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UPDATE ON CBP ADMISSION OF MEXICAN TN VISA WORKERS

Brian D. Zuccaro

As discussed here in many previous posts, CBP officers have been incorrectly limiting the admission period of Mexican TN visa workers to 1 year instead of the 3-year period authorized under the TN visa regulations. Despite repeated assurances from CBP that its officers have been notified of this rule, Mexican TN visa workers still face this issue when entering the U.S. See, e.g. AILA/CBP National Liaison Meeting, pg. 12 (AILA Doc. No. 15020541 – posted 2/5/15).

I have previously written about how a Mexican TN visa worker can take steps to ensure that he/she is admitted for the full 3-year period authorized under the TN visa regulations. To recap, the following steps can be taken:

  • Ensure that the U.S. Embassy/Consulate has annotated your visa to confirm that the employer has requested a 3-year period of stay.

  • Have a copy of the employer's TN support letter requesting a 3-year period of stay when seeking entry to the U.S.

  • Have a copy of the DHS regulations for the TN visa classification showing that 3-year periods of stay are authorized.

  • Have a copy of the Foreign Affairs Manual (9 FAM 41.112 N1), which describes the difference between visa stamps and admission periods.

If an individual still cannot convince the CBP officer to issue a 3-year period of stay, CBP has advised that the individual can request to speak to an on-site supervisor. AILA/CBP National Liaison Meeting, pg. 12 (AILA Doc. No. 15020541 – posted 2/5/15). If still not successful, the CBP national office has stated that a TN visa worker may later go to a CBP deferred inspection office to have his/her period of stay corrected to 3 years. Id.

UPDATE 3/6/2015: In response to complaints about this issue from the San Diego AILA Chapter, the San Diego CBP office also confirmed that "[o]fficers should be issuing the I-94 through the duration as listed on the employment letter or stamp annotation." The San Diego CBP office stated that it will send a reminder to the field, and also raise the issue in upcoming briefings with field officers. See San Diego AILA / CBP Meeting (AILA Doc. No. 15022562 - posted 2/25/15).