TN Visa - Bachelors Degree Requirement

[inthe]

The NAFTA requirements state that a "Bachelor’s (Baccalaureate) degree" is a requirement for a Computer Systems Analyst TN visa application. It doesn't specifically state that it has to be in Computer Science. As far as work experience is concerned, I have over 20 years experience in IT. I have successfully obtained an number of Computer Systems Analyst TN visas based on my general Bachelor of Science diploma. However, the last time I was denied the TN because the diploma didn't say "Computer Science". Now every time I cross the border to the US, whether it's for pleasure or to attend a course, I get grilled about my TN denial. I guess I need to successfully obtain another TN visa otherwise immigration will suspect any attempt to enter the US will be for the purposes of work. Please, any suggestions?

[CalGreenCard]

Now every time I cross the border to the US, whether it's for pleasure or to attend a course... Please, any suggestions?

Since it sounds like you are a believer in continuing education my first suggestion would be to get a master's in computer science.

Of course it depends on how serious this problem is. How long has it been since your denial? If it has been only a short while (less than a year or so) you might try waiting awhile to see if the grilling gets less intense as they see that you are honoring your commitments to not work in the USA.

It also depends a bit on whether the denial was fair or not. If there was little or no computer science on your bachelor's transcript, the denial was probably fair and you were lucky to scrape through in the past. If, OTOH, there are a lot of computer courses even though the degree just doesn't say "computer science" it might be worth trying again.

[inthe]

Now every time I cross the border to the US, whether it's for pleasure or to attend a course... Please, any suggestions?

Since it sounds like you are a believer in continuing education my first suggestion would be to get a master's in computer science.

Of course it depends on how serious this problem is. How long has it been since your denial? If it has been only a short while (less than a year or so) you might try waiting awhile to see if the grilling gets less intense as they see that you are honoring your commitments to not work in the USA.

It also depends a bit on whether the denial was fair or not. If there was little or no computer science on your bachelor's transcript, the denial was probably fair and you were lucky to scrape through in the past. If, OTOH, there are a lot of computer courses even though the degree just doesn't say "computer science" it might be worth trying again.

Thanks for the response. Although I am a believer in continuing education, I'm not sure I currently have the time and resources to re-do my degree. It has only been a few months since my denial but I still have to make non-work related trips to the US. I'm just afraid I'll be denied access simply because the officer thinks I might be going to work. I wonder I will just have to put up with this until I manage to get sufficient documentation together (and another opportunity to do some work in the US.)