TN Story

[deaton333]

I recently applied for a TN at Port Huron and things went so smoothly I felt like I should let people know. I was applying in the teacher category, and the whole process took less than half and hour; the CBP guy even managed to crack a joke. Steven and lawsrlaws in particular have really helped me understand what TN applications are all about, so I owe special thanks to both of you, but most importantly the CBP official dealing with my application knew what he was doing. A couple sharp questions about my girlfriend (who is a Canadian working in Canada; might have been trouble if she was American) and that was it.

Last year I was rejected on my first TN application (teaching category, different school) which was deeply frustrating. Since then I've tried to learn more about the process, and this forum has been by far the best resource I've found. Thanks to everyone who posts here; it all helps make the mystifying world of US immigration a little less intimidating!

[Junoon123]

Congrats to you. I think if your paperwork is in order and you don't lie you'll get it, i have seen a few rejection based on folks lying

I think we should all give some credit to these CBP and CIS officer who work on these issue every day, day after day. I am sure they have heard all the lies in the world

Once again congrats to you.

Thanks
M

[lawsrlaws]

Congrats!

[weatherfield3]

As someone who's planning on applying for a TN-1 visa in August, I am curious: why were you rejected the first time you applied? I have accepted an offer of employment as a Visiting Assistant Professor (1 year contract) at an American College, and I certainly want to avoid any nasty surprises at the border. I am currently on an F-1 student visa in the US.

[deaton333]

My letter wasn't addressed to USCBP. I know what you're thinking: hey, that isn't mentioned anywhere as a real requirement! That would be correct, but the TN checklist at Port Huron had that listed right at the top and the guy processing my application (who was just wrapping up his shift) rejected me on the spot. agnelson and I have been wondering about how that requirement came into being, since it definitely isn't applied at all border posts and probably was only done at Port Huron for a short period of time; I have several academics who got TNs in 08-09 w/o addressing the letter to USCBP w/o any problem. But of course I couldn't really do anything about it; got biometrics taken, had my UHaul sent right back to Sarnia, and I had to spend $100 that night to stay at the Best Western and wait for the college to send up a new letter the next day. That second time I got through no problem, and then again a year later for a different Michigan university, and now I'm on an H1B and am filing for a Green Card. Thus far that rejection hasn't proved to have been anything worse than a minor hassle, but I've been kind of paranoid about immigration stuff ever since. Basically, the person who processes you has a whole lot of discretionary power, and levels of expertise on what is actually required for a TN can vary enormously. Its all just luck of the draw, really...