The TN professions list: which jobs qualify and what credentials each needs

Where does the list come from?

The list is Appendix 2 to Annex 16-A of Chapter 16 of the USMCA. The regulation at 8 CFR 214.6(c) sets out each profession and its minimum requirements, and USCIS says the USMCA list is identical to the old NAFTA list (Appendix 1603.D.1). The State Department’s Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) notes that the list is occasionally expanded when all three countries agree, so check the current regulation rather than an old copy.

The list below follows the regulation’s own groupings. Unless an entry says otherwise, “degree” means a baccalaureate (bachelor’s) or licenciatura degree.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.6(b)-(d), with Appendix 2 to Annex 16-A and its notes; USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part P, Chapter 1; 9 FAM 402.17-4 and 402.17-5 (USMCA Professionals)

General professions

• Accountant: degree; or C.P.A., C.A., C.G.A. or C.M.A.
• Architect; Engineer; Forester: degree, or a state or provincial license.
• Computer Systems Analyst; Graphic Designer; Industrial Designer; Interior Designer; Technical Publications Writer: degree, or a post-secondary diploma or certificate plus three years of experience.
• Disaster Relief Insurance Claims Adjuster (employed by an insurer in a USMCA country, or independent): degree plus training in disaster-relief claims adjustment; or three years of claims-adjustment experience plus that training.
• Economist; Landscape Architect; Mathematician (including Statistician, and Actuary if recognized by a professional actuarial association or society operating in Canada, Mexico or the United States); Range Manager or Range Conservationist; Social Worker; Sylviculturist (including Forestry Specialist); Urban Planner (including Geographer); Vocational Counselor: degree.
• Hotel Manager: degree in hotel or restaurant management; or a post-secondary diploma or certificate in that field plus three years of experience in it.
• Land Surveyor: degree, or a state, provincial or federal license.
• Lawyer (including Notary in Quebec): L.L.B., J.D., L.L.L., B.C.L. or a five-year Licenciatura; or membership in a state or provincial bar.
• Librarian: M.L.S., or a B.L.S. for which another bachelor’s or licenciatura degree was a prerequisite.
• Management Consultant: degree; or five years of experience as a management consultant, or five years in a field related to the consulting agreement, shown by a statement or professional credential.
• Research Assistant, working in a post-secondary educational institution: degree.
• Scientific Technician or Technologist: theoretical knowledge of agricultural sciences, astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering, forestry, geology, geophysics, meteorology or physics, and the ability to solve practical problems or apply its principles to research. The work must directly support a professional in one of those fields.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.6(b)-(d), with Appendix 2 to Annex 16-A and its notes

Medical and allied professions

• Dentist: D.D.S., D.M.D., Doctor en Odontologia or Doctor en Cirugia Dental; or a state or provincial license.
• Dietitian; Occupational Therapist; Pharmacist; Physiotherapist or Physical Therapist: degree, or a state or provincial license.
• Medical Laboratory Technologist (Canada) or Medical Technologist (Mexico and the United States): degree, or a post-secondary diploma or certificate plus three years of experience. The work must be laboratory tests and analyses for diagnosing, treating or preventing disease.
• Nutritionist; Recreational Therapist: degree.
• Physician, teaching or research only: M.D. or Doctor en Medicina, or a state or provincial license.
• Psychologist; Registered Nurse: a state or provincial license, or a licenciatura degree.
• Veterinarian: D.V.M., D.M.V. or Doctor en Veterinaria, or a state or provincial license.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.6(b)-(d), with Appendix 2 to Annex 16-A and its notes

Scientists and teachers

Every entry in these two groups requires a degree.

• Scientists: Agriculturist (including Agronomist), Animal Breeder, Animal Scientist, Apiculturist, Astronomer, Biochemist, Biologist (including Plant Pathologist), Chemist, Dairy Scientist, Entomologist, Epidemiologist, Geneticist, Geochemist, Geologist, Geophysicist (including Oceanographer in Mexico and the United States), Horticulturist, Meteorologist, Pharmacologist, Physicist (including Oceanographer in Canada), Plant Breeder, Poultry Scientist, Soil Scientist, Zoologist.
• Teachers: College, Seminary, University.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.6(b)-(d), with Appendix 2 to Annex 16-A and its notes

How are the credential terms defined?

The regulation’s footnotes define the alternatives. A post-secondary diploma is a credential from an accredited academic institution in Canada or the United States after two or more years of post-secondary education. A post-secondary certificate is the Mexican counterpart: issued after two or more years of post-secondary education by the federal or a state government of Mexico, or by an academic institution they recognize or that law created. A state, provincial or federal license is a document from that level of government, or issued under its authority, that permits a person to practice a regulated profession. A local government license does not count.

Where an entry requires a degree, experience cannot replace it. Experience counts only where the entry lists it, and then usually on top of a diploma or certificate. Degrees from schools outside Canada, Mexico and the United States must come with an evaluation from a reliable credentials evaluation service.

