Visiting, Looking for Jobs, and TN visas

Hi everyone. I want to start by saying how great these forums are. They are very helpful and provide a lot of interesting information. I however still have a few questions. My apologies in advance if the answers are already provided somewhere else here, because I didn’t manage to find them.

I am going to study in the US under an F1 visa for 4 years, and my partner would like to come with me. He is planning on trying to find a job and get a working visa on his own, since we are not married (and thus does not qualify as a spouse). He would however like to take some vacations before starting to find a job. So here are my questions:

- Can he come live for a couple of months (2-3) with me in the US, and look for a job while being there on vacation? Someone told me that if you wanted to get a working visa in the US, you had to look for a job and go through the procedures from outside the country, because doing so while being in the US could prevent you from getting the visa. Is that true?

- My partner has been working as a video game programmer for the past 5 years at a major video game company. He has a bachelor degree in computer science and a graduate degree (not a master degree) in video game programming. He is planning to apply for software engineer jobs in video game companies in the US. Would he then be able to qualify for a TN visa? We wonder whether software engineer could qualify under the computer system analyst category. If not, which visa would then be best for him?

Many thanks in advance for your kind help.

Since under F1 you are obliged to maintain Cdn residence, your entry on f1 is little different that his on B2 tourist.

You both have to maintain a foreign residence; you are simply allowed to stay longer than him.

for TN questions, see signature

Thanks for the reply, but that I already knew.

What I am wondering is whether someone can look for a job while being a visitor in the US without reducing your chances to get the visa, and whether a software engineer/computer programmer qualifies as a "computer system analyst" for the TN visa.

You can't go down to US for the expressed purpose of job hunting, but certainly once there as a tourist there is no problem for a job finding him.

Thanks, this definitely helps! It's good to know, and takes off some stress for both of us.

Any hint regarding the TN visa question?

I told you to read the signature

Oh right, I missed that. Thanks!