Read the general professional work overview
A new employer should be assessed through its own proposed job and supporting evidence. Keep the new file distinct from the previous employer’s papers while preserving the history needed for review. Existing TN status is not a general permission to start any new job, and the transition sequence needs individual assessment.
Keep current status records accessible
Prepare the current admission record, prior approval documents where relevant and a factual employment chronology. Note the actual last day of work and proposed new start rather than assuming they can be aligned freely. Provide the complete history to the reviewer before making decisions about work or travel.
Build the new employer’s evidence from its facts
Obtain the new duties, employment terms and employer support. Do not merely replace the company name in the previous letter. Even a similar title may involve different responsibilities or credential questions. The new employer should review and sign an account it can support independently.
Separate readiness from authorization
Track the completion of the new file alongside the legal steps identified by the adviser. A complete set of documents or a filing receipt is not, by itself, a universal authorization to begin the new work. Coordinate employment and travel decisions around the procedure that actually applies to the person.
Ask the first review which file each document belongs in
The organising decision is simple to state and easy to get wrong under time pressure: documents evidencing the applicant identity, citizenship and credentials belong to the applicant and follow them between employers, while everything describing a job belongs to the employer that offered it. A first review should sort the existing material on that basis and produce two lists, one of what carries across and one of what must be created new. The second list is the real work. It should name the new duties, the employment terms and the employer support, drafted from what the new employer actually intends rather than adapted from the previous letter. Keep the previous employer papers in the file as history, clearly labelled, because the chronology matters and a gap in it invites questions. TN requires prearranged employment with the employer concerned and does not permit self-employment, so the new file must describe a genuine offer from that employer.
Hypothetical example: a template that described the old job
Hypothetical example: a university teacher moving between institutions receives a support letter from the new employer that was adapted from the previous one, retaining a reference to a course and a department no longer applicable. Nobody intended a misstatement; a template was reused under time pressure. A first review catches it by reading the letter against the new offer rather than against the old file, which is why the two should never be drafted from the same document. Ask the new employer to describe the position in its own words first, then check the resulting letter line by line against the offer, the duty description and the credential relied on. Track file readiness separately from legal authorization, since a complete and accurate file is not permission to begin work. The authorization for the new employer must be effective before work for that employer starts.
What else is on your mind?
Is a matching job title enough for TN?Can years of experience replace a degree for TN?Can my own U.S. company employ me under TN?Can my spouse work if I hold TN status?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.