Adjustment of Status: Pursuing a Green Card while in TN Status

• A TN nonimmigrant worker must maintain bona fide nonimmigrant intent throughout the TN worker’s stay in the United States. This means the TN worker must intend to depart the U.S. at the conclusion of the TN employment.

• Although a pending labor certification or Form I-140 petition for permanent employment is not a bar to admission, filing an application for adjustment of status may make it difficult, if not impossible, for a TN applicant to prove a bona fide nonimmigrant intent. Filing for adjustment of status, therefore, may adversely affect an individual’s ability to seek new admission as a TN nonimmigrant.

• In these situations, our office often recommends a TN worker to pursue a Green Card through consular processing. In such cases, the TN worker is in a better position to argue bona fide nonimmigrant intent. The argument is that, since the TN worker must return to Canada for Immigrant Visa Processing, the TN worker's current admission to the United States is temporary.