IN THIS GUIDE · A land surveyor whose licence is fine and whose invoicing arrangement is not
Start with the TN eligibility and application overview
The licence answers the personal half of the test, and only that half
The Land Surveyor entry is satisfied by a baccalaureate degree or by state, provincial or federal licensure, so Damien's Nova Scotia registration disposes of the question whether he is qualified. It does not touch two other questions people routinely fold into it. Whether he may sign and seal plats in Maine is a state licensing matter decided by that state's board, not by an immigration officer, and an admission in TN status confers no authority to practise. Whether the American position is itself surveying is a separate finding again, made on the described duties. Control, layout and as-built survey read as the profession; running the field crew's payroll and chasing subcontractors does not.
Invoicing through his own company is the part that actually fails
Self-employment in the United States is not permitted in TN status, and a sole practitioner who has always invoiced sits uncomfortably close to that boundary. The workable structure is prearranged professional services supplied to an American entity that directs the work and to which he is accountable, either as its employee or under a contract between it and his Canadian practice. It stops working if he registers an American company for the engagement, opens an office there, begins taking on other American clients from that base, or acquires a stake in the firm engaging him. Any ownership interest at all must be disclosed and examined before he applies rather than explained afterwards at a counter.
How a Canadian citizen presents the application, and what a petition changes
Canadian citizens generally seek TN admission in person at a port of entry or a preclearance facility, presenting the passport, the supporting letter and the credential, with no visa stamp involved. The alternative is for the American firm to file Form I-129 with USCIS and for Damien to present the approval at the border. Mexican citizens generally use the visa process instead. Either route produces admission for a period not exceeding three years, tied to the employment described in the paperwork. A petition costs money and time but produces a decision before anyone travels, which is worth having when a structure is unusual enough to invite questions.
What eighteen months of berth reconstruction does to the description
Long projects mutate. A berth job that begins as control and layout tends, by month nine, to have absorbed schedule management, subcontractor coordination and a share of site safety, because whoever is on site inherits whatever nobody else is doing. None of those additions is surveying, and enough of them together will turn a well-founded application into a doubtful one at renewal. Damien should agree at the outset which duties belong to him and which belong to the firm's project manager, and should insist the letter be reissued if that division moves. A description written for the first month and reused for the eighteenth is a contradiction waiting to be noticed.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.
- USCIS: TN NAFTA Professionals
- U.S. Department of State: USMCA professional workers
- Department of State: 9 FAM 402.17, TN and TD guidance
- eCFR: 8 CFR 214.6, Citizens of Canada or Mexico seeking temporary entry as business persons
- USTR: Agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada
- USCIS: Form G-1055, Fee Schedule