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Comment by trishume | Hacker News Reader

I grant you this is in fact not the perfect reform bill, the question is, is it better than the current situation? To me it looks like it's at least somewhat better, so as a Canadian who may want to move to the US at some point, I'm hoping it passes.

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> as a Canadian who may want to move to the US

You can move to the US on the TN visa (as long as NAFTA is still valid). I've met programmers from Canada and Mexico who are on the TN visa.

Definitely aware of this, however the TN visa doesn't have a path to a green card. A common strategy for Canadians is to come in on a TN visa and then repeatedly apply for an H1-B and hope to win the lottery while you are there. It basically just allows you to start work immediately instead of having to wait for an H1-B.

I know a few people who went TN to green card, and I myself went E-3 (a non-immigrant visa) to green card. It made the process more convoluted and risky but in my mind was way better than playing the H1-B lottery.

Actually, green card applications are completely separate from whatever visa (TN or H-1B) you have. The H-1B does not give you a path to the green card.

The only benefit of an H-1B over TN is that it is a dual-intent visa, and you are guaranteed to not have "immigrant intent"-related trouble at the border. However, there was a guideline issued by the CBP back in 2008 that stated that a pending employment-based green card application (I-140) would not alone be considered as immigrant intent: https://www.hooyou.com/news/news021709tn.html Quoted:

"A recently published authoritative letter from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) addressing the TN nonimmigrant visa category offers new and definite insight on the CBP’s policy for determining immigrant intent. In the letter, dated April 2008, the Executive Director of Admissibility and Passenger Protection Programs details clearly that filing an immigrant petition (I-140) alone is not automatically considered a demonstration of immigrant intent, and aliens with pending I-140s may still be admitted into US with a TN visa."

I don't know if that policy is still in effect, but if it is, then you have nothing to fear, and your employer can apply for your green card. The programmer from Mexico on TN that I knew actually had USCIS approval of his TN status. For TN status, USCIS approval isn't necessary, but it helps avoid problems at the border even further: https://www.tnvisabulletin.com/nafta-tn-blog/2012/4/12/cbp-m...

> so as a Canadian who may want to move to the US at some point, I'm hoping it passes.

Why would it affect you?

You quote the part that explains it. It looks like it might affect him as someone who might move to the US at some point. It might affect him. Large, successful insurance companies work on the notion of probability. It does bear taking into account.

A Canadian would come in under a TN visa which is not a lottery, not H1-B.

No route to permanent residency via the TN visa. With the status of NAFTA up in the air now that Trump's in power, that's potentially a pretty big deal.

There's no real route, no, but you can take the EB Green Card path. You just can't leave the country from the period starting when you file for adjustment of status and ending when you get EAD/AP (otherwise you're never coming back in under TN status again and will likely get banned for a few years :P)

A Canadian could come in under a TN status but it is not a dual-intent status meaning that they could not petition for a green card.

> who may want to move to the US

A Canadian would come in under a TN visa which is not a lottery, not H1-B.

So again, how do H1-B changes affect a Canadian?

A lot of larger companies will switch you to an H1-B at some point since they're trying to put you on a Green Card track (bc of long-run costs? not sure). While you technically can apply for a green card on TN status, since TN is intended for temporary workers, it's frowned upon by DHS and immigration departments at companies know that.

Source: I'm a two-time Canadian > US TN-to-H1B and eventually bailed out of the process by marrying an American.

TN can be extended indefinitely, so if you're being pressured to change to a H1-B you might want to ask why until you get a direct and specific answer.

So you can get a green card and thus aren't tied to the company?

TNs could be renewed indefinitely, however they're specifically meant to be temporary so you can only renew them if you continue to convince the adjudicating officer that you do not intend to renew them indefinitely. This may become a challenge a decade or two in. They are explicitly not a replacement for a green card. They can also be revoked at each border crossing.

An H-1B gives you a defined 6 year window with doctrine of dual intent allowing you to pursue a green card, which a TN status does not.

because it opens up the options to sponsor you for a green card.

Curious, was the marriage specifically for the purpose of getting out of that rat race?

Nope, just got lucky. :)

Hope I run into the same sort of luck eventually. Sucks having to worry about whether I'll still be in the country when trying to plan for the years to come.

All this on top of worrying about work, relationships, personal health, and always trying to catch up and learn the "fundamental" bits of knowledge required to do my job. Sometimes I feel like I wasn't born with as many cores as others :(

He may be looking to pursue a green card which is not possible with TN status.

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