TN Sponsorship
Human Resources, Office of International Services | Approved October 31, 2018
Purpose
Hire or retain faculty and highly specialized scientific staff.
Applicability
Íøºì±¬ÁÏ, Baltimore (UMB) departments may hire qualified Canadian and Mexican citizens (not permanent residents) seeking temporary entry into the United States to engage in business activities at a professional level. The TN visa may be used for non-tenure track faculty, scholar fellows, and staff positions requiring at least a bachelor’s degree.
Status may be granted for an initial period of up to three (3) years, and may be extended indefinitely in three-year increments.
Instructions
- Make sure you or someone in your department has access to Sunapsis, the online system for submitting visa sponsorship requests. .
- Determine employment status:
- For individuals already employed by UMB, proceed to 4.
- For individuals not currently employed by UMB, conduct recruitment as required by university policy and issue an offer letter to the prospective employee.
- For scholar fellows and faculty, submit paperwork requesting an academic appointment to the appropriate office in your school.
- Log into and follow the instructions to Add a New Person.
- Log into and click on the TN Employee Request under Department Services. If you need the Sunapsis/University ID for the employee, contact ois-info@umaryland.edu with the name of the employee.
- When both required e-forms in the group are submitted, OIS will review the request.
- If eligible, OIS will provide a sample TN letter to the requesting department for completion.
- The department will finalize the letter, print on university letterhead, and receive signatures of the department chair or supervisor of the TN employee.
- The original letter should be provided to the TN employee along with the Instructions to TN employees PDF.
- Copies of the letter should be retained by the department and OIS.
- To acquire status:
- TN employees outside the U.S. will acquire TN status at the border.
- TN employees currently in the U.S., either as TN employees or another non-immigrant status, may acquire/extend TN status by:
- Traveling outside the U.S. and seeking readmission at the border, or
- TN status may be acquired/extended by filing Form I-129 with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (consult with the Director of OIS regarding this process).
- If extension is needed, complete the TN Employee Request in Sunapsis.