TN Visa Categories: Complete List of TN Visa Professions

The TN visa is a great option for Canadian and Mexican citizens to work in the USA. Through the TN visa, you can work for a US company for years at a time. Best of all, your US employer can hire you by simply offering you a job without getting an approved labor certification through the Department of Labor.

The TN visa is only available to citizens of Canada and Mexico. In addition, the TN visa is only available for people to work in certain job categories. To qualify for a TN visa, your US job must be on the list of TN visa professions. The TN visa falls under the nonimmigrant NAFTA Professional (TN) category, which is a special classification for Canadian and Mexican citizens under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

In this guide, I will list all of the TN visa categories.

If you want to know whether your job qualifies as one of the listed TN visa categories, or if you have any questions about the TN visa, email me directly at contact@ashoorilaw.com. I would be happy to help you with your TN visa.

List of TN Visa Categories

What Are the TN Visa Job Categories?

To qualify for a TN work visa, your job must fall into one of the designated professional categories listed in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). There are more than 60 approved TN professions, which qualify as tn status jobs, grouped into four main categories: General Occupations, Medical, Science, and Teaching.

To get a TN work visa, your job must fall within one of the approved TN status jobs listed in the TN visa categories. I’ve listed the TN visa categories below.

The TN visa categories are broken into 4 main groups:

i. General Occupations

ii. Medical Occupations

iii. Scientist Occupations

iv. Teaching Occupations

i. General Occupations

• Accountant
• Architect
• Computer Systems Analyst
• Disaster Relief Insurance Claims Adjuster
• Economist
• Engineer
• Forester
• Graphic Designer
• Hotel Manager
• Industrial Designer
• Interior Designer
• Land Surveyor
• Landscape Architect
• Lawyer (Including Notary in the Province of Quebec)
• Librarian
• Management Consultant
• Mathematician (Including Statistician)
• Range Manager/Range Conservationist
• Research Assistant
• Scientific Technician/Technologist
• Social Worker
• Sylviculturist (Including Forestry Specialist)
• Technical Publications Writer
• Urban Planner (Including Geographer)
• Vocational Counselor

ii. Medical Occupations

• Dentist
• Dietician
• Medical Laboratory Technologist/Medical Technologist
• Nutritionist
• Occupational Therapist
• Pharmacist
• Physician (Teaching or Research Only)
• Physiotherapist/Physical Therapist
• Psychologist
• Recreational Therapist
• Registered Nurse
• Veterinarian

iii. Scientist Occupations

• Agriculturalist (Including Agronomist)
• Animal Breeder
• Animal Scientist
• Apiculturist
• Astronomer
• Biochemist
• Biologist (Including Plan Pathologist)
• Chemist
• Dairy Scientist
• Entomologist
• Epidemiologist
• Geneticist
• Geochemist
• Geologist
• Geophysicist (Including Oceanographer)
• Horticulturist
• Meteorologist
• Pharmacologist
• Physicist (Including Oceanographer)
• Plant Breeder
• Poultry Scientist
• Soil Scientist
• Zoologist

iv. Teacher Occupations

• College Teacher
• Seminary Teacher
• University Teacher

To get a TN visa, it is essential that your planned job in the United States is on the above list of TN visa professions.

TN Visa Requirements

What Is the TN Immigration Classification?

The TN visa is a nonimmigrant classification created under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), previously known as NAFTA. It allows eligible Canadian and Mexican professionals to work in the U.S. in pre-approved occupations. The official U.S. immigration classification is TN (Trade NAFTA) under 8 CFR § 214.6.

What Is TN-1 Status?

TN-1 status is the designation for Canadian citizens entering the U.S. under the TN visa classification. Canadian professionals do not need to obtain a visa stamp in their passport and can apply for TN status directly at a U.S. port of entry, preclearance station, or via USCIS if already in the U.S.

What Is Visa Type R TN?

When you receive a TN visa from a U.S. embassy or at the border, it may be labeled as “R TN”. The “R” stands for “Regular” nonimmigrant visa, while “TN” refers to the classification under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). This is a standard way for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to identify visa types.

What Is the TN Category?

The TN category refers to the nonimmigrant visa classification for professionals from Canada and Mexico under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). It includes over 60 approved occupations in fields like general professions, medicine, science, and teaching, allowing temporary work in the U.S. without labor certification.

Now that we’ve discussed the list of TN visa categories, lets quickly go over the TN visa requirements.

Under U.S. immigration law, the TN work visa is classified as a nonimmigrant visa category for NAFTA (now USMCA) professionals.

There are two types of TN visas: the TN-1 visa is for Canadian citizens, and the TN-2 visa is for Mexican citizens. TN-2 for Mexicans requires obtaining a visa stamp at a U.S. consulate or embassy before entry. While both provide the same work privileges, the application process differs slightly. Canadians can apply directly at a U.S. port of entry or pre-flight inspection, whereas Mexicans must first obtain a TN visa stamp at a U.S. consulate or embassy before entering.

To get a TN visa, there are 5 main requirements:

1. You must be a citizen of either Canada or Mexico

2. You must have an offer to work for a US company

3. Your proposed US job must be one of the above-listed TN visa categories

4. You must satisfy the educational and professional requirements for the US job

5. You must be seeking entry to the United States on a temporary basis (you must have non-immigrant intent). Proof of temporary intent includes ties to your home country, such as family or property.

Conclusion

If you’re a citizen of Canada or Mexico and you are looking for options to live and work in the United States, you should certainly look into the TN visa. Now that you’ve looked over this guide, you should have a much clearer understanding of the TN visa categories. While the TN visa is a nonimmigrant visa and requires the applicant to have nonimmigrant intent, it is still possible to adjust status to a green card under certain conditions. However, doing so can be complex, and applicants should consult with an experienced immigration attorney to avoid jeopardizing their status.

If you’d like to learn more about the TN visa, I invite you to check out my very helpful guide on the TN visa: TN Visa Guide: What You Need to Know About the TN Visa.

If you have any questions, or if you need help getting your TN visa, please feel free to email me directly at contact@ashoorilaw.com. I’d be happy to help you.

Resources:

TN Visa Guide: What You Need to Know About the TN Visa
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
Code of Federal Regulations Section 214.6