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If you're posting on Hacker News, you probably have a skill set that'll allow you to get a job covered by a TN.

You go to border control, tell them you're applying for a TN, hand them a copy of your identification, resume, credentials, and offer letter. Then you wait for a couple of hours while they process you, and you're set for the next few years. Rinse and repeat until your job sponsors you for an H1-B or you marry an American citizen and can apply for a Green Card.

Of course, there's other ways - talk to an immigration lawyer - but that's the simplest.






You can apply for a Green Card directly from TN status, although timing has been an issue recently.

Not a lawyer, but isn't that kind of dicey? The TN is non-immigration and temporary - it's not supposed to be used if you have any intention of permanently migrating. I'd worry about it putting your TN status in jeopardy.

H1-B is non-immigrant and temporary. L1 is non-immigrant and temporary.

Going from TN to an immigrant visa via AOS is only risky in the sense that:

- After you've filed your i485 you will no longer be able to get TN status, this applies regardless of your non-immigrant status.

- You can't travel abroad between filing the i485 and receiving AP, which could be 6+ months.

On the plus side you get a Green Card and don't have to play the H1-B lottery.


H1-B and L-1 are both dual intent [0]. TN isn't.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_intent


True but that doesn't really impact your ability to apply for a Green Card from TN. You have to wait 91 days [0] since your last entry before making an adjustment of status application.

[0] https://www.boundless.com/immigration-resources/90-day-rule-...


Every year thousands of people in statuses like F-1, O-1 and TN get employment based green cards. The idea that you have to be in H-1B or L-1 status to get an employment GC is simply 100% false.

+1 idk why I people keep saying that TN and H1B are the same. They are fundamentally different visas

Nobody is saying that. They are in the same category of non-immigrant visas.

They are categorically not, see the above comment on dual intent.

You can get a TN visa cancelled for expressing desire to stay permanently


> They are categorically not, see the above comment on dual intent.

They are.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-inf...

> You can get a TN visa cancelled for expressing desire to stay permanently

That is not true provided you follow the 90 day rule.


In the conversation of moving to the US for work 90% of visas are going to be non immigrant so saying all non immigrant visas are equivalent is needlessly obtuse.

An H1b allows the person to enter the country with the intention of getting a GC and can do so without having to leave the country.

A TN visa is re issued every single time you cross the border and can be denied by a border guard on any amount of misrepresentation

Secondly, your advice about the 90 day rule without context is both bad advice and can get someone's visa cancelled and stuck out of the country.

For future readers. Don't take this advice, ask a lawyer and if you intend to get a GC don't go on a TN unless you want legal complexity.


You are incorrect and cite no sources. Even Immigration Lawyer Peter Roberts has commented on HN about the pathway to a GC from TN.

We agree on one thing however, consult a lawyer (you will have to anyway if you are pursuing a GC). A good lawyer will tell you the same thing.

It's a pathway thousands of Canadians have taken and will continue to take. Don't delay your life over the broken H1-B system.


It could be true that the immigration law is so opaque and changes so quickly that both our statements could be true depending on the year / circumstances...

With that being said for source you can review this site and many others that will say the same thing about intention to permanently reside with a TN visa

https://manifestlaw.com/blog/tn-visa-to-green-card

Lastly your statement of incorrectness also sites no sources so I guess we just both have our opinions at this point


> https://manifestlaw.com/blog/tn-visa-to-green-card

Nothing in that article contradicts anything I have said.

Not a great article either. Very boiler-plate and doesn't mention the 90 day rule for either TN to EB GC or marriage based GC.

> Lastly your statement of incorrectness also sites no sources so I guess we just both have our opinions at this point

Those figures are not public but it's a reasonable statement considering NAFTA has been in place since 1994, over fifty thousand Canadians have been awarded green cards over the last five years[0] and I am one of those people.

[0] - Page 2 - https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Diversity-Visa/DV...




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