Ask the employer or administering body for its current estimate, outstanding steps and next review date. Immigration processing and clearance processing have separate schedules. Counsel can help assess the consequences of a delay, but a TN estimate does not predict when access clearance will be granted.
Build the plan on a date someone owns
Ask the employer to name a review point rather than an estimate, so there is a moment when the offer is either confirmed or reconsidered. Prepare the credential records and legal review in parallel, since that work is useful whenever the condition clears. Avoid arranging travel or admission around a projected clearance date that no one has committed to.
A single promised date hides several steps that can each slip. Ask the board for its current processing time in writing, ask the credentialing organisation the same question, and set the hospital start date after the later of the two. A port-of-entry application can be made days before the start date; a petition needs the USCIS processing time built in.
A client’s release of information does not authorize work while an immigration requirement remains unresolved.