TN Visa: NAFTA’s Open Borders Visa

Fact Sheet - Monday, March 10, 2025

Federal Oversight Agencies: CBP
Dependents: TD

The Basics:

• The TN visa is a numerically uncapped visa that is a product of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was re-negotiated by the first Trump Administration and re-named United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The USMCA retained the TN visa provisions from NAFTA.

• Nationals of Canada and Mexico are eligible for TN visas to work in the United States in any of the USMCA-approved list of professions that includes: Hotel Managers; Graphic Designers; Librarians; Social Workers; Dentists; Pharmacists; and many more.

• Nationals of Canada do not even require an actual visa; they can arrive at a U.S. port of entry and establish their eligibility with CBP. Mexican nationals have to apply with the Department of State. 

• The TN visa has no labor standards or oversight from the Federal government once the aliens are inside the country. 

The Problem:

• The TN essentially allows the free flow of labor between the three treaty signatories for the designated professions. Our own government is unclear on how many TN visa holders are working in the United States at any given time.

• The lack of labor protections leads to real abuse and exploitation of foreign workers, with employers using a common trick of misrepresenting the job duties to fit the USCMA professional list, while in reality hiring low-skill workers through TN.

• No agencies have oversight responsibility over the program. The State Department only issues TN visas to Mexicans. CBP is in charge of admitting TN workers at ports of entry, but has no subsequent ability or capacity to ensure compliance with TN visa requirements. 

LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATION: At the very least, Congress has an oversight responsibility to make sure that TN visas are not harming American workers. It should determine whether there is true reciprocity between the treaty nations, including whether Americans are being employed in Canada and Mexico at the same rate as nationals of those countries are being employed here. The free movement of labor should NOT be part of any free trade agreements, including USMCA.

ADMINISTRATIVE RECOMMENDATION: All applicants for TN visas should be required to apply for a visa through the State Department so they can undergo at least routine vetting prior to arrival in the United States. The Department of Labor should be ordered to investigate and oversee compliance with TN visa rules, including making sure that TN workers are performing jobs specifically permitted under the USMCA. The State Department should be required to keep adequate data to show whether Canada and Mexico are admitting similar numbers of TN workers as the United States.