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The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) created free trade relations between the United States, Mexico and Canada. In the course of this, a special US work visa was created for Canadian and Mexican nationals. We explain what requirements must be met and whether the follow-up agreement USMCA has resulted in changes for the TN visa.
Mexican and Canadian citizens can work in the USA with the TN visa. The abbreviation "TN" stands for Treaty NAFTA. This designation was simply maintained after the introduction of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The USMCA is the successor agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
The requirements for applying for a TN visa are met if:
The so-called USMCA Professionals include, among others
There are different options for the TN visa application process for Mexican and Canadian citizens respectively:
| Canada |
as a rule: alternatively: |
| Mexiko |
as a rule: alternatively: |
The fee varies depending on where or when the TN visa is applied for:
In principle, the TN visa is valid for up to three years and can be extended again and again for a maximum of another three years upon application.
For spouses and children there is the possibility to obtain a derived status, the so-called TD status or TD visa. "TD" stands for Trade Dependents.
Please note that the application for a General Work Permit (Employment Authorization Document, EAD) is not possible here. If necessary, it must be checked alternatively whether a separate TN visa should be applied for.
How high the costs for US visas are depends on which visa is applied for. Generally speaking, the more application steps are required and the more US authorities are involved, the more expensive the visa application will be. The application fees for US visas can therefore vary greatly.
Anyone applying for a visa for the USA at a US consulate or embassy must pay the following fees:
Additional costs are incurred for application procedures via the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), such as applications for US work visas.
You can find more information about the different visa fees, other possible costs and the current payment methods on our fees page.
NAFTA has become the USA-Mexico-Canada Agreement: The free trade agreement known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, has replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, concluded in 1994. The USMCA trade agreement entered into force on July 1, 2020.
The USCMA agreement is essentially based on NAFTA. The legislation on labor mobility will also largely continue under the USMCA free trade agreement. The list of professions that were eligible for TN work visas under NAFTA has not been expanded.
The requirements for applicants are therefore the same as under NAFTA. The designation TN or TD has also been retained. This means that the difficulty of obtaining a TN visa has not changed significantly.
We advise you on the choice of the appropriate visa category and take over the complete processing for you or your company.
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