The North American Free Trade Agreement known as
NAFTA
is a trade agreement
between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The goals of the North American
Free Trade Agreement were to ease restrictions on trade and investments between
the three countries. NAFTA is mostly associated with the lowering of tariffs of
commercial goods. While this is an important goal of the agreement, NAFTA also
eases access to citizens of Canada, Mexico, and the United States who wish to
work, send workers or invest in one of the other signatory nations. Only
Canadian citizen, United States citizens and Mexican citizens are covered by
NAFTA.
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Our Service
Immigroup will help US or Mexican citizens who wish to enter Canada or Canadian
citizens who wish to enter the United States. Call out helpline on 416-962-2623,
use our fax or email service or visit
our Toronto office for a personal
consultation.
Entering Canada:
Business Visitor: Immigroup will assist you in gathering all the necessary
documents and preparing them for submission. Immigroup will also write a letter
to Canadian Immigration officials explaining your situation.
Trader/Investor: Immigroup will help fill out the necessary forms and gather all
the documentation required by the Canadian government. Immigroup will instruct
you on where to submit your application and present a letter to the visa-issuing
office explaining your situation.
Intra-Company Transferee: Immigroup will assist you in gathering all the
necessary documents and preparing them for submission. Immigroup will also write
a letter to Canadian Immigration officials explaining your situation.
Professionals: Immigroup will help you gather all the documents you need and
issue a letter to border services explaining your reason for submission.
Entering the US:
B-1 Business Visitors: Immigroup will help you gather all the necessary
documents and prepare them for submission. We will also write a letter to US
officials explaining your situation and your case for application.
E-1/2 Traders/Investors: Immigroup will set up an appointment with the US
Consulate and will help you fill out all the necessary forms and gather all the
paperwork for submission.
L-1 Intra-Company Transferees: Immigroup will help you and your employer fill
out all the necessary forms and gather all the required documents. We will also
issue a letter explaining your case to US border officials.
TN Professionals: Immigroup will help you gather all the documents you need and
issue a letter to border services explaining your reason for submission.
If your entry attempt is denied, Immigroup will refund your funds provided that
you show the letter of refusal from government authorities. This guarantee is
not valid if you were denied entry because you did not meet admissibility
requirements.
NAFTA Categories
Four different categories were set up by NAFTA to allow entry by citizens of the
signatory countries. These are: Business Visitors, Traders or Investors,
Intra-Company Transferees, and Professionals.
Business visitors:
A business visitor is someone who will be performing
commercial activities listed in NAFTA. These include: Sales; After-Sales
service; Distribution; Research and Design; Marketing; and Growth, Manufacturing
and Production; it also includes general service personnel including tourism
personnel, public relations and advertising consultants and others performing
commercial functions. In order to be approved entry under this agreement,
business visitors, although they would be working in a signatory country, must
not be entering that country’s labour market.
Traders
or Investors:
Traders or Investors are individuals who will be trading
substantial amounts of goods or services or investing a substantial amount of
capital in one of the signatory countries for an organization that is of US,
Mexican, or Canadian nationality. The goods or services that are traded or the
capital invested must be of commercial nature and be for a profit-making
organization.
Intra-Company Transferee:
An intra-company transferee is an employee of an
American, Canadian, or Mexican company who will be transferred to a parent,
subsidiary, branch, or affiliate of their employer. The employee must be
employed in an executive or managerial capacity, or in one that qualifies as
specialized knowledge.
Professionals:
A professional is a businessperson who is an American, Canadian,
or Mexican citizen who will be entering the United States, Canada, or Mexico to
work at a professional level. The applicant must meet any municipal, provincial,
state, or federal requirements in order to be admitted as a professional under
North American Free Trade Agreement.
NAFTA Restrictions
The North American Free Trade Agreement does not guarantee entry into the
signatory country. An applicant must meet admissibility requirements of the
country that he or she is intending to enter. It does not allow for a person to
immigrate permanently. While someone can extend their status, one cannot obtain
citizenship under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
NAFTA Benefits
NAFTA has many benefits; it allows for an easier and less expensive entry into
Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Citizens do not have to go through the
regular process of acquiring a work permit through a consular office. Instead,
they can complete the process on the day they travel into Canada, Mexico or the
United States.
For example:
Maurizio is an Italian citizen who is a permanent resident in
Canada. He works as a professional accountant in Toronto and has been hired by
an American firm in Dallas to work as their accountant for 2 years. Maurizio
would have to submit an application to the
US Consulate in Toronto (wait period
of about 8-10 weeks to get appointment at the US Consulate), gather all the
documents, take pictures, and pay a $100 fee to get an
H-1B visa. If approved,
Maurizio can then enter the US. Maurizio cannot use NAFTA because he is not a
Canadian citizen.
For example:
Andrea is a Canadian citizen who works as nutritionist in Toronto.
She has been hired to work as a nutritionist at a health centre office in
Pittsburgh and she is to begin working the following Monday. Andrea can use the
North American Free Trade Agreement. The Sunday before she begins work in
Pittsburgh, Andrea drives to the US border with all her documents, submits her
application to the border officials, and pays a fee of $50. If she is approved,
Andrea can drive down to Pittsburgh and begin work the following day. |
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