TN Confusion

I've had three TN visas and never had a problem getting one. This past year my TN ran out and everyone kept telling me I was allowed to stay 6 months as a Canadian. I'm leaving in a couple of days and it will be an overstay by about 4 days. If I want to reapply for another TN what will happen?

One lawyer I spoke to said nothing will happen as they have no idea when you leave or return and another said they would absolutely deny me.

Any thoughts? I plan to return through Buffalo and then drive to Toronto.

Who told you you could stay 6 months after your TN ran out? They were wrong.

When the TN runs out, or you lose your job, you have to leave the country within a reasonable amount of time. I'm going to hazard a guess and say that USCIS won't consider 6 months a reasonable amount of time.

How do they know how long I've been there or when I left?

How do you explain when you next apply for a TN about the gap in employment (assuming of course you were not working illegally after your last TN ran out) and the gap in Canadian residency for X amount of months?

How do they know how long I've been there or when I left?

Because they ask you. They know when you entered previously because they make a record of it when you enter.

At this moment in time they are working on equipping the POEs with the equipment to know when you left, but the guy you spoke to is right, they likely don't know when you left.

everyone kept telling me I was allowed to stay 6 months as a Canadian.

And they're right, but it's not cumlative, if you've already been in the US for six months in a different category it counts against a stay as a visitor.