WHICH VISA I NEED TO APPLY

Hi,
I am an Canadian citizen and work as mechanical designer did my masters in mechanical engineering from Canadian university, I have an offer from my company to work for our sister company in states for 6 months,
On which visa do I need to work for US company (TN OR B1), can I qualify for TN visa as the occupational list include engineer, what are the requirements I have submit to be an engineer, presently my job title says mechanical designer, I have bachelors in mech eng (outside north America)and masters in mechanical engineering (Canada), do I also need to provide professional engineer certificate to qualify as mechanical engineer, I completed my professional practice test waiting for my final professional certificate, will this matter, I have five years of mechanical design experience in Canada since my masters, could you please provide what are the documents I need to carry show that I qualify that I am an mechanical engineer and what is the job title I need to list in the letter. also where do I need to get paid which is good according to circumstances to get paid in Canada or from states.

Also in my 6 months of stay after two months, I need to get back to Canada to fly to India on personal visit for a month, comeback to Canada and again fly back to states for finishing the six months period, will they ask me any questions traveling to and fro from US to Canada, will this be a problem.
Also I shall be traveling by air from Winnipeg. will I be issued TN visa at the Winnipeg airport or do I need to go through any particular airport or entry point to states.
please provide the paperwork I need to carry while traveling these visits and while entering States for getting my visa


your help is much appreciated.

You cannot obtain work status on a B-1 that is a status to enter for conducting business activities including employment interviews. Therefore you will enter in TN Status.

Your major is in Mechanical Engineering, thus you are entering as a Mechanical Engineer under TN. Either degree is fine for the work authorization but your foreign degree would have to be evaluated for U.S. equivalency. Therefore you want to present your Canadian degree (MSc.) at the border. A certificate is not required to my knowledge.

Your documentation for the TN will include your original Canadian degree, Canadian passport, petitioning letter, and fee for $56.

When you apply for authorization, CBP will issue you an I-94 that should be stamped multiple entry. This means you can cross back and forth between the U.S. and Canada freely. You merely show both Canadian and U.S. Immigration you have status and you may return to Canada to travel to India.

The airlines may attempt to take your I-94 away when traveling to Canada from the U.S. as they have an arrangement with CBP. Take photocopies of front and back of the I-94 and you will be able to re-enter the U.S. in status in case the airlines pull your I-94.

Just to clarify, you cannot enter US on TN status without an actual job offer, regardless of your profession.

Also, you cannot enter US on any status to conduct a protracted job search. This is not an acceptable reason to enter US as a visitor, and discovery of a pack of job docs would get you denied and flagged.

What you can do in line up one or two interviews from canada, and then enter US for the expressed purpose of attending those interviews.Entry would be on B1 visitor for business, as would be short term.

You can also go to US on vacation, and happen to find a job, then returning to the border to get your TN.

MC's other info about keeping I-94 is meaningless to you at this point. Your miles away from getting a TN. You first need, from canada, to find a potentail US employer willing to interview you.

I thought the poster stated that they did have an offer in hand from the sister employer so that is I why I elaborated on the topic in the manner that I did. Otherwise, nelson is quite correct.

Indeed, if there is a job transfer offer, then either TN or L1 would be the means of entry, if paid by the US firm.

If he remains employed by the Cdn firm, then B1 entry is possible, under certian circumstances.

If this is considered a transfer, our poster should simply be letting the firm handle this.

Correct, the term is for only 6 months regardless. He may be eligible for L-1 as well if he meets the criteria, i.e. employed by the Canadian subsidiary for at least a year. B-1 is also a valid possibility if compensated from Canada but there is a slight bit of ambiguity as well on behalf of the poster as well so our explanations may not be precise as they could be.

the 6 month term tells me this is a transfer situation. Who would give up a job for a six-monther, no matter where it is.

The short term alos lends itself to remaining Cdn resident (a requirement for B1), and engineering work is almost always covered.

So it will come down to who wants him on payroll.