Disaster Relief Insurance Claims Adjuster TN Approved – Despite Prior Denial

Prior History:

The Applicant applied for his TN at the Pearson PFI. The inspecting officer denied the TN contending that the application materials were not authentic because of grammatical errors and because the letterhead did not appear to match the company’s logo on its website. The applicant stated that he had prepared the support letter at the request of his employer, but that his employer had signed off on the letter. Not exactly reaching the merits of the case, Pearson refused the TN and allowed the applicant to withdraw his application.

Our Analysis:

Upon our review of this case, we concluded that the Applicant possessed sufficient credentials to qualify for TN visa status under the Disaster Relief Insurance Claims Adjuster category. Although he did not possess a Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree, he did successfully complete training in insurance adjustment pertaining to disaster relief claims and possessed three years experience in claims adjustment. He therefore met the TN visa regulation requirements for the Disaster Relief Insurance Claims Adjuster category.

The applicant’s preparation of his support letter did not warrant a denial of his application. An authorized company representative had reviewed the letter and executed the letter on behalf of the company.

How We Obtained an Approval:

In addition to the basic TN application materials, we prepared a detailed cover letter to CBP explaining that the applicant met all of the regulation requirements for TN status under the Disaster Relief Insurance Claims Adjuster category. We provided a previous experience letter outlining the applicant’s over three years of experience in claims adjustment (note: the regulations do not require that the experience be solely in disaster relief insurance claims). We also submitted proof of relevant disaster relief training consisting of the applicant’s State disaster claims adjustment credentials and his certification and accreditation as a California Earthquake Adjuster (CEA).

While not submitted in the original application, we also provided proof that the applicant met the requirements for this TN category as required under the INS NAFTA Handbook Manual. This section provides that the applicant:

must submit documentation that there is a declared disaster event by the President of the United States, or a state statute, or a local ordinance, or an event at a site which has been assigned a catastrophe serial number by the Property Claims Service of the American Insurance Services Group, or, if property damage exceeds $ 5 million and represents a significant number of claims, by an association of insurance companies representing at least 15 percent of the property casualty market in the U.S.

The applicant was involved in providing claims adjustment services with respect to property loss and damages in the State of Louisiana sustained from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We submitted copies of the Federal Register evidencing that the President of the U.S. declared a major disaster for the relevant affected areas of Louisiana. Additionally, we provided proof that the Property Claims Service assigned a catastrophe serial number as result of the excessive loss and damage caused by these hurricanes.