4 ms·

Even your neighbors cannot enter the lottery. Canadians are pretty dang close to Americans, lots of us have family on both sides of the border, we speak the sam

Even your neighbors cannot enter the lottery. Canadians are pretty dang close to Americans, lots of us have family on both sides of the border, we speak the same language, have very similar media, similar education systems etc. etc. And yet we're not allowed to come to your country for much more than a few months at a time. Oddly we _are_ allowed to get a TN visa, in some circumstances, build up some wealth over a 3 yrs span and then we're promptly booted _out_ of the country with bags of money instead of being allowed to stay and spend it. strange strategy.

eqdw 12y ago
Local media tends to send accusations of just that towards tech workers: "They're coming here with a gold-rush mentality, making the big bucks, and then leaving to somewhere else, leaving all the gentrification problems behind". Wellp, I'm not going to deny my intention. But the big "VALID UNTIL AUGUST 2016" sticker in my passport kind of decided this for me
- maerF0x0 12y ago
  Also, you cannot get a visa if you intend to stay permanently. They make you recite it at the border "I am not coming to the US permanently"
  - arjie 12y ago
    Which gets really hard to be convincing about when you have an application for a green card waiting to be processed.
titanomachy 12y ago
Does the TN really expire after 3 years? My (American) boss has been working here in Canada for at least 5, and he is cheerfully uninterested in becoming a permanent resident. I guess he had to renew once or twice, but it doesn't seem like it was much of a hassle for him.
- serge2k 12y ago
  It's renewable. But you can't get a green card with it, have to switch to H1B for that.
- gabbo 12y ago
  You can get TNs good for 1 year or 3, but you can technically renew your TN status as many times as you want. The downside is that TN status is strictly for people with "non-immigrant intent" and if a border agent believes you have immigrant intent when requesting a TN or entering America with one, they can revoke it/deny you entry at their discretion. So a 3-year TN is fine, maybe even a second one, but if you've been in the US on a TN after 8 or 9 years you're probably going to get some trouble.

eqdw 12y ago

Local media tends to send accusations of just that towards tech workers: "They're coming here with a gold-rush mentality, making the big bucks, and then leaving to somewhere else, leaving all the gentrification problems behind". Wellp, I'm not going to deny my intention. But the big "VALID UNTIL AUGUST 2016" sticker in my passport kind of decided this for me

maerF0x0 12y ago
Also, you cannot get a visa if you intend to stay permanently. They make you recite it at the border "I am not coming to the US permanently"
- arjie 12y ago
  Which gets really hard to be convincing about when you have an application for a green card waiting to be processed.

titanomachy 12y ago

Does the TN really expire after 3 years? My (American) boss has been working here in Canada for at least 5, and he is cheerfully uninterested in becoming a permanent resident. I guess he had to renew once or twice, but it doesn't seem like it was much of a hassle for him.

serge2k 12y ago
It's renewable. But you can't get a green card with it, have to switch to H1B for that.
gabbo 12y ago
You can get TNs good for 1 year or 3, but you can technically renew your TN status as many times as you want. The downside is that TN status is strictly for people with "non-immigrant intent" and if a border agent believes you have immigrant intent when requesting a TN or entering America with one, they can revoke it/deny you entry at their discretion. So a 3-year TN is fine, maybe even a second one, but if you've been in the US on a TN after 8 or 9 years you're probably going to get some trouble.