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TN Visa Path

ArchKid

Any Canadian here went through the TN Visa process to work in the US? What was your experience like? Was it hard finding a job? 

 
Nov 8, 21 12:32 am
Bench

You need to find the job first, prior to getting the TN. The visa is dependent on your sponsorship. The primary qualifying metric is if you have finished a terminal professional degree (M.Arch in Canada), not whether you have been licensed yet.

Nov 8, 21 9:32 am  · 
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ArchKid

I understand that. I was just wondering if anyone found a job in Architecture/Construction and used TN visa to move to the US.

Nov 10, 21 12:14 am  · 
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eddace

I have gone through this process a few times with different offices in the Bay Area, let me know if I can help you out with something .

Nov 10, 21 12:32 pm  · 
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ArchKid

Thanks!

Nov 10, 21 1:12 pm  · 
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ArchKid

Some questions I had was:

1. How do we tell the firm that we require TN Visa. Do we say it in our portfolio, cover letter, etc?

2. How early can we enter the US before our first day of employment? I know we have to open a bank account, apply SSN, get a place to live etc.

3. In your contract, does it need to say a certain amount of years your employment is or just full time? I know TN Visa is every 3 years I believe.

4. Just a general question, was it tough finding a job in the states? I meet all the requirements for TN Visa (M.arch, doing my hours for NCARB etc) , was just wondering how the competition is

Nov 10, 21 1:16 pm  · 
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eddace

I'll go over the questions as best as I can, I'm from Mexico so, the TN process differs a little bit from Mexico to Canada, but in any case, I think it might be easier for Canadian citizens

Nov 10, 21 6:31 pm  · 
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eddace

1. In my case what I'd usually do is make sure to let the firm know on your resume or cover letter that you DO NOT need any sort of sponsorship from them to be able to work in he US, I won't go into the details of the TN visa until a first or second interview has taken place

Nov 10, 21 6:33 pm  · 
1  · 
eddace

2. In my case the first time the whole process took about a month, but, I believe Canadian citizens don't have to present themselves in person to a U.S. consulate as Mexicans do, so basically if you have an offer letter and the TN request letter from the office you can travel directly to the US and they will grant you the TN Status at the border or port of entry, SSN took me about three days to process once I arrived, the same thing for the US bank account

3. The period of time is usually stated in the TN letter and it's helpful to have it there, you can have it on the offer letter as well, and yes it also needs to stay that you'll be working full time

4. I think the biggest thing is to make sure that the office knows that you'll need no sponsorship, once that's cleared out I think there would be plenty of opportunities for you...

Nov 10, 21 6:41 pm  · 
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ArchKid

Thanks so much. Really appreciate it! 

Nov 12, 21 8:18 pm  · 
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