TN Visa Professions: Full List, Degree Rules, and Scrutiny Points

The TN visa professions list comes from Appendix 2 to Annex 16-A of the USMCA and covers roughly 60 occupations in four groups: general professions, medical and allied health professions, scientists, and post-secondary teachers.¹ Only citizens of Canada or Mexico qualify, and the job on offer has to match one of these professions in both title and duties. Most roles require at least a bachelor’s degree; a handful accept a state or provincial license, and a smaller handful accept a post-secondary diploma or certificate combined with qualifying experience.²

If a job title does not appear on this list, it does not qualify for TN status, no matter how closely it resembles a listed profession. The title on the offer letter needs to track one of the categories below, and the actual duties need to match what that profession involves.

General Professions

This is the widest group on the list. Credentials appear next to each profession as the treaty states them.¹

Accountant — bachelor’s degree, or CPA, CA, CGA, or CMA designation
Architect — bachelor’s degree, or state or provincial license
Computer Systems Analyst — bachelor’s degree, or post-secondary diploma or certificate plus three years of experience
Disaster Relief Insurance Claims Adjuster — bachelor’s degree plus disaster relief training, or three years of claims adjustment experience plus disaster relief training
Economist — bachelor’s degree
Engineer — bachelor’s degree, or state or provincial license
Forester — bachelor’s degree, or state or provincial license
Graphic Designer — bachelor’s degree, or post-secondary diploma or certificate plus three years of experience
Hotel Manager — bachelor’s degree in hotel or restaurant management, or a post-secondary diploma or certificate in that field plus three years of experience
Industrial Designer — bachelor’s degree, or post-secondary diploma or certificate plus three years of experience
Interior Designer — bachelor’s degree, or post-secondary diploma or certificate plus three years of experience
Land Surveyor — bachelor’s degree, or state, provincial, or federal license
Landscape Architect — bachelor’s degree
Lawyer — LL.B., J.D., LL.L., B.C.L., or Licenciatura degree (five years), or state or provincial bar membership
Librarian — M.L.S. or B.L.S., for which another bachelor’s degree was a prerequisite
Management Consultant — bachelor’s degree, or five years of professional consulting experience
Mathematician (including Statistician) — bachelor’s degree
Range Manager or Range Conservationist — bachelor’s degree
Research Assistant at a post-secondary institution — bachelor’s degree
Scientific Technician or Technologist — theoretical knowledge in a qualifying scientific discipline plus technical skills (see below)
Social Worker — bachelor’s degree
Sylviculturist (forestry specialist) — bachelor’s degree
Technical Publications Writer — bachelor’s degree
Urban Planner (including Geographer) — bachelor’s degree
Vocational Counselor — bachelor’s degree

Engineers, Architects, Foresters, Land Surveyors, and Lawyers may need a valid state or provincial license depending on the work they will perform. The treaty lists licensure as an alternative credential for some of these roles, but in practice most states require it before you can actually practice.

Medical and Allied Health Professions

Dentist
Dietitian
Medical Laboratory Technologist or Medical Technologist
Nutritionist
Occupational Therapist
Pharmacist
Physician (teaching or research only)
Physical Therapist
Psychologist
Recreational Therapist
Registered Nurse
Veterinarian

Each of these professions requires proof of the applicable degree or license. For Registered Nurses, a state or provincial license can serve as the primary qualifying credential rather than a specific degree.³

Physicians occupy a uniquely restricted space on the list. They are limited to teaching or research positions and cannot engage in direct patient care as their primary function. Some patient care is permitted when it is incidental to the teaching or research role. USCIS looks at factors like how much time the physician spends on patient care relative to teaching, whether they receive separate compensation for clinical work, and whether they carry a recurring patient load.⁴ A physician offered a standard clinical position at a hospital will not qualify for TN status.

Health Care Worker Certification (VisaScreen)

Several TN-eligible healthcare occupations must present a VisaScreen certificate from a USCIS-approved credentialing organization each time they seek admission, change status, or extend their stay. The affected occupations are:⁵

Registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and licensed vocational nurses
Physical therapists
Occupational therapists
Speech-language pathologists and audiologists
Medical technologists (clinical laboratory scientists)
Medical technicians (clinical laboratory technicians)
Physician assistants

The VisaScreen process verifies education, training, licensure, experience, and English proficiency. Arriving at the border without this certificate when your occupation requires one will result in a denial. The process takes time, so healthcare workers should start it months before they plan to enter the country.

Scientists

Every profession in this group requires a bachelor’s degree in the relevant discipline. The degree field needs to align with the job: a biology degree will not support a TN application for a chemistry position, even though both are listed professions.

