Begin with a bilingual inventory of the records available, retaining their originals. A diploma, transcript and employer letter answer different questions. Establish with the person reviewing the file which translations and explanations are needed for the intended procedure. Before commissioning anything, agree who holds each record and who may authorise its release, because a diploma kept by a former institution and an employer letter kept by a hiring manager travel at very different speeds. Hypothetical example: a terminologist assembling a file discovers that the only certified copy of a transcript sits with a registrar who requires a written request from the graduate personally.
Keep the original credential names
Record each credential exactly as issued, including its institution and date. Translating its name into English does not turn it into a different qualification. Where the programme title says little about its specialization, include the transcript among the records to assess. The proposed TN profession must be considered against its actual credential requirements. Scan each credential at the point of collection and record its issuing date in the same file, so the chronology does not have to be rebuilt later from memory. Where a programme changed its name between admission and graduation, note both names and the date the change took effect. A TN request depends on the proposed duties fitting a profession that appears on the list, together with the qualification that listing itself states, so an accurate record of what was awarded is worth more than a persuasive summary of what it resembles.
Separate translation from credential evaluation
Translation makes the document understandable in another language; credential evaluation addresses the standing or equivalence of a qualification. They are not interchangeable services. USCIS requires a full English translation with the appropriate translator certification for a foreign-language document submitted to it. Confirm the instructions for the selected procedure before purchasing services. Ask the evaluator, before ordering, which documents they require and whether they will work from the original French records, since an evaluation built on a translation carries the translator's choices into its conclusions. Keep the evaluation and the translation as separate deliverables with separate invoices, so a later question about one does not disturb the other. If no evaluation is required in the particular circumstances, record why that conclusion was reached and who reached it, rather than leaving the absence of a document unexplained in the file.
Match the duties without improving the story
If the position was first described in French, ask the employer to check its English account. A more impressive verb can change the meaning of a responsibility. Identify differences in duties, dates or remuneration between the offer and draft letter. Have the factual owner resolve them instead of selecting whichever wording appears more favourable. Give the employer a short list of the specific words that must not change rather than asking them to review the whole letter again, because people asked to check everything check nothing in particular. Where a duty is genuinely difficult to render in English, ask the employer to explain it in a sentence of plain description instead of reaching for a term of art, since an invented title creates a profession nobody intended to claim. Keep the earlier draft with a note of what changed and why, so the sequence of decisions stays visible.
What else is on your mind?
Is a matching job title enough for TN?Can years of experience replace a degree for TN?Can my own U.S. company employ me under TN?Can my spouse work if I hold TN status?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.