TN Visa, quit job want to get F1 instead

[Janet W]

Hello,

Over the last week I've been in the process of applying to a college in the US, for which I would get an F1 status in my passport. However, I have just been offered a job in the US as a professional engineer. I have a B Sc. from Canada. I have worked in the European branch of this company off and on for several years.

I wonder if I take the job and find it is not what I expected, can I quit, go back to Canada and re-enter as a student as originally planned. The job will probably start in July and the course does not start until Jan 2010. Both are in different states. I'd like to keep my options open but am scared to do the wrong thing and get myself in a mess whereby I will have problems entering in the future!

I am concerned because for the first time in my life when I entered the US in January from Canada this year (I'm in my late 40s) I encountered a very aggressive border officer who did not believe I was going as a tourist. (My family has a holiday home in Hawaii and we spend time there every winter). I did explain that I was a tourist and showed a tax return and bank statements from out of the US but he was furious and said he could tell if I was lying. I wasn't lying about anything, I was just shocked and shook up. The officer decided to stamp B2 in my passport and said if I did not leave the country by the date he wrote in my passport and on the white card he filled in, I would have trouble entering in the future. Needless to say I left the country 2 days before the date in my passport. He gave me 6 weeks.

So now I'm so worried that my name is on the radar and I will be denied any kind of entry, other than a tourist for short durations. Is what happened to me in January a mark against me forever or should I go to get my TN or F1 visa with confidence and proper documents?

Am I being over concerned? The TN stories here worry me.

Should I try to get a different type of work visa?

[Steven]

I've had CBP and INS guys like that, I was just looking through one of my old passports the other day actually and I noticed one of the stamps had "paroled for two weeks" written over the top of it from when I entered at Dulles many years ago and I dimly recalled that guy was a complete douchebag. But next time there was no problem.

As long as your paperwork is in order I have no idea why they wouldn't grant you TN-1, after all, he probably thought you were entering to work, well now you are and you're applying for status to work.

If it doesn't work out you can always re-enter as F-1 or you can even change status without leaving on form I-539 and you don't have to deal with CBP at all. Bear in mind though you can't change status until you've been there for 90 days.

[Janet W]

Thank you Steve,

You experience does make me feel better.

I am hoping it was just one of "those" border guards - when I took out a bank statements to show I had enough money to visit the US, he saw a withdrawal from the account, then threw the paper at me and screamed there was no money in the account. I had to show it to him again to show there was a later larger deposit of and when he saw that he realised he'd made an arse of himself, so he sarcastically said "I guess that's enough for you to live in in the US for 6 weeks" He obviously realised I was not broke and trying to sneak in to get a job.... any job. He was just furious from the minute he saw me.

So I don't know what kind of notes they make on file, but I'm a bit worried they might have something like "This person is suspected of trying to seek work in the US" and so if I go in again with all the TN papers they might find a technicality to keep me out.

Or am I being way too paranoid?

[Steven]

Like I said in one of the other threads, I used to deal with a freight forwarder in the US on a regular basis and one of the people there said to me there's always one person with a "cop" mentality at each POE who basically comes across as a Nazi. I'm sure a fascinating paper on the subject could be written by a trained sociologist.

Just pot luck whether you get that person really. You can always wander over to the publications shelf and pick up a complaints form and gently waft it under their nose, I suppose.

I was sat in secondary inspection a couple of weeks ago and as soon as I started scribbling away on one they suddenly seemed much more interested in helping me. The ironic thing was I was complaining about a different POE!