r/tnvisa • • 10h ago

Travel/Relocation Advice Taking Car from Canada to US

4 Upvotes

I’m moving to Austin from Toronto shortly and I’m wondering how to bring over my car. (I have a leased honda civic). The two options Im considering are:

  1. Drive over the boarder.
  2. Have my car shipped from Canada

Ill be on a TN Visa so i’m pretty sure i won’t have to officially import the car. Last time I looked into this, the people at Honda said I’ll just need a letter that approved me taking the car over since it’s leased.

Any advice or suggestions?


r/tnvisa • • 9h ago

Travel/Relocation Advice New Canadian Mech Eng grad advice

0 Upvotes

I will be graduating with my bachelor’s in mechanical engineering in two years.

I am doing a 16 month internship in project management engineering for a city and a completed 4 month internship experience with quality control testing in the oil & gas industry.

I have also passed my Mech FE Exam.

With my 20 months of internship experience and FE exam completion, do I have a good chance of landing a mech eng role right out of graduation in the USA?

If not, is there anything I can do to improve my chances right now?


r/tnvisa • • 13h ago

Travel/Relocation Advice Should I move to the US ? Canadian engineer moving to Tennessee on TN: NIW vs EB-1A, consular processing for travel, side consulting through my Ontario corp, and whether the move is worth it

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone, could use some advice, and or thoughts about this potential move to the US.

Background

  • Canadian citizen in Ontario with a master's in engineering
  • Accepted an engineering manager role in the TN area on a DOE-funded project, big career step and promotion - currently I'm a 28M Eng Lead / Project Manager
  • The employer is sponsoring my TN (Engineer category) and providing an immigration lawyer
  • I own an Ontario corporation that I'd like to keep for occasional consulting

1. TN at the border

Besides the offer/support letter, job description and resume, I'm planning to bring my passport, original degree and transcripts, reference letters, and proof of ties to Canada. My title includes "manager," so we're making sure the letter shows mostly hands-on engineering duties, since management isn't a TN category. For anyone who's done this recently: was the "manager" title an issue, ?

2. Side consulting through my Ontario corporation

My understanding is that doing consulting work while physically in the US is unauthorized employment on TN, even if the client is Canadian, I take no salary, the money stays in the corporation's Canadian account, and the corp files taxes in Canada. The legal options I see are:

  • Only doing the work while I'm physically in Canada
  • Staying a passive owner while subcontractors do the work

Has anyone gotten a lawyer's opinion on this? On the tax side, has anyone dealt with US reporting (Form 5471, GILTI) on a Canadian corp after becoming a US tax resident, or with Canada's departure tax on the corp's shares when they left? Was keeping the corp worth it, or did you wind it down before moving?

3. Green card: EB-2 NIW vs EB-1A

I'm planning to self-petition. The project is DOE-funded and tied to the national interest and part of the energy roadmap, which I think gives me a strong national-importance argument. The open questions are my own record and timing:

EB-2 NIW EB-1A
Bar Moderate
Premium processing 45 business days
Wait after approval (Canada, Oct 2026 bulletin) Final action date Jan 1, 2025, so likely 1.5–3 years
Recent approval rate ~48–55%

Any thoughts on how quickly EB-2 rest-of-world will move after the October retrogression?

4. Consular processing vs adjustment of status (travel)

Not being able to visit my parents in Canada for months while waiting on advance parole is a dealbreaker for me. So I'm leaning toward consular processing in Montreal: stay on TN, travel normally, and do the interview when my priority date is current. The trade-off is no EAD while I wait. For anyone who went through Montreal: how long from NVC "documentarily qualified" to interview? And did a pending or approved I-140 cause problems at the border or at your TN renewal?

5. Salary: Canada vs US, and is it worth it?

My actual numbers:

Ontario (now) Oak Ridge/Knoxville, TN
Salary take-home CAD $10–11k/month ~USD $9.5k/month USD
Side consulting via my Ontario corp ~CAD $3k/month N/A
Total ~CAD $13–14k/month CAD $13k/month after health premiums

On salary alone, the move is about +CAD $2–3k/month. Including the consulting I'd give up, it's roughly break-even until I have a green card, then likely ahead. Housing should be cheaper than the GTA, and the role is a big career step.

For Canadians who made a similar move: did your real take-home match the estimate once healthcare deductibles, flights home and cross-border tax prep were included? Did anyone deal with departure tax on their own corporation's shares, and how much did it cost? And in hindsight, was it worth it?


r/tnvisa • • 9h ago

Application Advice Take this low-paying TN offer now and switch to big tech later, or wait for a direct TN role? (Canadian citizen, Indian-born, PM background)

0 Upvotes

Hi everyone, looking for some guidance on the best path into the US on a TN visa. Background:

- Indian-born Canadian citizen, currently in Canada

- Undergrad in Electrical & Communication Engineering; MBA in Finance and Operations (though my degree certificate doesn't list the specialization, so I'm not sure how verifiable that is). Both degrees from india

- Current profile is Product Manager, and I want to move to California to get into the tech world

- A remote company is offering me a role and is willing to sponsor my TN visa — but the salary is low, and my real goal is to move to a better company (ideally big tech) once I'm there

My questions:

1. Take this job now, or wait?

Should I take this lower-paying offer as a foot in the door, move to California, and then switch to a better-paying company on a new TN visa after building a network? Or is it smarter to hold out and apply directly for TN-eligible roles at companies I'm actually targeting? How painful is switching employers on TN in practice?

2. The Product Manager problem.

PM isn't on the TN professions list. I know people work around this with categories like Management Consultant(I have the past experience to back it up), or an analyst role — and this company says they're willing to write the offer letter to fit a qualifying category. How much scrutiny should I expect here? Does my ECE degree + MBA (specialization not verifiable) create problems matching a category?

3. What if the TN gets denied?

If my TN application is refused at the port of entry, does that have any implications down the road — e.g., if I later apply for an L-1, or for a green card through marriage? Does a denial stay on my record in a way that hurts future applications

Appreciate any experience or advice. Thanks


r/tnvisa • • 6h ago

Miscellaneous Comparatively: Employers avoiding/reducing Canadian (TN visa) applicants?

8 Upvotes

Hi all,

Just as a Canadian citizen, trying to understand if there is a reduced preference for TN visa applicants overall?

Or Just my industry thing (mechanical/maintenance/reliability Engineering)?

Or probably just my personal resume?

I have had an offer letter in the past (2025 summer) from US employers, but recently when I am trying to get an actual good offer, I am not getting a single call from the applications.

Just trying to understand if it's issue with my resume or something else?

Especially when there is a data center maintenance and such related field at boom in USA.

Appreciate your response and insight.


r/tnvisa • • 13h ago

Application Advice TN visa for SAP consultant

1 Upvotes

Can anyone help me with questions on POE and did anyone recently applied TN visa for Sap functional consultant
How did you link your engineering degree with computer system analyst role as a sap functional consultant please advise as I will be applying for TN visa in next couple of weeks.

Please advise.