Canadians Can File TN Visa Renewals By Mail To Avoid New Travel Rules
Individuals traveling to Canada by air already must undergo pre-boarding Covid testing. Starting February 3, 2021 all international passenger flights (including from the U.S.) will be required to land at the Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, or Montreal airports. These travelers will then be subject to additional Covid testing, and will have to quarantine for up to 3 days at certain hotels as they await for their test results. The Canadian government expects this quarantine to cost more than $2,000. More guidance on the quarantine requirement will be issued by the Canadian government in the coming days. At this time, it is uncertain whether Canadians can fly into one of the above airports, and then avoid the new quarantine requirement by immediately taking a flight back to the U.S. after applying for their TN at the USCBP office located at the airport (i.e. Pre-Flight Inspection office).
To otherwise avoid these new travel restrictions, Canadian citizens currently working in the U.S. under TN visa status who need to renew their work authorization will have 2 options:
Land POE Filings: They can travel to the U.S. land border, and apply for their TN “renewals” as the U.S. port-of-entry. Covid testing at the land border is not currently required. Additionally, provided they continue with their current practice, as long as the applicant enters Canada only to turn-around and seek re-entry to the U.S. to file his/her TN application, Canadian authorities are not requiring quarantine in this scenario.
Mail-in I-129 Filings: Employers can file an I-129 petition to extend their TN visa worker’s status by mail. It’s important to note that these I-129 filings must be filed before the TN visa worker’s I-94 record expires. Family members residing with the TN visa worker under TD visa status can have their visa status extended by concurrently filing an I-539 application. More on the mail-in process…
Canadian citizens can also have new employers file an I-129 petition on their behalf in order to change TN visa employers. However, in most cases premium processing (an additional $2,500 filing fee) would be required (~2 week processing) to avoid lengthy processing times (~ 4-6 months). It’s also important to note that in order to take advantage of this mail-in option, the TN visa worker must still be maintaining his/her immigration status. This means that the TN visa worker must file the I-129 petition either while still employed with his/her original employer, or during the 60-day grace period following his/her cessation of employment.