Jonforest

Someone may know this and save me a phone call or two.

I'm a Canadian citizen and I've been offered a job for 1 year
beginning the 1st of July in a TN-valid position in the US and have
the necessary qualifications.

I will need some time to set myself up before the employment begins.
How long before 1st of July can I go and get my TN visa? are there any
problems associated with this?

Thanks

Ingo Pakleppa - see web site for email

I'm not sure about the rules for a TN, but I can tell you that for an
H-1B, you can enter the USA up to 10 days before employment starts.

In practical terms, you probably could enter the USA as a tourist, set
yourself up (but be careful: don't show up with a moving truck, or you'd
be denied admission. That, you can only do safely with the TN). Find an
apartment, pay the deposit, and do whatever else you may need to do.

Then return to Canada and get the TN when you come back to the USA.

On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 11:59:05 -0800, jonforest wrote:

    > Someone may know this and save me a phone call or two.
    >
    > I'm a Canadian citizen and I've been offered a job for 1 year beginning
    > the 1st of July in a TN-valid position in the US and have the necessary
    > qualifications.
    >
    > I will need some time to set myself up before the employment begins. How
    > long before 1st of July can I go and get my TN visa? are there any
    > problems associated with this?
    >
    > Thanks

--
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage
everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

Please support H.R. 539, H.R. 832 and S. 1510. More information at
http://www.kkeane.com/lobbyspousal-faq.shtml

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com (always under construction)

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for spam protection. See
my Web site for information on how to contact me.

Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my Web site
http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.

Vladimir Menkov

In article <[email protected]>,
Ingo Pakleppa - see web site for email <[email protected]> wrote:
    >I'm not sure about the rules for a TN, but I can tell you that for an
    >H-1B, you can enter the USA up to 10 days before employment starts.
...
    >On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 11:59:05 -0800, jonforest wrote:
    >> Someone may know this and save me a phone call or two.
    >>
    >> I'm a Canadian citizen and I've been offered a job for 1 year beginning
    >> the 1st of July in a TN-valid position in the US and have the necessary
    >> qualifications.
    >>
    >> I will need some time to set myself up before the employment begins. How
    >> long before 1st of July can I go and get my TN visa? are there any
    >> problems associated with this?

You can find a link to the INS NAFTA Inspector Handbook at this page:
http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/law...ect/nafta2.htm
but you don't think it answers your question.

But keep in mind an important difference from the H visas: I believe
that a TN-1 I-94 can only authorize admission for up to 1 year. So
if, for example, you're admitted on June 21, 2004, then you likely
will be given an I-94 with admission until June 20, 2005. I
understand that this means that either you would have to quit your job
10 days before its planned end (and leave the country pronto), or
you'd have to leave the USA and re-enter the country with a new I-94
some time during the year (and pay the new $50+ fee), or file an
application for extension of status with BCIS by mail ($100+).


If anybody knows otherwise, I will welcome the correction.


--vld.

Eric Matto

Not sure what the limit is, but when I did this a few years ago I got my
visa about 3 weeks before I actually moved without a problem. One thing to
note - your year starts from when you get the visa. Thus if you got the visa
a month before you start your job, then your renewal date will be 11 months
after you begin your job. This will not be a problem if your employer is
going to renew you anyways. However if your job is exactly 1 year in
duration then your employer may question why you're asking them to renew you
for a second year.

"jonforest" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Someone may know this and save me a phone call or two.
    > I'm a Canadian citizen and I've been offered a job for 1 year
    > beginning the 1st of July in a TN-valid position in the US and have
    > the necessary qualifications.
    > I will need some time to set myself up before the employment begins.
    > How long before 1st of July can I go and get my TN visa? are there any
    > problems associated with this?
    > Thanks