Read the general professional work overview
Hypothetical example: Fionnuala Traynor is an Ontario Land Surveyor practising near Ramara, retained mostly for rural severances, drainage layouts and boundary retracements. A firm in upstate New York wants her for three years of boundary and topographic work. Land Surveyor is a USMCA Appendix 2 profession met by a baccalaureate degree or by a state, provincial or federal licence, and she holds both. Her application will nonetheless stand or fall on how four ordinary documents are prepared.
Choose the credential document the profession itself accepts
Appendix 2 sets a different rule for each profession, and Land Surveyor is one of the entries satisfied by licensure as an alternative to a degree. That is a real advantage. A provincial licence certificate is a single unambiguous page issued by a body whose function an officer recognizes, whereas a degree route requires a parchment and a transcript that between them show the field studied. Fionnuala should lead with the licence and carry the degree documents behind it. One caution belongs here and is often missed: qualifying for TN admission under the profession is a federal question, while the right to practise surveying in a particular state is a matter of that state's own licensing law. The employer letter should say who holds the state authority under which the work will be performed.
Write the employer letter to answer the questions that will be asked
A support letter that reads as a welcome message wastes the opportunity. The version that works gives the American entity's legal name and address, her full name and Canadian citizenship, the profession stated in the Appendix 2 wording rather than an internal job title, the duties in concrete terms, the salary, the reporting line and the period requested up to three years. Two sentences are routinely left out and should not be. The first states that she will be employed by or under contract to the American entity, which addresses the prohibition on self-employment in the United States directly rather than by implication. The second discloses any ownership interest she would hold in that entity, because an undisclosed stake discovered later is far more damaging than a disclosed one examined at the outset.
Bring proof of citizenship and treat the first presentation as decisive
As a Canadian citizen Fionnuala needs no visa stamp and may present her application at a land border port of entry or at preclearance, with a valid Canadian passport as the practical proof of the citizenship the category requires. The alternative is for the employer to file Form I-129 and for her to present the approval on arrival, which is slower but produces a decision away from the counter. Whichever route is chosen, she should carry originals rather than photocopies, keep a complete duplicate set, and expect to answer questions about the described duties in her own words. A refusal becomes part of her record and is raised at every later application, so a file that is not yet complete is better held for a week than tested early.
What else is on your mind?
Is a matching job title enough for TN?Can years of experience replace a degree for TN?Can my own U.S. company employ me under TN?Can my spouse work if I hold TN status?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.