Submit Previous Employment Letters with Exact Employment Dates and Duties Performed

Do not submit vague previous employment letters in support of your TN application. This is especially important in applications where eligibility is not based on possession of a bachelor’s degree, but based on work experience, e.g., Management Consultants (eligible with five years experience); Graphic Designers, Industrial Designers, Hotel Managers (diploma plus three years experience); and Scientific Technician/Technologist (experience in agricultural sciences, astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering, forestry, geology, geophysics, meteorology, or physics).

Anytime an individual’s experience provides the basis for eligibility under one of the NAFTA TN categories, previous experience letters need to be submitted in support of the application. These letters should be on company stationary and signed by an authorized company representative. It is imperative that any letter provide the exact dates of employment and a description of the job duties performed in the position. To do otherwise may subject your application to denial.

Consider the following case (which I should add was not handled by our office). An individual applied for a TN as Management Consultant with the Nebraska Service Center (at that time the NSC adjudicated TN petitions). The applicant did not possess a degree, but instead allegedly had over ten years experience in the field. The NSC denied the petition arguing the applicant did not meet the minimum education or alternative requirements for a Management Consultant.

The applicant went through the additional expense to appeal the case. On appeal, the Administrative Appeals Office (“AAO”) agreed that the applicant had not met her burden of proof. The applicant did submit a previous employment letter with the original application. However, the AAO found that the letter did not specifically state the number of years the applicant worked in the field. Furthermore, the letter did not describe the duties performed. The AAO could not determine whether the applicant actually possessed the required experience to qualify for a TN. As result, the applicant expended a substantial amount of her time and money, only to lose out on the TN, and all because a document was not properly prepared the first time.

Read the AAO Decision here.