaining to disaster relief claims
* Doctors - (see physician further on)
* Economists
* Engineers - BA or state / provincial licensing
* Entomologists
* Epidemiologists
* Forester - BA or state / provincial licensing
* Geneticists
* Geochemist
* Geologist
* Geophysicists (including Oceanographer in the United States)
* Graphic Designer - BA or post-secondary diploma and three years experience.
* Hotel Managers - BA in hotel / restaurant management; or, post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate in hotel / restaurant management and three years experience in hotel / restaurant management
* Horticulturist
* Industrial Designer - BA or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate and three years experience
* Interior Designer - BA or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate and three years experience
* Journalist BA plus three years experience - (This category is no longer valid and has been left in to explain the circumstances. As I understand it, journalists in general took it as an insult that they had to have a BA degree, because, "most, if not all," of the best known journalists do not have a BA degree.)
* Land Surveyor - BA or state / provincial licenses
* Landscape Architect
* Lawyer (including notary in the Province of Quebec) - LLB, JD, LLL, BCL degree (five years); or membership in a state or provincial bar
* Librarians - MLS or BLS (for which another BA was a prerequisite)
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* Management Consultants - BA; or equivalent professional experience as established by statement or professional credential attesting to five years experience as a management consultant, or five years experience in a field of specialty relating to the consulting agreement. I must make it clear here. A Management Consultant is NOT a manager. The surest way to lose your management consultant renewal is to show up at the border with a business card with the title General Manager, Western Region, or Human Resources Manager, or, or, or. A management consultant could consult with the actual sales manager about sales techniques or about selling into Canada. A management consultant could be advising the actual human resources manager in hiring techniques or even suggesting that one candidate is a better fit than another one. A management consultant can do market research, gather and assemble data and write a report to give to the manager. This is likely the hardest TN visa to get but is also a very important one when it comes to serving the needs of the US company.
Note that the management consultant does NOT need a degree, just five years experience. This is the perfect job description for the person with 23 years of job experience who has never gone through the formal process of getting a university degree in the discipline.
* Mathematician (including statistician)
* Medical Laboratory Technologist (Canada) / Medical Technologist (U.S.) - BA; or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate and three years experience
* Meteorologist
* Nutritionist
* Occupational Therapist - BA; or state / provincial license
* Organic Chemist
* Pharmacologist (Pharmacist) - BA; or state / provincial license
* Physician - (teaching or research only), MD or state /provincial license. To work as MD, a doctor must pass his MLE (medical licensing exam), which has three, parts written over a year. After passing, he or she would enter the U.S. under an H-1A.
* Physicist (including oceanographer in Canada)
* Physiotherapist/Physical Therapist - BA; or state /provincial license
* Plant Breeder
** Plant Pathologists (This is one of two professions added since 1989)
* Poultry Scientist
* Professional (most recognized professions)
* Psychologists - state / provincial license
* Range Conservationist
* Recreational Therapist
* Registered Nurse - state / provincial license
* Research Assistant (working in post-secondary educational institution)
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- * Scientific Technician - Possession of: (a) theoretical knowledge of any of the disciplines: agricultural sciences, astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering, forestry, geology, geophysics, meteorology, or physics; and (b) the ability to solve practical problems in any of those disciplines, or the ability to apply principles of any of those disciplines to basic or applied research.
* Social Worker
* Soil Scientist
* Sylviculturist
* Teacher (College, Seminary, or University) (Post Secondary level only)
* Technical Publication Writer - BA, or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate, and three years experience
* Urban Planner (including geographer)
* Veterinarian
* Vocational Counselor
* Zoologist
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
This list is subject to change at any time.
I would be glad to assist you or your company with its application letters and remember
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Answers to this and other similar questions can be obtained free on Air every Sunday morning.
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