Presentations for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

I recently gave two talks to the members of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Northern Nevada (HCCNN), which I believe were very beneficial to business owners in Reno. The first(in Spanish)was at the HCCNN monthly "desayuno" breakfast meeting at the delicious El Pescador Restaurant. As that talk seemed to go quite well, I was invited back to do a second presentation(in English) at the HCCNN monthly lunch meeting at the Circus Circus Casino. The talks were slightly different but they both centered around explaining the TN-1 visa for Mexicans and how it can help Mexican professionals and American businesses. I did this partly because it seems that not a lot of business owners know much about the TN-1 or how useful it can be.

If a person from Mexico has a bachelor's or "licenciatura" in a particular field that qualifies and a job offer for employment in a field which is on the NAFTA Free Trade List of Professions, the person can qualify for a TN-1 visa. It's pretty much that simple. If the person is in the U.S. and wants to change status, their status here must be legal in order to do so. However, any Mexican professional worker who qualifies can also request the visa at the American Embassy in Mexico City, or at one of the American Consulates in Mexico.
Since the visa is a result of a "Free Trade Agreement" between the North American nations, the Embassy has every incentive to approve TN-1 visas whenever possible. Otherwise, the "agreement" could be in question. On top of that, the TN-1 allows American businesses to bring professional workers that are needed and the U.S. Embassy generally supports visa petitions when they are valid and can benefit American businesses. The TN-1 status will be good for one year upon entry to the U.S. but can be extended every year, indefinitely, as long as there is a job offer that qualifies for TN-1. The extension can be done inside the U.S. or by traveling home once a year. A person who enters the U.S. with a TN-1 must either work for the employer who gave the job offer,or file a petition with immigration to change or add employers. As long as the employment qualifies, a TN-1 visa holder could have several employers over time.

I highlighted some of the professions that qualify for a TN-1 visa that I thought would be of particular interest to businesses in Reno:
• Accountant
• College Instructor or Professor
• Computer Systems Analyst
• Engineer
• Graphic Designer
• Hotel Manager
• Industrial Designer
• Interior Designer
• Management Consultant
• Medical Technologist
• Nutritionist
• Occupational Therapist
• Pharmacist
• Registered Nurse
• Scientific Technician/Technologist5
• Social Worker
• Technical Publications Writer

It's easy to see that the TN-1 benefits both Mexican professionals and American businesses, most especially in cases where bilingual workers are in high demand (although there is no English language fluency requirement for the TN-1 visa). The best news of all is that, with a little guidance, an American employer and/or a Mexican worker could put together the paperwork necessary to request this visa. In many cases, an immigration attorney would be optional.

This Trade Agreement was also made with Canada. Over the years, I have worked with many Canadian TN-1 visa holders. However, very few professional Mexicans use this status in my experience. For a number of years, there was a very strict quota and a requirement to file a Labor Condition Application (LCA) for Mexican workers, which discouraged a lot of employers. However, those requirments were removed to make the TN-1 for Mexico equal to the one for Canada. Perhaps many people still do not know this. Given that the TN-1 for Mexico is now as simple as the one for Canada, I encouraged these businesses to keep the TN-1 visa in mind the next time they were considering a Mexican applicant for a professional position that might be on the NAFTA list.