Letter of employment Getting your TN Visa
My letters of employment have all had specific dates on them, most times with the start date and an anticipated length of stay. With the length of stay being a year. I'm not sure if they would accept a letter with an ambiguous start date.Because I do short term assignments and usually go home in between every couple of assignments, my letters usually say the specific dates of the assignment and then specify that I will be able to extend and continue to work for the company for a period of not less than a year. Getting that 'year' in there is important because they issue the Visa's for up to a year. Right now, because of my companies letter, my Visa is only for 6 weeks. I've never had such a short Visa before! But I was heading home anyway so it really doesn't matter (except it'll cost another $56 next time I want to cross over)
If you can't afford to have problems at the border then I'd ask the company to send you another letter with the specific start date on it. I've found that they are getting very particular at the borders now. More than they used to.
This is what they want to see on the letter
1. The Profession which the applicant is coming to fill.
2. A Description of the professional activities and/or duties which the applicant will perform
3. The anticipated period of stay (*1 year temporary position)
4. The salary which the applicant will be paid during the course of their employment and
5. Any benefits the applicant will receive in addition to salary, i.e., vacation and sick time, retirement benefits, and any others that is received from employment.Also the immigration officer noted to put the specific location of duty
You very well might get through with your letter. BUT, I think it all depends on the day and the way the wind blows. I've gotten across many times with a faxed copy of my letter but I was turned back once because it wasn't an original copy, so you can bet I make sure they Fed Ex me the original, even if it means Fed Exing a revised one.
Also, I've been turned back because the letter was inadequate, so make sure my letters are complete now.
Here's a Sample letter that has all the info they want in it.
This is to verify that W....B..... , a duly Registered Nurse in the state of California is employed by
Travel Company X
address ......Ms B...... will reside in the state of California where she will be assigned to work in the CVICU, Cardio Vascular Intensive Care Unit, at Mama Mia Medical Center, Yaba Daba California, effective September 6, 2002. It is our intention to retain Ms B.....'s services for a minimum of six months to one year from date of hire. Her assignment at Mama Mia is for a minimum of 4 weeks, with an option to extend. If she opts not to extend she will be assigned to work one of several hospitals That Travel Company A staffs throughout the country. Ms B..... specialty provides critical care that consists of performing patient care duties and taking care of acutely ill patients. She is guaranteed a work week of minimum of 48 hours per week at a rate of $35 per hour. She will per provided housing and medical benefits while on assignment with us.
Travel Company X conducts thorough reference checks, background checks and random drug screening on all employees. Ms B...... meets or exceeds all of our standards and qualifications. If you have any questions concerning Ms B.......'s employment with Travel Company X please contact us at your convenience.
sincerely,
yada yada..Also, make sure you have your state license, your degree from your canadian nursing school (sometimes they'll accept your provincial license) Your passport, and $56 dollars.
Also have your SSI, know the address of the hospital, the name and phone number of a hospital contact, your recruiters name and phone number, the address and phone of your housing. They have asked for each and every one of these things from me, although not all at the same time.
I usually put all my documents,... addresses, names and phone numbers, licenses, degree, passport, SSI and money, in a folder. Things go smoother when you are prepared.
Like I said before, I think it just depends on the immigration officer, what his day has been like, if he's in a good mood, or if he got up on the wrong side of the bed, whether they decide to let you through or give you trouble. If your letter has everything they want in it, then there is no reason to question it OR to turn you back.
From somebody who's had more than her share of TN Visa's... be prepared! Be over
prepared!
Adventures in Tijuana
(just a short story...and it isn't always short and sweet)I always get a new TN VISA at a Canadian Border. My only experience is with the borders that butt onto Ontario Canada. But when I found myself changing companies while down in California I thought I'd simply go to the Tijuana border and get another TN Visa.. Easy? Well it should have been.
The first try was my own mistake. I just never thought that it was a holiday. We don't have Presidents day in Canada and February 18th was just another Monday. Wrong! it was a holiday monday and somehow I got caught in the traffic at the border and was whisked across into Tijuana, where I found all the traffic signs in Mexican (okay rightly so, but not easy to read for a girl from the true north strong and free). So while I was trying to read the signs without wiping out passing motorcyclists and trying to find a return route to the USA border a friendly cab driver pulled up next to me. After a few well gestured hand signals directed at me for being in a wrong lane, he finally gestured the correct route to get back to the border. He probably felt I was safer out of his country than in it and decided the helpful way was the best. So a left and another left and I was at the end of a mile long traffic jam that was headed north.
