NAFTA Professionals TN Visa

The man who liked putting out forest fires and got a NAFTA Professionals TN Visa

Even as a child, Juan Tomas had been well known for his green thumb. The most stubborn plants and saplings would come to life once he began tending to them. His father said he had acquired his special skill from his mother, who could effortlessly make gardens blossom on dry earth.

It was no great surprise to anyone when Juan decided to focus on botany in his high school, understanding all about plants, trees, forests — and by and by, inevitably, how they were all disappearing thanks to human activities. The rate at which the Amazon rainforest was being colonized, the world’s largest carbon sink and treasure trove of plant and animal species was headed towards obliteration

There was no doubt in his mind that this was the field he was born to work in. When school ended, he continued learning about plants and climate change, eventually acquiring his Licenciatura — or Bachelor’s degree — in sylviculture. A Master’s and then a doctorate followed.

He had hardly anticipated that his love of making green things grow would lead him to burnt and devastated forests. But re-greening these charred forests was an urgent priority, and Dr Juan Tomas was soon one of the most respected figures in that area.

By that time, the world was already burning. Mexico itself had been ravaged by one blazing forest fire after another. 2021 had been one of its most challenging years in terms of forest fires.  In the first three months of the year, in the midst of a raging COVID-19 epidemic, there were 2,871 wildfires, equivalent to 73,459 hectares burned. Dr Tomas had his work cut out for him.

There were 87 active fires still burning in 17 of Mexico’s 32 states when a request for Dr Tomas’s expertise came from a private firm helping deal with California’s forest fires. The Mexican government, eager to cooperate with its neighbor, released Dr Tomas from his immediate duties.

All he had to do now was apply for a NAFTA Professionals TN Visa as a NAFTA professional.

In 1994, the United States signed a trilateral agreement with its neighbors with whom it shares a border, Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The North American Free Trade Agreement, simplified as NAFTA, led to the creation of the Trade NAFTA or TN visa, a special nonimmigrant visa that speeds up work authorization for a citizen of Canada or a national of Mexico. NAFTA simplifies processes for entry and employment in the US for people from certain qualifying professions from Canada and Mexico.

Some examples of such professions are accountants, engineers, lawyers, pharmacists, scientists and teachers.

Fortunately for Dr Juan Tomas, sylviculture was one of the specialty professions that were eligible for a NAFTA Professional TN visa. As soon as he got a letter from his potential employer confirming his appointment and duties, Dr Tomas applied for a TN visa. To his delight, his wife and schoolgoing children were also eligible to accompany him under so-called TD visas.

Thus began a new chapter in the life of one of the world’s foremost fire-fighting scientists.

You can get more information on how to apply for the NAFTA Professionals TN Visa from the detailed, user-friendly visa guides you get when you buy one of our plans.

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