USCIS Proposal to Increase Periods of Stay for TN Professional Worker from Canada or Mexico

WASHINGTON - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on May 5, 2008 that it is publishing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to increase the maximum amount of time a Trade-NAFTA (TN) professional worker from Canada or Mexico can remain in the United States before seeking readmission or obtaining an extension of stay.  The proposal will extend the maximum period of admission for TN workers from one year to three years.

The proposed rule will further allow eligible TN nonimmigrants to be granted an extension of stay in increments of up to three years, as opposed to the current maximum of one year.  TN nonimmigrants are not subject to a maximum period of stay and thus may seek multiple readmissions or extensions, provided their intended professional activity continues and they remain otherwise eligible.  

Canadian and Mexican citizens seeking temporary entry to the United States as professionals may come into the country as TN nonimmigrants under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  TN status is available to Canadian and Mexican citizens with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, or appropriate professional credentials. 

Eligible TN professions include, but are not limited to, accountants, engineers, attorneys, pharmacists, scientists, and teachers.  The NPRM, once implemented as a final rule, will ease administrative burdens and costs on TN nonimmigrants and will benefit U.S. employers by increasing the period of time beneficiaries are allowed to remain in the United States under a TN visa.  The proposed changes would also apply to spouses and
unmarried, minor children of TN nonimmigrants in their corresponding nonimmigrant classifications as NAFTA dependents.