TN-1 Visa Requirements, Professions, and Border Application Steps

To qualify for a TN-1 visa, you must be a Canadian citizen with a prearranged job offer from a U.S. employer in one of roughly 60 professions listed under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and you must hold the credentials that profession requires. The TN-1 category is the Canadian track of TN status: you apply directly at a U.S. port of entry with your documents, and a CBP officer decides on the spot. Initial admission lasts up to three years, and there is no cap on renewals.¹²

Who Qualifies

Only Canadian citizens can use the TN-1 track. Permanent residents of Canada who hold a different nationality do not qualify, even if they have lived and worked in Canada for years.² Beyond citizenship, three requirements apply.

Your job must sit inside the USMCA professions list. Positions outside that list do not qualify no matter how specialized the work is. You must also meet the credential minimum for that profession, which is typically a bachelor’s degree or a professional license. Some professions accept equivalent experience in place of a degree.

You need the job lined up before you apply. Self-employment is not permitted, and the regulation specifically treats you as self-employed if you will be providing services to a company where you are the sole or controlling owner.² Full-time and part-time arrangements both work, and you can work for more than one U.S. employer at once. Each employer must be separately authorized.³

The USMCA Professions List

The professions eligible for TN status are spelled out in Appendix 2 to Annex 16-A of the USMCA.⁴ The list is exhaustive. If your job is not on it, TN status is not available. The professions fall into four groups.

General. Accountant, Architect, Computer Systems Analyst, Disaster Relief Insurance Claims Adjuster, Economist, Engineer, Forester, Graphic Designer, Hotel Manager, Industrial Designer, Interior Designer, Land Surveyor, Landscape Architect, Lawyer, Librarian, Management Consultant, Mathematician/Statistician, Range Manager, Research Assistant (postsecondary institution), Scientific Technician/Technologist, Social Worker, Sylviculturist, Technical Publications Writer, Urban Planner/Geographer, and Vocational Counselor.
Medical and allied. Dentist, Dietitian, Medical Laboratory Technologist, Nutritionist, Occupational Therapist, Pharmacist, Physician (teaching or research only), Physiotherapist/Physical Therapist, Psychologist, Recreational Therapist, Registered Nurse, and Veterinarian.
Scientist. Over 20 specialties including Biochemist, Biologist, Chemist, Epidemiologist, Geneticist, Geologist, Geophysicist, Meteorologist, Pharmacologist, Physicist, and Zoologist.
Teacher. College, seminary, or university level only.

Most professions require at least a bachelor’s degree. Some accept a professional license instead. Management Consultant is a common source of confusion because it also accepts five years of consulting experience or five years of experience in the relevant specialty area in place of a degree. Where the credential is a professional license, you generally need to show that the license is recognized in the jurisdiction where you will be working.

Documents You’ll Need

The single most important document is the employer support letter. Officers read it closely, and a weak letter is the most common reason applications run into trouble. The letter should identify the specific TN profession the job falls under, describe the duties in detail rather than generically, state how long you will be working, spell out your salary or compensation, and give the employer’s name and address.

You also need proof of your qualifications: original diplomas, transcripts, professional licenses, or credentials evaluations as applicable.⁵ Any document in a language other than English needs a certified English translation. The translator does not need any specific accreditation, but the translation must be accompanied by a signed statement attesting to its completeness and accuracy.

Bring your Canadian passport as proof of citizenship. A passport is strongly recommended over other citizenship evidence. Have the applicable processing fees ready to pay at the port of entry.

Applying at the Border

Canadian citizens have the simplest path of any TN applicant: no visa stamp is required. You present your documents to a CBP officer at a U.S. port of entry or a pre-clearance/pre-flight inspection station.¹ The officer reviews everything on the spot and either approves or denies the application.

If approved, you receive an I-94 arrival/departure record. That I-94 is your proof of legal status, and you can retrieve it later through the CBP online portal at i94.cbp.dhs.gov.⁶ You can start working as soon as you are admitted.

You can apply at any port of entry along the Canadian border, but CBP encourages using designated ports for smoother processing.⁷ Some designated ports, including Peace Bridge, Lewiston Bridge, and Rainbow Bridge in New York, operate on an appointment system with processing hours limited to weekday mornings and afternoons. Check the specific port’s schedule before showing up, especially at busy crossings.

