NAFTA TN1 Visa Work Permit for Actuaries

Contents

What is the NAFTA TN-1 Visa?

US work permit for Canadians? Welcome to TN-1 status!
What if you’re a Canadian Citizen who wants to work in the United States in an actuarial role? Then the NAFTA TN-1 visa could be for you!

The NAFTA TN-1 visa allows Canadian Citizens to work in the United States on a temporary (but renewable!) basis. What this means is that you simply have to renew your work permit every 3 years. You can renew an unlimited number of times as long as you remain eligible!

How It Works – TN-1 visa For Canadians

UPDATE: I’ve experienced this process first-hand and have posted about it here: my experiences moving to the US under TN status for actuaries
This is the easy part. After you get your employment offer letter, you apply at the border as you cross into the United States from Canada (by air or land). The employment letter must meet the requirements under the NAFTA TN-1 program; I heard that that’s essentially just an offer of employment saying you’ll be working in one of the valid professions listed below. If your employer is large (such as a Big 4 Accounting Firm like Deloitte), their in house Human Resources and Immigration Lawyers will have ample experience with this and walk you through the process. A friend of mine who is currently working for one of the Big 4 Audit Firms said she just went up to HR where they drafted a letter for her in the afternoon and then flew back in, valid work permit and all!

The downside as you might have noticed, is that you don’t know if your TN-1 work permit will be accepted or rejected until you cross the border. And each time you cross the border, you run the risk of the immigration officer not accepting your application. Scary stuff indeed!

TN-1 Visa For Actuaries:

You probably noticed that you don’t see Actuary or Actuarial on the above list. So how does TN-1 Visa apply for Actuaries, Actuarial Analysts, and Actuarial Students?

Actuaries typically go through the Mathematician role. While some may debate the honesty of taking this route, it is the route taken by many Canadian actuaries (at the junior level that I personally know of, although it’s safe to assume fully qualified actuaries would be even easier to get through) working in the United States.

Note: I am not a lawyer. These are my experiences the experiences of Canadian actuaries I know who moved to the US for actuarial jobs.

TN-1 Visa Status Process

What’s the process for entering the US on TN status? It’s actually quite simple for Canadians.
1) Obtain job offer and get employer support letter
2) Bring support letter and other documents to the border
3) (Hopefully) get TN-1 visa status and pay $50
4) Voila! You now have an American work permit 🙂

Paperwork and Documentation

Documentation Required for TN-1 Status:
-degree (ORIGINAL COPY REQUIRED)
-support letter (ORIGINAL COPY REQUIRED)
-resume (may not be required)

Documentation Suggested:
-transcripts (original)
-experience records – these are letters from prior employers confirming your experience
-etc.

I managed with just the degree, support letter, and resume. It is incredibly important for the TN-1 visa process that the degree and employer support letter be ORIGINAL COPIES. I got rejected the first time because the support letter was emailed to me and printed out (amongst other things).

TN-1 Visa Employer Support Letter

The Employer Support Letter must be in a specific format.
Requirements:
-must be original copy
-must be addressed to the US Customs and Border Patrol
-must be requesting TN-1 status for you under a specific category
-must include your salary and office location
-must indicate a period of not more than 3 years – it’s renewable but TN is supposed to be a non-immigrant temporary visa status

TN-1 Visa List of Professions:

Profession1 Minimum Education Requirements or Alternative Credentials
General
Accountant Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or C.P.A., C.A., C.G.A. or C.M.A.
Architect Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state/provincial license2
Computer Systems Analyst Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or Post-Secondary Diploma3 or Post-Secondary Certificate4, and three years experience
Disaster Relief Insurance Claims Adjuster (claims Adjuster employed by an insurance company located in the territory of a Party, or an independent claims adjuster) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree, and successful completion of training in the appropriate areas of insurance adjustment pertaining to disaster relief claims; or three years experience in claims adjustment and successful completion of training in the appropriate areas of insurance adjustment pertaining to disaster relief claims
Economist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Engineer Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state/provincial license
Forester Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state/provincial license
Graphic Designer Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or Post-Secondary Diploma or Post-Secondary Certificate, and three years experience
Hotel Manager Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree in hotel/restaurant management; or Post-Secondary Diploma or Post-Secondary Certificate in hotel/restaurant management, and three years experience in hotel/restaurant management
Industrial Designer Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or Post-Secondary Diploma or Post-Secondary Certificate, and three years experience
Interior Designer Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or Post-Secondary Diploma or Post-Secondary Certificate, and three years experience
Land Surveyor Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state/provincial/federal license
Landscape Architect Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Lawyer (including Notary in the Province of Quebec) LL.B., J.D., LL.L., B.C.L. or Licenciatura Degree (five years); or membership in a state/provincial bar
Librarian M.L.S. or B.L.S. (for which another Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree was a prerequisite)
Management Consultant Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or equivalent professional experience as established by statement or professional credential attesting to five years experience as a management consultant, or five years experience in a field of specialty related to the consulting agreement
Mathematician (including Statistician) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Range Manager/Range Conservationalist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Research Assistant (working in a post-secondary educational institution) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Scientific Technician/Technologist5 Possession of:
(a) a theoretical knowledge of any of the following disciplines: agricultural sciences, astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering, forestry, geology, geophysics, meteorology or physics; and
(b) the ability to solve practical problems in any of those disciplines, or the ability to apply principles of any of those disciplines to basic or applied research
Social Worker Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Sylviculturist (including Forestry Specialist) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Technical Publications Writer Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or Post-Secondary Diploma or Post-Secondary Certificate, and three years experience
Urban Planner (including Geographer) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Vocational Counsellor Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Medical/Allied Professional
Dentist D.D.S., D.M.D., Doctor en Odontologia or Doctor en Cirugia Dental; or state/provincial license
Dietitian Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state/provincial license
Medical Laboratory Technologist (Canada)/Medical Technologist (Mexico and the United States)6 Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or Post-Secondary Diploma or Post-Secondary Certificate, and three years experience
Nutritionist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Occupational Therapist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state/provincial license
Pharmacist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state/provincial license
Physician (teaching or research only) M.D. or Doctor en Medicina; or state/provincial license
Physiotherapist/Physical Therapist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or state/provincial license
Psychologist State/provincial license; or Licenciatura Degree
Recreational Therapist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Registered Nurse State/provincial license; or Licenciatura Degree
Veterinarian D.V.M., D.M.V. or Doctor en Veterinaria; or state/provincial license
Scientist
Agriculturist (including Agronomist) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Animal Breeder Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Animal Scientist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Apiculturist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Astronomer Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Biochemist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Biologist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Chemist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Dairy Scientist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Entomologist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Epidemiologist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Geneticist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Geologist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Geochemist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Geophysicist (including Oceanographer in Mexico and the United States) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Horticulturist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Meteorologist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Pharmacologist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Physicist (including Oceanographer in Canada) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Plant Breeder Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Poultry Scientist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Soil Scientist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Zoologist Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Teacher
College Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
Seminary Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree
University Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree

 

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