TN Request Process (New and Extensions)

Departments are responsible for initiating all TN requests, not the TN employee. The steps outlined below explain the process you must undertake in submitting a successful TN request.

Step 1: Draft a letter of offer to the prospective TN employee and submit it to ISSS for review and approval. There are very specific items that must be in the offer letter to make it suitable for obtaining TN status. Be sure that your letter contains the following:

Exact Job Title and corresponding profession it relates to as listed on the Approved list of TN Professions.
- (The list is found at http://www.nafta-sec-alena.org/en/view.aspx?x=343&mtpiID=147#Ap1603.D.1 );
Detailed description of job duties;
Rate of Pay, including benefits and any potential bonuses;
How long services are required, not to exceed one year, with statement that employment is temporary;
Hours projected to work (i.e. 40 hours/week)
Background on institution, establishing that Emory University is an existing institution, to include how long the institution has been in existence (e.g. since 1915), number of current employees (e.g. 27,747), and projected yearly gross income (e.g. $3.3 billion).
Email address to contact re: employment letter

Once you have completed the letter, submit it via email to your ISSS advisor.

Step 2: Begin gathering documentation from your department and the employee.

Please carefully review the TN Submission Checklist to be sure you gather all the necessary information.
All documentation must now be submitted electronically. You may wish to begin scanning and saving documents as you receive them.
Photocopies of original documents may be submitted, but original documents must be available for inspection by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) if filing for the TN within the U.S. or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) if processing the TN through border crossing upon request.
Any documents in a foreign language must be accompanied by an English translation. The translator must certify the accuracy of the translation and his or her competency in the language to be translated and English. This statement must be notarized.
Credentials from all foreign academic institutions must be evaluated for U.S. equivalency by a recognized credentials evaluation service (for a listing of some services, click here.)

Step 3: Begin the ISSS Link request.

Access ISSS Link at https://issslink.emory.edu/ and log in using your general log-in and password. If you have not yet requested access to ISSS Link, please reference "Getting Started" for information on training and access.
Complete the ISSS Link request for prospective/continuing employees in TN status. This includes e-forms that will be sent to the prospective employee to complete; they will receive an automatic email with the link to the forms once the department has initiated the request in ISSS Link.

Step 4: Complete ISSS Link request.

After the employee has completed his/her forms and the the electronic compliance form will be available for the department administrator to access.

Complete the electronic compliance form in ISSS Link. The form will be electronically routed to the supervisor for electronic signature.
Once the compliance form has been completed by the employee's departmental supervisor, please email isss.link@emory.edu to request the printable compliance form. Please be sure to include the name of the employee for whom you submitted the request.
Once you have received it, collect appropriate signatures on the printable Compliance Form, to include:
- Departmental Chair
- Medical School only: Dean's Designee

Step 5: Scan the completed/signed compliance form and email it to ISSS.Link@emory.edu. If the TN request will be processed inside the U.S. through the filing of a petition to USCIS, the checks for the filing fees to can be brought to ISSS (North Decatur Building, Suite 130). All supporting documentation will now be submitted electronically through the ISSS Link request.

Obtaining TN Status - Outside the U.S.

Most TNs will enter the U.S. directly from Canada or Mexico. This does not require a petition to be filed. Instead, the approved offer letter will be sent to the employee. The employee will then apply for entry in TN status. Canadian nationals may apply at preflight inspections or port of entry; Mexican nationals must apply for a TN visa stamp at a U.S. Consulate and then enter the U.S. in TN status.

The employee may enter the U.S. in TN status while the ISSS Link request is being completed. However, all TNs MUST have a completed request in ISSS Link.

Obtaining TN Status - Outside the U.S.

A petition can be filed for an employee who is currently in the U.S. and does not wish to leave before beginning their TN. This includes Employees currently in the U.S. in TN status who wish to extend employment (may be employed at Emory or at another institution), and employees in the U.S. in another immigration status who wish to change to TN.

If a petition is required, an ISSS Link request must be completed in advance. ISSS must then file the TN petition and receive the appropriate notice before the TN may begin or continue employment.

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TN Request Process (New and Extensions)

Obtaining TN Status - Outside the U.S.

Obtaining TN Status - Outside the U.S.

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