IN THIS GUIDE · An agronomist whose U.S. offer drifts into sales duties
Start with the TN eligibility and application overview
The listed profession is defined by duties, not by the employer's job family
TN classification requires prearranged professional employment in a listed profession, and an officer will compare the described duties with what an agronomist actually does. If most of Marguerite's week is quoting prices, closing accounts and managing a sales pipeline, the position reads as sales, which is not a listed profession, even though she is qualified as an agronomist. The offer letter needs to describe the agronomic work she will genuinely perform — field diagnostics, fertility recommendations, trial design, grower education — and the degree that supports it. An employer that wants a salesperson should not dress the role up; an employer that needs an agronomist should describe that role accurately. A useful first review produces a duty map: list each recurring task, estimate its share of the week, and identify the record that proves it, such as field reports, trial protocols or advisory notes. If the sales forecast is the job's central performance measure, changing a sentence in the letter will not cure the underlying mismatch.
Which document decides it: the support letter and the transcript
For a Canadian citizen the application is usually made in person at a port of entry or by the employer filing Form I-129, and the decisive papers are the same either way: a detailed employer letter stating the profession, duties, duration and salary, and evidence of the degree. Marguerite's parchment should be accompanied by a transcript showing an agriculture major, because the profession's rule is a baccalaureate in the field, not any bachelor's degree. If the transcript shows a general science degree with a few agronomy courses, that is a weakness to raise with an adviser before travel rather than something to argue at the border. The transcript is the record that settles whether the degree is in the required field; a résumé cannot fill a missing major. Before travel, compare the completed courses with the credential rule and obtain a reliable evaluation if a foreign academic record needs explanation. This sequence avoids asking the inspecting officer to resolve an academic ambiguity at the counter.
Self-employment and ownership are the other quiet disqualifiers
TN does not permit self-employment in the United States. If the crop-inputs company proposed to engage Marguerite as an independent agronomy consultant paid on commission through her own company, the arrangement would fail regardless of her qualifications. She must be an employee of, or under contract to, a U.S. entity that controls her work. Any ownership stake she holds in that entity should be disclosed and would be examined for whether the relationship is really employment. A clean salaried offer avoids both problems. A first review should also identify who sets hours, assigns clients and bears commercial risk. A signed employment agreement, payroll arrangement and supervision chart are more useful than an informal promise that the company will direct her. Commission language, an independent-contractor invoice or an ability to substitute another worker can point away from a genuine employment relationship.
What Marguerite should ask the employer before signing
Ask for a written breakdown of expected time by activity for the first year, because that breakdown will either support the professional-duties description or contradict it. Ask who the supervisor will be and whether the role sits inside the agronomy function or the sales organization. Ask whether the company has supported TN applicants in this role before and what the letter said. Finally, ask whether the position is genuinely temporary in the company's eyes, since TN is a nonimmigrant category renewed in increments and not a route to permanent residence on its own. The decision is whether the role can be documented as professional agronomy before a travel date is fixed. Keep the offer, duty map and credential records together, then use the same description for a later extension. A mismatch between the signed offer and the support letter is an avoidable reason for added questions.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.