TN status, if you are Canadian or Mexican
If you hold Canadian or Mexican citizenship, you have a route most of your classmates do not.
Registered nurse is a listed profession under the USMCA. There is no annual cap, no lottery and no March registration window. TN status is granted in increments of up to three years and is renewable indefinitely.
What you need
A job offer from a US employer for a position in the listed profession, evidence of citizenship, and your qualifying credentials, which for nursing means a state license or, in some cases, licensure eligibility plus the required certification. Canadians can generally apply at a port of entry. Mexican citizens apply at a consulate first.
You also need a VisaScreen certificate. The federal health care worker certification requirement applies to nonimmigrants entering to work in a listed health occupation, and TN is a nonimmigrant category. Most TN guidance written for engineers and accountants never mentions it, because it does not apply to them. Budget about 14 weeks for document collection and $740, and read what you do and do not need.
The one significant limitation
TN is a nonimmigrant classification that does not permit immigrant intent in the way H-1B does. If you begin pursuing permanent residence you may complicate future TN admissions or renewals. People manage this routinely, but it needs planning rather than improvisation, and it is the reason to raise it with an attorney before the employer files anything.
Note that the May 2026 USCIS memorandum on adjustment of status singles out TN, alongside F-1, as a category requiring nonimmigrant intent where officers should apply heightened scrutiny to prior conduct. That does not close the door. It does mean the transition wants a lawyer.
Why it is worth knowing even if it feels narrow
For a Canadian or Mexican nursing graduate, TN removes the biggest source of anxiety on this site: the lottery. You are not competing for a selection. That changes which employers are worth approaching, because cap-exempt status matters far less to you than it does to your classmates.
If you are a U.S.-educated nursing graduate looking for an employer that sponsors, apply to inSpring.
Last checked September 9, 2026.