Apply once the start date and the duties are both settled, not once the season is announced. Admission is granted for a period not exceeding three years and is tied to the employment described, so applying against a schedule that is still moving produces either a refusal or an authorization that no longer matches the work.
The settled fact to apply against is the job description, not the calendar
Seasonal work in process industries generates pressure to have paperwork ready months in advance, and that pressure encourages applications built on an outline rather than an offer. The better sequence is to let the employer confirm three things first: what the applicant will be doing in the opening weeks, when the engagement begins, and how long it is now expected to run. Only then should the letter be finalized and the application made, either in person as a Canadian citizen without a visa stamp or on the strength of an approved petition.
Two habits cause trouble in the interval. Starting the work remotely from Ontario for the American employer raises questions about when the employment began and who was employing whom. Travelling to help commission equipment as a visitor and then performing productive work is a separate problem with the same origin.
Neither should be improvised.
- USCIS: TN NAFTA Professionals
- U.S. Department of State: USMCA professional workers
- Department of State: 9 FAM 402.17, TN and TD guidance
- eCFR: 8 CFR 214.6, Citizens of Canada or Mexico seeking temporary entry as business persons
- eCFR: 8 CFR 103.2, submission and adjudication of benefit requests
- USCIS: Form G-1055, Fee Schedule