TN-1 Accountant Category & POE

I am planning to apply for TN-1 visa next week.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Diploma in Business Administration from outside NAFTA zone. However, there after I got my MS in Accounting from fully accredited university in US.

In the above scenario, do I still need to show the evaluation of my bachelor’s work?

Do I need to present previous employment letters?

Has one recently applied from Highgate Springs, VT POE? If yes, how was the experience?

I shall be very thankful to for your help here.

Both of your Bachelor's degrees presented are in the field so you are all set to go as far as getting TN Status as an Accountant. You would only require an evaluation if the degree presented is a foreign degree, ie. outside of North America. Thus you will not require an evaluation. You will not require employment letters either since you are a Professional holding a Bachelor's degree.

There have been some posts on here that generally indicate the Vermont crossings are a fairly good experience with the exception of a few individuals.

Thanks for your response.

I am little bit unclear on the evaluation piece.

As I have a Master's in Accounting from US, do I have to still present the evaluation of my bachelor work that was outside North America.

Thanks again.

No. You are only submitting one degree for admission. It is either one or the other but not both.

You should be just fine presenting your U.S. Master's degree. Occasionally, in the past, some TN applicants presenting Canadian Master's for admission confused the CBP since it was a Master's presented as opposed to just a Bachelor's degree. I believe that was a very small percentage, < 1% so no need to worry.

If instead you preferred to submit your foreign Bachelor's degree for admission as an Accountant, you would require an evaluation to show equivalence to a 4-year U.S. degree. Either WES or ICAS could offer a good service. But since you have the U.S. Master's, you should coast right on through the port of entry. Since you are applying with your U.S. Master's degree, you will not require an evaluation.

Some other postings on here indicate that you should have both the degree and transcripts available when you apply for TN just in case they want to see the transcripts too.

Thanks so much MC for your kindness and generosity.

I have one more question does the TN-1 Visa letter have to state that the job is temporary.

In other words, does it have to mention the end date, etc.?

What is the normal practice?

Please let me know.

Thanks for your help.

Yes, the petitioning letter should state that the request for TN Status is for a period of one year or in the case of a 3-year TN, for a period of 3 years. This is important otherwise, you could be refused entry.

It does not have to specify an end date but it should specify a start date. For example, you could write near the top of the letter:

May 1, 2009
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Pearson Pre-Flight Inspection (If flying out of Toronto)
RE: Application for TN Status as an Accountant

If you mention May 1 as the start date, you would want to apply for your TN on the same day or close to May 1, 2009. It does not have to specify an end date but should state the position is temporary for a period of one or three years respectively.

Thanks so much again MC. I am very grateful to you for your assitance.

However, I did not get this rule of applying right before the Start Date, but what if someone has to give 2 or 3 weeks notice to current employer?

In addition, do you think following sentence would suffice without mentioning about temporary nature of the job or the end date in the letter?

“For these reasons, we request that you issue Mr. ABC a TN-1 Visa for a period of three years”.

Regards.

You can start a TN job pretty much anytime you like. If your new employer wants you to start May 1, 2009, just date your letter on or around the expected date of entry into the U.S. You could optionally indicate an end date as well.

When they stamp your I-94 (a piece of cardboard which is your work authorization) it will indicate the actual date you entered the U.S. CBP should also stamp it 'Multiple Entry' indicating you may cross back and forth between the U.S. and Canada as much as you like on that I-94. You could date the letter the same day you are attempting to enter the U.S.

However, I know there are TNer's coming back to the Canadian border to renew their existing status 2 months ahead of time, which is just a crazy risk in my opinion. It should be no sooner than 10 days to 2 weeks before the expiry date. Some CBP Officers won't approve a new TN so early. Thus there are many others taking risks and getting away with it. Some might say indicate an end date. It all depends on how much risk you are comfortable with. Hey, some people lose their shirt in the stock market and are comfortable taking that risk. I personally don't encourage those kinds of gambles in the realms of U.S. Immigration.

You pretty well have to keep in the back of your mind that the laws under NAFTA are very inconsistently applied and have been ever since NAFTA was enacted in 1993/94. A Free Trade Officer at one port of entry might make a big issue about a start/end date while a Free Trade Officer at another port might think the duties presented are way more important and might not bat an eyelid about any start/end date.

Remember the TN is an actual 'status' not a visa. So I would rephrase the sentence as follows since the DHS can be pretty picky about the terminology sometimes depending on where you enter:

“For these reasons, we request that you issue Mr. ABC TN Status for a period of three years."

MC

Thanks for all your help here.

Good luck with that, sounds like you are well qualified and should technically breeze right through this.