IN THIS GUIDE · Ownership interests and the self-employment question
Start with the TN eligibility and application overview
Address ownership before drafting the letter
TN is for qualifying Canadian or Mexican citizens undertaking prearranged professional work temporarily, with the credentials required for a listed profession. It does not permit self-employment. Where the applicant owns part of the proposed business, the ownership and working arrangements need attention at the outset. Do not wait until the support letter is finished to disclose them, and do not assume an impressive professional background resolves a separate concern about the nature of the employment.
Describe control using the actual documents
Gather the facts about voting rights, board authority, management responsibilities, and who can hire, supervise, or remove the applicant. These are practical review prompts, not a formula guaranteeing eligibility. A small shareholding and a founder role can present different factual questions; the percentage alone should not become the entire assessment. Review signed agreements and current corporate records rather than relying only on a recruiter’s description of equity as a routine compensation benefit.
Keep professional work and business operation visible
A hypothetical applicant may be offered both professional project work and responsibility for developing the business. Describe both accurately. Selecting a listed professional title does not remove operational responsibilities, and incorporating a business does not by itself settle the self-employment issue. If the real arrangement is incompatible with TN, seek assessment of another lawful route. Changing the description while preserving the same underlying arrangement is not a sound way to address the concern.
Avoid restructuring solely on an assumed rule
Before issuing shares, transferring control, or signing employment agreements, obtain advice based on the complete proposed transaction. Do not rely on an internet ownership threshold or a nominal supervisor to establish eligibility. Keep any genuine business changes documented and consider their commercial consequences separately. This guide identifies issues to investigate; it does not determine that a particular ownership arrangement qualifies, and no U.S. work should start until the necessary authorization is in place.
Name the document that answers each question
Ownership questions are settled by instruments rather than by descriptions, so build the file around the records that actually decide them. Four questions recur, and each has a document that answers it. Who owns the company is answered by the share register or membership ledger as it stands on a stated date, not by a founder recollection. What rights attach to that holding is answered by the articles, the shareholders agreement and any side letter, read together. Who directs the applicant work is answered by the employment agreement alongside the resolution appointing supervision. Whether the arrangement is prearranged professional employment is answered by the offer and the duty description. Where a question has no document, that absence is itself the finding and should be recorded rather than covered by a general statement in a support letter. TN does not permit self-employment, and the applicant must in any event be a Canadian or Mexican citizen holding the credential the USMCA professionals appendix specifies for a listed profession, so the ownership enquiry sits alongside those requirements rather than replacing them.
Hypothetical example: a shareholders agreement read against an offer letter
Hypothetical example: a horticulturist is offered a prearranged professional position by a U.S. nursery business in which the same person holds a founding interest. Two documents decide most of the analysis and they should be read against each other. The offer letter describes duties, supervision and compensation. The shareholders agreement describes who appoints management, which decisions require the applicant consent and whether the applicant can be removed without it. If the agreement gives the applicant an effective veto over that removal, the offer letter account of supervision does not reflect the arrangement, and the discrepancy is the fact a reviewer will identify first. Record which instrument governs where the two conflict, and obtain advice on the arrangement as it actually stands. Do not resolve the conflict by rewriting the offer letter, because the governing instrument has not changed. No ownership proportion is identified here as safe, and incorporation does not convert an arrangement that is in substance self-employment into prearranged employment.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.