TN Professionals (Canada and Mexico)
TN is the professional category the United States, Mexico, and Canada created for each other’s citizens. There is no cap, no lottery, and no petition to wait on in the ordinary case. A Canadian citizen can often be admitted the same day at a port of entry. A Mexican citizen applies for a TN visa at a U.S. consulate first.
That decision is made in person, in minutes, on the record in front of the officer. José Miguel Marina spent his first career making decisions exactly like it, as a U.S. consular officer in Monterrey and Bogotá, where he adjudicated more than 50,000 visa applications. We build TN cases the way an adjudicator reads them, and we make the argument where the fit is not obvious on its face.
At a glance
Who prepares your case
José Miguel Marina served as a U.S. consular officer in Monterrey, Mexico and Bogotá, Colombia before he represented anyone. He knows what an officer reads first, what a file looks like at a glance, and which document answers a question before it is asked. That is the standard every TN case here is built to.
It matters most in the cases that are not obvious. A role that has to be argued into a listed profession. A foreign degree that has to be equated to a U.S. one. A prior refusal that has to be understood before anyone applies again. That work is the reason to bring in counsel, and it is the work we want.
Who TN serves
A TN case turns on three things: the profession, the credential, and the position as the employer describes it. Our work is to make all three unmistakable on the page, and to argue them where the match is not obvious at first read.
You travel once, with a complete file. We establish the profession, document the credential, and prepare you for the interview itself, whether it is taken at a port of entry or a consulate, using the questions an adjudicator actually asks.
With no petition in the ordinary case, the support letter does the work a petition would. We write it to the profession rather than the job title, so the position is read as the professional role it is.
TN is one of several routes to the same hire. Where a role sits outside the listed professions, where ownership is in the picture, or where permanent residence is already in motion, we say which category actually carries the job, and then we file that one.
What the decision turns on
A TN decision comes down to a short list, worked through in roughly the order below. We answer every point in the file, with the document attached to the answer, so the officer is never left to infer anything.
TN does not authorize self-employment, and ownership in the sponsoring company draws a closer look. Tell us early. We will analyze the structure and, where TN will not carry the role, file the category that will.
Common questions
TN is professional status under the USMCA agreement for citizens of Canada and Mexico working in one of the listed professions. There is no annual cap and no lottery. Each profession carries its own degree or license requirement. Canadians apply at a port of entry or preclearance, and Mexican citizens apply for a TN visa at a U.S. consulate.
No, and this is where most of the work is. The list names professions, not job titles, and a role is classified by its duties. We match the actual work to the listed profession, support it with the Occupational Outlook Handbook and the governing regulations, and document the credential that profession requires. Where a role genuinely does not fit, you hear that early, along with the category that does.
Admissions run up to three years, and TN renews in three-year increments with no fixed overall ceiling, as long as the employment and the intent remain temporary in character.
Yes. An extension can be filed with USCIS on Form I-129, which avoids travel, or you can apply again at a port of entry or a consulate. We pick the route based on your travel plans and how much runway is left on the current admission.
Not on TD itself. TD dependents may live in the United States and study. Where a spouse needs work authorization, we file for it separately on its own facts, and we plan the two cases together rather than one after the other.
Bring it to us before you try another port. We establish the officer’s actual basis for the refusal, rebuild the record against that basis, and then decide whether to reapply, go through a consulate, or file a petition instead. Reading a refusal and knowing what will move it is work José did from the government’s side for years.
Schedule a call. You will get a straight answer on how we would build it, what it would take, and what it costs. Or you can email using the details below.
