Skip to content
USAvisaU.S. VISA SUPPORTKelowna
Let’s talk
FOR PROFESSIONALS · KELOWNAKelowna

Your talent.A bigger stage.

Suppose a Kelowna professional is offered a US position with an equity package. TN review must examine the listed profession and qualifications as well as the ownership and control the applicant would actually hold. A salary does not erase a self-employment issue, while the mere word equity should not replace a factual assessment. A first review should turn the proposed position into a short evidence map: profession, credential, employer, control rights, and intended temporary assignment. That map exposes whether the key decision is a changed offer term, a missing qualification record, or a different immigration category before travel is booked.

Talk about TN
PurposeTemporary professional work
Starting pointA qualifying, prearranged role
Key distinctionCitizenship, not residency
01

Identify the professional work

Describe the actual deliverables and responsibilities and compare them with the precise listed USMCA profession. Each profession has its own qualification rule; experience cannot universally replace a required credential. Canadian or Mexican citizenship is required, rather than Canadian residence alone. Ask for a weekly-duty outline, reporting line, and the work product expected from the professional. The useful comparison is between the real work and the listed profession, not between an appealing job title and a broad résumé.

02

Read the equity and control terms

Disclose shares, options, voting rights and relevant agreements. Sole or controlling ownership of the US entity receiving the professional services is outside permitted TN activity. Do not assume the percentage on a compensation summary describes every right or that a salary proves an unrelated employment relationship. Read side letters, repurchase rights, board rights, and family holdings with the same care as the option notice. Control can arise through rights that never appear in the headline ownership percentage.

03

Reconcile the offer and agreements

Identify the legal employer, remuneration and intended period, including any customer or intermediary arrangement. Explain what equity is currently held and what is merely proposed. A future grant should not be represented as present ownership, and existing control should not be omitted. Put the offer, payroll arrangement, service contract, and corporate chart beside one another. Inconsistency about who directs the work is a problem to resolve before it becomes a statement in an application.

04

Choose the actual procedure

Canadian citizens may apply for TN at a port of entry without a TN visa stamp, or a U.S. employer may file Form I-129; Mexican citizens generally need the visa process. Disclose the actual immigration history and temporary-stay circumstances before relying on any route. Choose the procedure only after the substantive record is complete. A Canadian citizen may request TN admission from an inspecting officer or through preclearance, while an employer may use USCIS Form I-129 where that procedure fits; TN cannot be used for self-directed business activity in America.

SOURCES FOR THIS GUIDE

Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.

PUT THE DETAILS TO WORK

Guides for your next decision.

Applicant planning

Build a TN employer evidence brief before drafting the letter

Read & prepare U.S. destination planning

Canadian RN planning for New York State

Read & prepare U.S. destination planning

Canadian RN planning for California

Read & prepare
TN · KELOWNA

YOUR QUESTIONS.
A CLEARER START.

KEEP EXPLORING

A LITTLE MORE CLARITY.

APPLICANT PLANNING

Read the equity agreement alongside the TN offer

Read the guide APPLICANT PLANNING

Separate Canadian residence from the citizenship evidence a US category needs

Read the guide APPLICANT PLANNING

Assign a separate permission check to each family activity

Read the guide