Agriculturist (including Agronomist), Animal Breeder, Animal Scientist, Apiculturist
Astronomer, Biochemist, Biologist, Chemist
Dairy Scientist, Entomologist, Epidemiologist, Geneticist
Geologist, Geochemist, Geophysicist (including Oceanographer in Mexico and the U.S.)
Horticulturist, Meteorologist, Pharmacologist
Physicist (including Oceanographer in Canada)
Plant Breeder, Poultry Scientist, Soil Scientist, Zoologist

Scientific Technicians and Technologists

This is the one group that can qualify without any formal degree. Applicants must demonstrate theoretical knowledge in one of the qualifying scientific disciplines (agricultural sciences, astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering, forestry, geology, geophysics, meteorology, or physics) along with practical technical skills.¹

A Scientific Technician cannot work independently. The role must involve supporting a professional scientist or engineer who holds a degree, and the technician’s work must be directly interrelated with that professional’s projects. Documentation typically requires a detailed letter from the supervising scientist explaining how the technician’s duties contribute to the scientist’s work. Officers scrutinize these applications closely because the lack of a degree requirement makes the category more prone to misuse.

Teachers

The teacher category covers college, seminary, and university level only. Primary and secondary school teachers are excluded entirely.³ The applicant needs a bachelor’s degree in the subject they will teach. A university hiring a Canadian physicist to teach undergraduate physics courses has a straightforward case; a private high school trying to bring in a Canadian math teacher does not.

How the Degree Requirement Works

Under federal regulation, “business activities at a professional level” means work that requires at least a bachelor’s degree (or the Mexican Licenciatura equivalent) or equivalent professional credentials.⁶ For most professions, years of work experience alone cannot substitute for that degree.³

The exceptions are all in the general professions list. Computer Systems Analysts, Graphic Designers, Hotel Managers, Industrial Designers, and Interior Designers can qualify with a post-secondary diploma or certificate combined with three years of relevant experience. Management Consultants can qualify with five years of consulting experience. And Scientific Technicians qualify based on demonstrated theoretical knowledge rather than a formal degree.

If you earned your degree outside North America, expect to submit a credential evaluation from a recognized service. The National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) maintains a list of member organizations that assess whether a foreign degree is equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree. Showing up with a diploma and no evaluation report is a common reason for denials, because the examining officer often has no way to judge a foreign institution’s standing without one.

Categories That Get Extra Scrutiny

Computer Systems Analyst vs. Programmer

The Computer Systems Analyst category is one of the most commonly used TN professions, and one of the most frequently denied when the job description drifts into straight programming. USCIS policy guidance draws a firm line: a systems analyst studies an organization’s information needs and designs computer systems to meet them, while a programmer writes code to implement those designs. Although a systems analyst may do some programming, the category explicitly excludes programmers.⁴ If the job description reads like a software developer role focused on writing code, it will not pass scrutiny regardless of the title on the offer letter.

Management Consultant

Management Consultant is the TN category that draws the most skepticism from adjudicators, largely because it is one of the few professions where five years of experience can substitute for a degree.⁴ The role must involve advising an organization on improving its structure, efficiency, or operations, and the work needs to be temporary, periodic, or project-based rather than an ongoing operational role. A management consultant analyzes problems and recommends solutions; they do not step into the shoes of an existing manager and run the department. A position that looks like a permanent management job dressed up with consulting language will be denied.

Applicants relying on experience rather than a degree should provide a detailed statement or professional credential documenting at least five years of work specifically as a management consultant or in a specialty field directly related to the consulting engagement.¹ Vague reference letters will not do the work. The documentation should spell out the types of organizations advised, the nature of the projects, and the outcomes delivered.

What the List Does Not Cover

Self-employment does not qualify for TN classification. If you will be employed by a corporation or entity that you own or control, USCIS considers you self-employed. TN status requires a genuine employer-employee relationship with a U.S. employer. Independent contractors can qualify in certain categories like Management Consultant, but only when there is a legitimate client organization receiving the services and the arrangement is temporary or project-based. Operating your own business in the U.S. under TN status is not an option.

TN status also does not allow dual intent. Unlike H-1B or L-1 holders, TN workers are expected to maintain a genuine intention to return to their home country when their temporary employment ends. Filing an immigrant petition or a green card application creates an inherent conflict, because it signals plans to stay permanently. A path to permanent residence is not impossible, but it requires careful planning and often a transition to a dual-intent category before starting the process.

Purely clerical or administrative positions will not qualify under any TN category even when an employer gives them a matching title. The treaty definitions focus on high-level professional work, and officers at the border or consulate check every qualification against the treaty text.

1
Office of the United States Trade Representative. USMCA Chapter 16 – Temporary Entry for Business Persons
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. TN USMCA Professionals
3
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 9 FAM 402.17 USMCA Professionals – TN and TD Visas
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 2 Part P Chapter 6 – Requirements for Specific Occupations
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Health Care Worker Certification
6
eCFR. 8 CFR 214.6 – Citizens of Canada or Mexico Seeking Temporary Entry Under USMCA to Engage in Business Activities at a Professional Level