I got into the swing of the jam and kept creeping forward, never giving an inch to let other motorists ahead of me. It seemed to be the way of the mob. I switched lanes into what seemed to be the fastest only to have to switch back a few yards later. In general I maneuvered my minivan into the slowest moving lane heading towards San Diego. All the while a constant parade of vendors and hawkers came by trying to sell their wares. Did I want a large brightly painted statue of an eagle? Or maybe a few huge blown glass vases to hold paper flowers? Well I certainly couldn’t live another minute without a heavy blanket adorned with pictures of roman warriors and goddesses. I could live another moment, and I did, as I waited and watched and crept forward at a steady snails pace.
Finally, an hour and a half after I first joined the procession it was my turn. I explained to the border guard that I needed a new TN Visa and he helpfully directed me to a building left of me and past 16 lanes of oncoming traffic. I smiled and headed across amid honking horns and upraised fingers, but I managed to get to my destination unscathed. There a very helpful customs agent told me that the TN Visa department was closed today, “Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays ma’am” and suggested I come back the next day to get instructions on how to get my TN Visa. A thanks, and I went back to my Hotel in San Diego to wait another day.
Tuesday. I started the day feeling ill from a pizza I probably shouldn’t have eaten. With an upset stomach and firm resolve not to get caught in Tijuana traffic again I headed back down to SanYsidro and the border. This time I paid $6 to park, and then walked towards the border. There I asked a guard where the special cases department was. I was directed towards the entrance to Mexico.” I go into Mexico”, she said “turn around and come back and on the way I’ll see the Special Cases building, right past the pharmacy” It was there that my TN Visa would be processed. Thank you and the long walk over the bridge began. Up, up, up, over all that traffic and back down, down, down. I have to admit it was better than driving in all the traffic. So I make it into traffic and ask two gentlemen in business suits how I get back to the American side. “ Oh you can’t” they say, winking at each other “Once you’re here, you’re here” Ha ha ha, funny guys, then they put me out of my misery and pointed out the way back, kind of like Hansel dropping bread crumbs. I turned and walked up yet another bridge which dropped me to the left of six or seven lanes of traffic lined up bumper to bumper. I asked a kindly looking young lady how to get to the American side and with her hand she motioned a kind of dance directed towards the traffic. I followed her lead and proceeded to dodge cars, trucks, vans and busses and wandered through traffic towards the right side of the road. There I headed north and towards San Diego, deja vue.
When I got to the border guard I asked where special cases was, he pointed to the building directly ahead, which was beside one of a dozen pharmacies lining the road, and I went up and stood in line. At my turn I handed over my passport, explained my situation and what I needed, gave my letter of employment as requested and stood and waited by the wall for my name to be called.Not long after that my name was called, and it was pointed out that I only had a fax of my letter of employment, not the original. The last 3 times I’d come across the border I’d used a fax copy, but this time they wanted the original, which was their right. They gave me a copy of what was needed to get my TN Visa, underlined some things that were lacking in mine, and sent me back to San Diego to try yet again. So another line, some baggage searches, an explanation or two to a customs guard who couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t have accepted the faxed document. And I was again standing in California Visaless.
Back to the, now not so quaint motel at Fishermans Wharf, I phoned my recruiter and explained my situation. She was also amazed that the standard letter of employment they’d used to get countless Canadian RN’s across the border was now deemed deficient. It needed a detailed list of my duties as an RN, a full description of my benefits and wages, and a complete length of assignment time, among other things. We briefly considered flying to the Washington/British Columbia border to get the Visa but decided to give Tijuana one more try. A Fedex was upcoming, an updated letter of employment, and me armed with every piece of identification they could ever ask for.
Next day turned out to be the charm. Third time and all! I followed my same route, stood in line waving my documents a the Special Cases Building, and, after a few well thought out questions about why I was changing companies, I did receive my Visa.
Thank you!
Good Bye Tijuana! .
NCLEX Information
Step by step to your TN Visa
- Have available:
- Letter of offer of employment from your company or hospital
- Proof of Canadian Citizenship, Birth Certificate, Passport, etc.
- Diploma from Provincial Nursing Program
- Provincial Nursing License
- Nursing License for State of Employment
- Proof of Marriage if applicable
- Spouses proof of citizenship if applicable
- Name, address and phone number of Hospital and contact person.
- Name, address and phone number of Travel company and contact person.
- Address and phone number of your housing while on assignment.
- Proof of Marriage if applicable
- Fee (and that of spouse if Applicable
- *Like a Good Boy Scout... Always be prepared!
- Present yourself, the documents above, and the fee to a USA Canadian border.
- Fill out the application using the information from above.
- A NAFTA officer will process your application and you'll be on your way.