The FAM adds detail for Mexican degrees: a cédula profesional from the Public Education Secretariat (SEP) or a state government, or a título (university diploma), shows a completed licenciatura, but a carta de pasante does not, because it shows only that coursework was finished. The FAM also says a degree does not always have to be in the exact field if there is significant overlap with the work, giving the example of a chemistry degree for a biochemist job.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.6(b)-(d), with Appendix 2 to Annex 16-A and its notes; USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part P, Chapter 3; 9 FAM 402.17-4 and 402.17-5 (USMCA Professionals)

What evidence usually supports the credential?

The regulation says the employer’s letter must be supported by diplomas, degrees or membership in a professional organization. The USCIS Policy Manual and the FAM say experience should be shown with letters from former employers, and anyone who was self-employed must submit business records. For a consular application, 22 CFR 41.59 requires sufficient evidence of a job offer in a professional capacity matching the list and sufficient evidence that the applicant holds that profession’s credentials.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.6(b)-(d), with Appendix 2 to Annex 16-A and its notes; USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part P, Chapter 3; 9 FAM 402.17-4 and 402.17-5 (USMCA Professionals); 22 CFR 41.59(a)

Duties, not titles

USCIS says a job title or the employer’s label does not establish eligibility; the officer looks at the primary activity. The Policy Manual gives specific guidance for several professions:

• Scientific Technician or Technologist: must work in direct support of a supervising professional in one of the listed sciences, managed and reviewed by that person. Support for a physician giving patient care (for example a radiologic technologist) does not fit, and construction trades such as welders or electricians are excluded. Two years of relevant training is the general expectation; a degree is not required, and extensive directly related work experience can be shown instead, though USCIS weighs the lack of a degree.
• Computer Systems Analyst: designs and implements systems for users’ needs. The category does not include programmers.
• Economist: excludes jobs that are mainly financial analysis, market research or marketing.
• Engineer: the degree must be in the related engineering field, and computer jobs need real engineering credentials.
• Physician: teaching or research only; patient care only when incidental to it.
• Management Consultant: if salaried by the client, only for irregular or non-routine temporary positions.
• Disaster Relief Insurance Claims Adjuster: needs documentation of a declared disaster.

Sources: USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part P, Chapter 6

Do you need a US license?

The two agencies describe this differently. The FAM tells consular officers that US licensure is not part of TN classification, that it is a post-entry requirement enforced by the state, and that a visa must not be refused only because the applicant has no US license yet. The USCIS Policy Manual says the applicant must meet the license requirements of the state where they will practice, while noting that some duties, such as giving a seminar, need no license.

Registered nurses are a stated exception. USCIS says a nurse must present a permanent or temporary license, or other temporary authorization, from the nursing board of the state of intended employment to be admitted in TN status.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.17-4 and 402.17-5 (USMCA Professionals); USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part P, Chapter 3; USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part P, Chapter 6

Health care worker certificates

Under 8 CFR 212.15, a person coming mainly to work in a covered health care occupation cannot be admitted without a certificate from an approved credentialing organization. The covered occupations are licensed practical, licensed vocational and registered nurses; occupational therapists; physical therapists; speech-language pathologists and audiologists; medical technologists and technicians; and physician assistants. On the TN list, that reaches registered nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and medical laboratory technologists.

The rule does not apply to physicians, or to non-clinical work with no direct or indirect patient care, such as medical teaching, research or managing a health care facility. The certificate verifies education, training, license and experience, English proficiency, and a passed predictor test or licensing exam. Graduates of a college, university or professional training school in Australia, Canada (except Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States are exempt from the English requirement, as are nurses using a certified statement. For everyone else, USCIS says HHS alone sets the English tests and scores, and approved new ones on May 12, 2026, so check the current HHS list rather than the older scores printed in the regulation. Nurses who meet extra conditions, including passing the NCLEX-RN and graduating from an English-language program in a listed country, can use a certified statement instead.

The certificate must be presented at visa issuance and at each admission, extension or change of status, and must be used within five years of issue. It is not a license to practice.

Sources: 8 CFR 212.15(a)-(d); USCIS: Health Care Worker Certification; USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part P, Chapter 6

Common problems

• A Mexican carta de pasante offered as proof of a completed degree.
• Years of experience offered in place of a required degree.
• A foreign degree from a third country with no credentials evaluation.
• A listed title on duties that belong to an unlisted job, such as data entry described as systems analysis.
• A health care worker certificate that has expired or was never obtained.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.17-4 and 402.17-5 (USMCA Professionals); USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part P, Chapter 3; USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part P, Chapter 6; USCIS: Health Care Worker Certification

How Visa Trouble can help

We can point you to official information, but we don’t assess or prepare TN applications. Free route discovery at Visa Trouble can show routes worth comparing if your plans go beyond this one. Visa Trouble is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.