TN Visa Professions List: All 63 USMCA Eligible Occupations

The TN visa has exactly 63 designated professions. If your occupation isn't on this list, TN status isn't available to you — regardless of your qualifications. If it is on the list, you still need to prove your actual job duties match the regulatory definition, not just the title.

The list originated in 1994 under NAFTA and was preserved identically when USMCA replaced NAFTA on July 1, 2020. The category names still read like a 1990s Department of Labor handbook — which means modern roles like "Data Scientist," "Product Manager," and "Cloud Architect" don't appear. Applicants in these fields must fit their duties into the closest listed category.

Here is the full list, grouped by type, with education minimums and adjudication notes where relevant.

General Professional Categories

Medical and Allied Health Professions

Scientist Categories (26 Disciplines)

All require a Baccalaureate or Licenciatura in the specific field or a closely related discipline.

Agriculturist, Animal Breeder, Animal Scientist, Apiculturist, Astronomer, Biochemist, Biologist, Chemist, Dairy Scientist, Entomologist, Epidemiologist, Forester, Geneticist, Geologist, Geochemist, Geophysicist, Horticulturist, Meteorologist, Pharmacologist, Physicist, Plant Breeder, Poultry Scientist, Soil Scientist, Zoologist.

Plus: Scientific Technician/Technologist — the one category that doesn't require a degree (see note below).

Adjudication Notes for High-Scrutiny Categories

Computer Systems Analyst

The CSA category is the primary pathway for IT professionals, but it is not a blanket "tech worker" visa. CBP and USCIS distinguish the CSA from a "programmer." A valid CSA application must show that the primary duties involve analyzing user requirements, evaluating technology solutions, and designing system architectures — not writing code as the main activity.

Since the June 2025 USCIS Policy Manual updates, officers are applying a stricter "80/20" test: roughly 80% of duties should be analysis and design work, with coding incidental. Applications where the employer letter is essentially a developer job description rebranded with "analyst" language are being denied at higher rates.

Management Consultant

Management Consultant is the most difficult category to secure. While it uniquely allows five years of experience in lieu of a degree, officers apply a "supernumerary" standard: the consultant must address a specific, temporary business problem — not fill a permanent staff management role.

Applications by consultants working as direct hires with standard employee benefits face the most scrutiny. The role needs to be framed as project-based, advisory, and time-limited. Independent contractor arrangements or applications through established consulting firms fare significantly better.

Scientific Technician/Technologist

This is the only TN category that doesn't require a degree. Instead, it requires "theoretical knowledge" in a natural science or engineering field, plus the ability to solve practical problems. The catch: the technician must work in direct support of a listed scientist or engineer — not a manager, not a sales team. Technicians who perform independent work or whose supervisor isn't a qualifying professional don't qualify.

Engineer

Post-2025, officers increasingly require that the degree field be engineering-specific. A "Computer Science" degree for an "Engineer" application is being challenged, particularly in jurisdictions where CS is classified as a science rather than engineering. "Computer Science Engineering," "Software Engineering," or "Electrical Engineering" degrees are safer. Applicants with CS degrees should consider the Computer Systems Analyst category instead, provided their duties are analysis-focused.

What "NAFTA Visa" Means Now

Searches for "NAFTA visa" or "NAFTA professions list" refer to this same TN category. When USMCA replaced NAFTA on July 1, 2020, the professions list and all processing procedures were preserved identically — the U.S. simply kept the "TN" designation to avoid administrative disruption. The NAFTA visa and the USMCA TN visa are the same thing.

If your profession is on the list, the US TN Visa (USMCA) Guide provides duty templates and employer letter frameworks for the most common categories — including the CSA-vs-Engineer decision tree that trips up most tech workers.