IN THIS GUIDE · Sequence a contractor’s TN when her own corporation is the employer
Start with the TN eligibility and application overview
Decide who the employer is before drafting anything
TN allows a Canadian citizen to work for a foreign employer that supplies professional services to a U.S. enterprise. Here the Canadian corporation is the employer and the logistics company is the client. That arrangement is permitted only because the applicant does not own or control the U.S. enterprise receiving the services. Her sole ownership of the Canadian corporation is disclosed, not hidden, and the support letter should come from the corporation as employer with the client contract attached. If the U.S. client had instead proposed paying her personally and directly, the analysis would change and a direct offer letter from that client would be the cleaner path. The practical choice is whether the foreign company has genuine control over the professional's pay, assignment, and supervision. If the U.S. customer controls every one of those facts, the file needs a different analysis before the letter is drafted.
Match the credential route to the listing
The Computer Systems Analyst entry accepts either a baccalaureate or licenciatura degree, or a post-secondary diploma or certificate together with three years of experience. A diploma holder therefore needs two kinds of proof: the qualifying diploma itself and dated experience evidence. Under the USMCA definitions, a post-secondary diploma must be issued after at least two years by an accredited institution in Canada or the United States, while a post-secondary certificate is a Mexican credential; an evaluation of another foreign diploma does not convert it into either alternative. A foreign baccalaureate may instead require an equivalency evaluation. Experience letters and the corporation’s engagement records should describe analysis and design work rather than help-desk or installation tasks. The listing’s title is not enough; the duties in the statement of work should read as systems analysis.
Apply at the port of entry with the sequence in order
Canadian citizens may present the TN application to CBP at a port of entry or preclearance location. A U.S. employer may instead file Form I-129 with USCIS; where the professional remains employed by a foreign company, the parties should confirm an eligible U.S. petitioner rather than assume the foreign corporation can file on its own. Either route tests citizenship, a listed profession, prearranged professional work, that profession’s credential rule and temporary intent. Fourteen months is within the period that may be granted at once, and extensions remain possible while the engagement continues. Bring the statement of work or detailed employer letter, the corporation’s records, the diploma and the experience evidence.
What usually goes wrong for incorporated contractors
Three faults recur. The first is a letter written by the U.S. client that reads as if the client employs the applicant while the invoices go to her corporation, which leaves the officer unsure who the employer is. The second is silence about ownership, which looks like concealment when the corporation’s name matches the applicant’s surname. The third is a statement of work that lists project management, testing and training with no analysis, so the profession is contested. Each is avoided by drafting one consistent narrative from the corporation, disclosing the shareholding and describing the analyst duties specifically.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.