Treaty classification
TN — USMCA Professional
TN is the lightest packet of any employment classification, which is exactly why it gets under-prepared. The profession must appear on the USMCA list, the beneficiary's credential must be the one that list specifies, and the role must be professional rather than a management position in disguise. Border and USCIS adjudicators both focus on whether the duties genuinely fall within the listed profession.
Governing standard
USMCA Appendix 2 profession list with credential match
8 CFR 214.6; USMCA Chapter 16 Appendix 2
- Denial rate after RFE
- 7.4%
- Median processing
- 41 days
- Form
- I-129
- Initial RFE rate
- 9.2%
- Median exhibit pages
- 45
- Manual assembly
- 3 hrs
- On Docket Build
- 12 min
Statutory criteria
What the record has to establish.
Each element below is a mapped criterion in the Docket Build criteria pack, with its citation and the evidence types that satisfy it.
Profession appears on the USMCA list
USMCA App. 2
- Support letter mapping duties to the listed profession
Beneficiary holds the specified credential
214.6(d)(2)
- Degree
- Licence
- Experience where the list allows it
Citizenship of Canada or Mexico
214.6(b)
- Passport or citizenship certificate
Temporary entry with a US employer
214.6(d)(3)
- Employer letter with duration and terms
Failure modes
What actually draws a request on a TN.
Compiled from the request language our customers record on their own matters and from published AAO decisions in this classification.
Full RFE trends hub- Duties that describe a management role rather than the listed profession
- Support letter that names a job title instead of the USMCA profession
- Degree in a field the profession list does not accept
- Open-ended employment described in a way that undercuts temporary intent
Document checklist
What a complete filing carries.
Full printable checklist →Core documents
Employer support letter
Naming the exact USMCA profession and mapping duties to it
Degree certificate and transcripts
Matching the credential the profession list specifies
Credential evaluationwhere applicable
For non-US, non-Canadian, non-Mexican degrees
Proof of citizenship
Canadian or Mexican passport
Professional licencewhere applicable
Where the listed profession requires state licensure
If filing with USCIS
Form I-129 with TN supplementwhere applicable
For change of status or extension inside the US
Form G-28where applicable
Executed by petitioner and attorney
Current I-94 and prior TN approvalswhere applicable
Status continuity
Also treaty
Related classifications.
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