How Long TN-1 Status Lasts and How to Extend

TN status is granted for up to three years per admission.¹ To keep working beyond that period, you have two options.

You can leave the country and reapply at a port of entry with updated documentation, exactly as you did the first time. This is fast but exposes you to the possibility of being denied at the border.

Alternatively, your employer can file Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, with USCIS while you remain in the United States.⁸ Processing times can stretch to several months. To speed things up, your employer can request premium processing, which guarantees USCIS will act within 15 business days for an additional fee of $2,965 as of March 2026.⁹

Extensions come in increments of up to three years, with no cap on the number of renewals as long as you continue to work in a qualifying profession and maintain your status.² TN status is officially temporary, however, and federal law requires that you intend to leave the U.S. when your employment ends.¹⁰ Filing an I-140 immigrant petition does not technically bar you from renewing, but pursuing a green card while on TN status creates real complications that are worth discussing with an immigration attorney before you file anything.

Changing Employers

Unlike the H-1B visa, TN status has no portability provision. You cannot start working for a new employer until you actually have approval. Filing the paperwork alone does not authorize you to begin. The regulation at 8 CFR 214.6(i) requires you to get authorization before switching.

If you are already in the U.S., your new employer can file an I-129 petition with USCIS, and premium processing can bring the wait down to 15 business days. You also have the Canadian-specific option of leaving and reapplying at a port of entry with a support letter from the new employer, which is faster but carries the risk of denial.

Transfers to a subsidiary or affiliate that is separately incorporated count as a change of employer and require a new application, even if the job duties stay the same. If you want to add a second employer while keeping the first, each employer needs its own separate authorization.³

Bringing Family

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can come with you in TD (Trade Dependent) status. They are admitted for the same period as you, and Canadian dependents entering at a port of entry pay no separate admission fee.²

TD dependents can study full-time or part-time at any U.S. school, from elementary through university, without a separate student visa. TD status does not authorize employment, though. If your spouse wants to work, they need to obtain a separate work-authorized visa status on their own.

Document the qualifying relationship: a marriage certificate for a spouse, birth certificates for children. TD status is entirely tied to the principal TN holder’s status. If your authorization ends, the family’s status ends with it.

If Your Job Ends

Federal regulations provide a discretionary grace period of up to 60 consecutive days if your job ends before your authorized stay expires, whether through termination, layoff, or resignation. The window closes at 60 days or when your I-94 expires, whichever comes first. You cannot work during that time, but you can remain in the U.S. to find a new employer, change to a different visa status, or prepare to leave.¹¹

A few caveats. The 60-day period is discretionary, not guaranteed. You can only use it once per authorized validity period. And it only applies if your employment ends before your I-94 expiration date. If your last day of work falls on the same date your authorization expires, there is no grace period.

Some I-94 records include an additional 10-day window after the validity period ends. That window is for travel preparation only. No employment is allowed, and you must depart before it runs out.

If You’re Denied

A TN denial at a Canadian port of entry is usually not the end of the road. In most cases, CBP officers allow you to withdraw your application and return to Canada without any formal removal on your record. You can reapply after fixing whatever caused the denial: strengthening the employer letter, providing additional credential documentation, or better explaining how the job fits a listed profession.

The more serious outcome is expedited removal, which CBP reserves for cases involving misrepresentation or a pattern of violations. An expedited removal order carries a five-year bar on entering the United States. This is rare for straightforward TN applications, but it is the reason accuracy matters in every document you present. Before reapplying, take a hard look at the officer’s stated concerns and address them directly. Submitting the same paperwork a second time almost always produces the same result.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. TN USMCA Professionals
2
eCFR. 8 CFR 214.6 – Citizens of Canada or Mexico Seeking Temporary Entry Under USMCA
3
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 9 FAM 402.17 USMCA Professionals – TN and TD Visas
4
Office of the United States Trade Representative. USMCA Chapter 16 – Temporary Entry for Business Persons
5
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. How to Obtain TN Status as a Canadian Citizen
6
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I-94 Website
7
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Traveling on a TN or L1 Visa from Canada
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS to Increase Premium Processing Fees
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1184 – Admission of Nonimmigrants
11
eCFR. 8 CFR 214.1 – Requirements for Admission, Extension, and Maintenance of Status