I’m Canadian and got a engineering job in San Francisco. Now, I was ready for my interview and everything (lots of call with my attorney). I had every documents required, but at the end, they told me that there was no end date on my job offer and decided to give me only 6 months, instead of the 3 years... I was in shock since I showed them I owned a house in Canada and was just coming to the US to get work experience. I was in Toronto airport and the officer was a total dick. They made me wait for 2 hours and I almost miss my flight... I didn’t say anything bad, I kept my cool and stayed factual. How do I extend my TN after?
The offer letter needs an end date. Your lawyers should have known
I checked online and forums, and it’s not. Most of the time, if there is none they will give the 3 years but it always depends on the interview/officer...
The internet and forums lied to you. The best practice is to have the start and end date in your offer letter that is presented. Be thankful that the customs agent gave you 6 months and be better prepared next time. All you need to do is exit and re-enter the country to get the 3 year visa so you have nothing to worry about anyhow
Toronto airport is notorious for getting TN visa. You could have just driven to the US through any port of entry and it will be much easier.
Yeah I heard about if afterwards... sight.
They delayed you for two hours and you didn't miss your flight? How early were you?
I had a 3h35 hours stop in Toronto in between Montreal/San Francisco. Walking around (30m) + lines (30m) + officer (2h)...
That's your mistake. You should have taken a direct flight from Montréal.
Don't be so defensive. I don't think anyone in here is trying to be mean. Just learn your lesson and everything will be fine next time. TN is very subjective so you need to do everything in your power to set yourself up for success. There are lots of great tips in here.
I know those are all good tips, but I don’t get why it’s my mistake. My point is that I trusted the company’s lawyer and I guess it backfired. Plus, the overall process is subjective to the officer/airport. Anyways I’ll have a good conversation with them this week. I would have preferred missing my flight and get the right one...
It’s not your mistake but you are the one applying for TN status and the custom officials have the absolute power to deny you when they see fit. It looks like you are new to the US immigration system. Get used to it. You are still in a much better position than Indians who are legally on H1B for over a decade and can be denied a transfer or an extension for no reason.
Since you only have 6 months left on your TN, you should ask your lawyers to extend your TN as soon as you start working. They can apply for extension through USCIS while you are working. If everything goes well you can stay in the US and you will get a 3-year TN status.
Yep that’s the plan !
Ask your lawyer do the next one with paper applicantion.
Ask to work with a different lawyer while you sort out the TN issues. Obviously he/she has not worked on TNs recently.
Ask your lawyer to get a pre-approval notice (I-797B) from USCIS. Otherwise you would have to convince a non-tech CBP officer for hours. Most of them don’t even know what TN visa is and they were told to ask stupid questions like “% of your time you are coding daily”. Your lawyer should have known this already.
Sincere question. Are you really going to go back to Canada?
Sincere answer, I don’t know. I mean it’s hard to predict the future, but I’m truly here for work experience.
That is what immigration maybe coming to grips with also.