TN Visa Period Extended to Three (3) Years

USCIS has announced that the maximum period of time a TN visa holder can remain in the U.S. from one (1) year to three (3) years.  The TN initial period is now equal to the three (3) year initial period of admission granted to H-1B holders.

About the TN Visa

The TN nonimmigrant classification is visa category available to eligible Mexicans and Canadians ith at least a bachelor’s degree or appropriate professional credentials who work in certain qualified fields pursuant to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Qualified professions identified within NAFTA include, but are not limited to, accountants, engineers, attorneys, pharmacists, scientists, and teachers.  There is no annual cap for the TN visa and during fiscal year 2006, there were a total of 74,098 TN admissions into the U.S.

About the Three-year Extension

This improvement to the TN nonimmigrant category was initially announced by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez on Aug. 10, 2007 and we wrote about the proposed rule in May.

One of the biggest criticisms of the TN visa’s one (1) year period was the continuing need to travel in and out of the U.S. to obtain extensions.  This has caused a great deal of lost productivity and inconvenience for employers and employees alike.  This final rule will ease administrative burdens and costs on TN workers. It will also benefit U.S. employers by increasing the amount of time TN nonimmigrants will be able to work for them before having to seek an extension of status. Spouses and unmarried minor children of TN nonimmigrants in their corresponding nonimmigrant classifications will also benefit from the new regulation.