@Tacks

Just to give you more context, this question is an important one and I will explain why.

Before THIS Trump term, you HAD to put on your waiver application "in the future I may also want to apply for a TN/O/E Visa if you planned to apply for one once your waiver was granted.

We know this because I had MANY clients who had 5 year waivers, and when they would try and apply for these visas, they had to get a brand new waiver with this designation.

I have a friend who works for Homeland Security (he now works in Hawaii but used to work at Pearson and trained with me in MMA) and he explained it this way. When they are considering your waiver application, the fact you MIGHT want to apply for a VISA is important in their consideration. Many clients I have are doing waivers not because of criminal records, but for things such as "applying for asylum-application rejected" "misrepresentation" and "overstaying" as well as "working illegally". If you apply for a waiver and do not tell them your intentions, they may have given you a waiver for a shorter period for example.

Now, they have changed this again. Instead of simply ignoring the "I may wish to apply for____ in the future" or adding it to the waiver, they STOP the application, and ASK, "do you want the waiver? Or should he close the file so you can apply for the Visa?"

This makes no sense, since if you are INADMISSIBLE, you cannot get a visa, you cannot even VISIT. The waiver "waives" your inadmissibility.

Anyways, this is the REAL reason this has come up. My advice? Since they are making it difficult to get these Visas anyways, and since 80% of 1st waivers are 1 year anyways, just apply for the waiver, and then hopefully if you get an opportunity to apply for a TN visa or any other visa, just apply separately.

I believe once you get a waiver, you go through a standard TN visa application like everyone else. The waiver just brings you at par with other non waiver requiring Canadian passport holders who have b1/b2 by default but still also have to apply for a separate TN visa.
That said, I don’t have first time experience applying for tn with a waiver but I’ll be looking to get it sometime if waiver duration allows. It’s futile to apply for a tn visa with a one year waiver I’m currently on.

@BeeHunter

You are missing why this was asked. I had posted that a few clients had put the usual "I might also wish to apply for_____" and Homeland Security actually sent a letter asking "do you want the waiver or do you wish to abandon the application, and all _____ must be applied for separately."

So yes, you are right, but since Trump, that hasn't worked. I have had 3 instances for clients, ALL were E visas where this was the response. In all 3 cases we simply replied and got the waiver. I don't have any recent TN visas so I am not sure if they are doing that with TN as well or just E visas.

The border is clueless, because these responses are coming from Virginia. Again, this is RECENT.

There is a question in the I-192 waiver application form "purpose of visit". You can include TN, L1, H1B and B1/B2 as well. Make sure include in your statement that you are qualified for those visas and proof of education/experiences. Good luck.

This is a great question. I wrote about how I had multiple clients who mentioned the E Investment visas and instead they sent a letter asking "do you want the waiver or not?" basically. I will absolutely mention it if I see anything about this, but hopefully someone else can give you insight. They seem UNWILLING to grant anything other than waivers to "waiver people" but without more evidence i cannot be sure.

We do know they will ONLY give asylum to "white South Africans" right now in 2026 so who knows?