IN THIS GUIDE · Presenting a French-language professional title in a TN case by describing the actual work and keeping the credential's original name
Start with the TN eligibility and application overview
Keep the credential's original name, then translate it
List the diploma, degree, or professional designation exactly as the issuing institution wrote it, then place a straightforward English rendering beside it rather than replacing it. A reviewer comparing the file against the granting body's records needs the original wording to confirm what was issued. Substituting a title that sounds closer to a listed profession removes the very detail that makes the credential verifiable. The issuing institution's transcript or confirmation letter is the record that resolves what the credential actually says. Keep it with the translation, rather than relying on a résumé or a revised job title.
Describe what the work actually involves
Instead of arguing from the title, write out the tasks: what is analyzed, designed, advised on, or produced, for whom, and with what level of independence. A duty description in concrete terms lets counsel judge which listed profession, if any, the role fits. Titles that carry regulatory meaning in one jurisdiction can imply something different across the border, so the underlying activity carries the weight. A useful first review produces a task-to-profession comparison and identifies any duty that falls outside the proposed professional role. Resolve that mismatch with the employer before a support letter is finalized.
Separate translation from credential evaluation
A certified translation renders a document's text into English; a credential evaluation offers an opinion on how the education compares to a United States equivalent. They answer different questions and are not interchangeable. A translation cannot establish equivalency, and an evaluation is not a substitute for the original document. A reliable evaluation is tied to where the degree came from: it applies to institutions outside Canada, Mexico, and the United States, and a credential issued in French by a Canadian institution is not sent for evaluation merely because of the language it is written in. Ask counsel which, if either, the specific profession and evidence actually call for. Decide first whether the actual profession calls for an equivalency opinion; then obtain the records that evaluator needs. Spending on an evaluation before that decision can leave the central work-and-profession question unanswered.
Let counsel map the description to a listed profession
The listing sets out specific professions with specific credential requirements, and several of them accept defined alternatives to a baccalaureate. Whether a French-language credential satisfies one of those requirements is a legal question, not a naming exercise. Give counsel the untranslated credential, the translation, and the duty description together, and let that review determine how the role should be characterized. The final decision is whether the employer's letter, credential record, and duty description tell one consistent story. If the employer changes the engagement, update the evidence before choosing the entry procedure or a USCIS filing. For a Canadian citizen, one procedure is to request classification at a U.S. inspection location or a preclearance facility; the employer may alternatively request Form I-129 approval from USCIS.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.