Canadian Citizenship Not Required for TD Status Posted Dec 11, 2000 When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted in 1994, it created a new nonimmigrant classification, known as Trade NAFTA or TN status. TN non-immigrants are Canadian or Mexican citizens who come to the United States to engage in activities at a professional level. NAFTA also created a new TD (Trade Dependent) status for spouses and unmarried, minor children of the principal TN applicant. A TD nonimmigrant may accompany or "follow to join" the TN professional, but may not work in the United States without changing to another non-immigrant work classification. Although the principal applicant in TN status must be a Canadian or Mexican citizen, the law allows spouses and children of any nationality to obtain the TD status. If the dependents are Canadians or residents of Canada sharing a common nationality with Canada, they may accompany or follow to join the principal alien without a fee or a nonimmigrant visa. The countries that share common nationality with Canada include Ireland and the following commonwealth countries: Antigua, Australia, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom (including colonies, territories, and dependencies, such as Bermuda), Vanuatu, Western Samoa, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Citizens of all of countries mentioned above may be admitted to the U.S. in TD status to accompany or follow to join the TN professional without a visa stamp in the passport.  Dependents from other countries, including Mexico, must obtain a TD nonimmigrant visa following the principal applicant's admission in TN classification to obtain TD status. If the prospective TD is in the United States, regardless of nationality, the other possibility is to apply for a change to TD status within the United States. This procedure is slower than applying at the border, because the INS could take more than 6 months to approve a change of status within the U.S. Unlike Canadians, Mexican TNs must, in all cases, have a petition approved by INS in order to be granted the TN status. This is similar to the H1B Petition for nationals of other countries. The procedure most commonly used for Canadian TNs, however, is to apply at the border. © The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C.
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