Turn conversations with the hiring manager, HR and the applicant into a factual brief: who confirms each claim, which record supports it, and what remains unresolved.
Ask the hiring manager for work examples
TN requires an eligible professional position and the applicant’s corresponding qualifications. Begin your working brief with three examples of work the employer actually expects: the problem, the task, and the resulting deliverable. Ask the hiring manager to distinguish recurring responsibilities from occasional requests. Keep the internal job title, even when the proposed TN profession uses different language. Record any mismatch as a question for review. This gives the reviewer something concrete to assess and gives HR a factual starting point, without inventing duties to make a preferred category appear to fit.
Department of State: USMCA professional eligibilityGive each letter fact an owner
State Department guidance identifies duties, purpose of entry, anticipated stay, professional credentials and remuneration as employment evidence. Use those headings as a brief for the employer, then assign a person who can verify each answer. The hiring manager may confirm activities; HR may confirm pay and dates; the applicant can supply credential records. Include a column for the document or conversation supporting the answer. Leave unknown facts visibly unresolved in the working draft. Before signature, return the assembled account to the employer so the person signing can check what the letter actually says.
Department of State: 9 FAM 402.17-5(B), employment evidenceMap the employment arrangement when several companies appear
The FAM requires a specific identified position for agency placements and excludes arrangements that are substantively self-employment. Draw a simple map of the parties in your proposed arrangement: who hires you, who pays you, who directs the work, and which organization receives the deliverables. Beside each connection, name the agreement or contact that explains it. If a recruiter describes one arrangement and the contract describes another, flag the discrepancy before the letter is finalized. Disclose any ownership interest you have in a participating business so the reviewer can assess the actual relationship.
Department of State: 9 FAM 402.17-5(A), employment arrangementsSeparate qualification questions from employer assertions
The qualification rules depend on the listed profession; experience cannot replace a specifically required degree. Build a private evidence index matching each qualification question to an actual record and its holder. For example, list the diploma name exactly as issued, the institution, and whether a transcript is available. Mark translations, experience confirmations or professional-practice questions that still need review. Ask the employer to verify only statements it can support. An enthusiastic assessment of your skills can explain the hiring decision, but it should not quietly become a claim about a credential nobody has checked.
Department of State: TN education and experience requirementsRun a fact reconciliation before signature
The official employment-evidence framework is a useful final review agenda. Put the offer, working brief and proposed letter side by side. Read the company names, work description, pay, dates and qualifications aloud with the people responsible for them. Keep a correction log explaining which version is current and why a fact changed. Preserve genuine complexity instead of making every document sound artificially identical. If the real job has changed, ask for a fresh assessment of the arrangement. Your finished brief should let the employer explain the role in ordinary language using facts it recognizes.
Department of State: 9 FAM 402.17-5(B), accuracy of employment evidenceTurn reading into preparation.
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General planning information. Individual immigration and licensing questions need assessment by appropriately qualified professionals.