Read the general professional work overview
Hypothetical example: a Balgonie graphic designer holds a two-year diploma and has worked freelance for five years, and a U.S. marketing agency wants to hire her. The Graphic Designer listing accepts a degree, or a post-secondary diploma or certificate together with three years of experience. The experience must be documented with records a self-employed person may never have organized: contracts, invoices, tax filings and client letters. The U.S. engagement must also be employment or a genuine engagement by a U.S. company, not continued freelancing through her own business.
Build the experience file from tax and client records
Self-employed years leave a trail if you know where to look. Personal tax returns with the business statement of income, GST filings if registered, invoices to clients, signed contracts or engagement emails, and a portfolio with dates each piece was delivered together show continuous professional work. Ask three or four long-standing clients for short letters stating the period and nature of the design work performed. Bank statements corroborating client payments help where invoices are informal. The aim is to show at least three full years of graphic design experience after the diploma, since experience before the credential is weaker. Present a one-page chronology that ties each year to exhibits, so the officer does not have to reconstruct the timeline from a pile of paper.
Make the diploma and the profession match the listing
The diploma must be post-secondary and in a field that plausibly leads to graphic design; a general arts certificate with unrelated content weakens the link. Provide the diploma, the transcript and the institution's program description if the title is ambiguous. The job letter must describe graphic design work: brand identity, layout, digital assets, campaign creative, and must not drift into marketing management or account management, which are different professions with different requirements. State the credential relied on in the letter itself. Employment must be for a U.S. entity, and the applicant must not be a controlling owner of it. If she keeps her Canadian freelance business, that is permissible as long as it is not the vehicle for the U.S. work; she should not invoice the agency through it.
Choose the port of entry or the petition and prepare for questions
As a Canadian citizen she may present the package to CBP at a port of entry or preclearance with the letter, diploma, transcript, experience file and passport, or the agency may file Form I-129 with USCIS and she travels on approval. Form I-129 charges are on the current USCIS fee schedule; confirm any port-of-entry charge with CBP. Freelance histories invite questions about self-employment, so she should be ready to explain that the U.S. work is for the agency, on its schedule, at its pay rate, and that her Canadian business will not serve U.S. clients from inside the country. TD dependants, if any, may study but may not work. Carry originals of the diploma and the letter, and copies of everything else. A first admission is for a set period and later extensions or readmissions revisit the same facts.
What else is on your mind?
Is a matching job title enough for TN?Can years of experience replace a degree for TN?Can my own U.S. company employ me under TN?Can my spouse work if I hold TN status?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.