IN THIS GUIDE · A small employer creating a new professional position
Start with the TN eligibility and application overview
Describe the need that exists now
Ask what work the employer has already identified, why it requires professional knowledge and which results the new employee will be responsible for. A growth plan may explain context, but a general hope of finding professional projects later does not establish the offered activities. Use the current business plan only to explain real facts. Do not claim that being a small company either prevents TN or makes its employment needs self-evident.
Identify the real employment arrangement
Confirm which legal entity is offering the position, who directs the work, where the activities occur and how compensation is arranged. Small organizations may use trade names that differ from the name on the offer, so reconcile those details before preparing the letter. If the applicant holds ownership or control, flag that for specific review because TN does not authorize substantive self-employment. An incorporated business name does not by itself settle that question.
Explain a new role without inventing a predecessor
Build the duty description from actual assignments, reporting relationships and deliverables rather than borrowing another organization’s job posting. A hypothetical firm creating its first professional role can describe the work it has arranged without claiming the role existed previously. Supporting business material may help explain context when relevant, but there is no reason to assemble unrelated marketing pages as padding. Keep the position’s professional activities distinguishable from general assistance with running the company.
Check resources and changes with the employer
Ask whether the person signing the letter can commit the company to the stated duties, pay and duration. Discuss what happens if the expected project or business need changes before the employee starts. This is practical risk planning, not an invented minimum-revenue or headcount test. If the position becomes materially different, reassess the immigration plan using the changed facts instead of continuing with a description that no longer reflects the offered employment.
Test whether the need is professional or simply unmet
Small businesses create roles because work has accumulated, and the work that accumulates is rarely all of one kind. Before the position is described, separate the tasks that genuinely require professional training from those that have attached themselves to the role because nobody else had capacity. Ask the owner what the person will do in a typical week and then sort the answer into two columns. Hypothetical example: a landscape architect hired by a small firm may be expected to prepare planting plans and grading designs while also quoting jobs, ordering materials and managing crews, and the balance between those determines whether the position is professional in the relevant sense. Where the professional component is real but occupies a minority of the week, that is a finding to take to counsel rather than a drafting problem to solve with a better title.
Confirm the company can function as an employer
A small organization creating its first professional position sometimes has not yet built the apparatus an employer needs, and that gap surfaces at an inconvenient moment. Establish the basics early. Which legal entity would employ the person, and does it exist in the form everyone assumes? Who has authority to sign on its behalf? Does it already run payroll, and if not, what would that involve? Does it have other employees, or would this be the first? Who would supervise the role day to day? None of these is exotic, and a company that has operated with contractors or family members may not have clear answers to any of them. Getting them settled before a letter is drafted avoids the situation where a support document describes an employment relationship the business has not actually established.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.