By planning the second admission from the start. TN is granted for a period not exceeding three years and can be extended or a new admission sought, but each renewal is decided on the duties as they then stand, which on a long construction project are rarely the duties described at the outset.
Every renewal re-examines the job, not just the dates
An eighteen-month berth reconstruction fits inside a single admission comfortably, and the real timing question is what happens when the firm asks Damien to stay for the next phase. Extension is available, either through Form I-129 filed by the employer or by a fresh application at the border, and neither is a formality. The adjudicator looks at what he has actually been doing, which is why the drift from survey work into site coordination matters as much for the second application as for the first.
Three practical points follow. Ask the firm to review the duty description before each renewal rather than after a refusal. Keep a contemporaneous record of the work performed, because a project diary answers questions no letter can.
And remember that beginning work before an admission is granted, or performing productive work while admitted as a visitor between phases, creates a problem that no later paperwork tidies away.
- 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