I recently applied for a position as a coach at an American college. I possess a bachelors degree in physical education and significant professional experience as a coach in Canada. What type of visa will I have to obtain if I am offered the job and who must approach the Immigration and Naturalization Service?

Assuming that you are a Canadian citizen, you will have two possible nonimmigrant options:

1. The first option is TN status under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Eligibility requires Canadian citizenship, a proposed position as a teacher in a university, college or seminary, and a bachelor degree in the field. I would argue that you are a Canadian physical education teacher seeking entry to work at a college. TN applications are done by the alien seeking entry, not the employer. However, the employer is expected to provide a detailed letter confirming the terms of employment.

2. The second option is the H-1B. Eligibility requires a proposed position in a specialty occupation and a bachelor degree in the field. Teachers are considered professionals and so they are also considered specialty occupations. An H-1B must be submitted by the proposed employer. The alien seeking entry has only limited involvement in the application process.

I cannot give you a specific opinion regarding your eligibility under the above categories, since I don't have enough facts. However, both of these nonimmigrant options should be considered.

My 70 year old father is a green-card holder. He applied for an immigrant visa for my unmarried adult sister in 1995 and she has a family based preference date of approval of May, 1996. Projecting out the 2b preference dates it appears that it may be 2008 before she is able to immigrate.

1. If my father gains his citizenship will she automatically become a 1st preference candidate?

2. If my father passes away, does she lose her 2b status? Is there any way for myself (a citizen) or my mother (green-card holder) to assume her sponsorship if he passes away?

3. Is it possible for her to obtain a tourist visa and visit the U.S. in the meantime?

I would like to mention that you are mistaken in calculating the priority date for your sister's case. The priority date of a family based case is the date that the petition is filed, not when it is approved.

Where the petitioner acquires U.S. citizenship by naturalization while a 2b family preference is pending, the case automatically converts to a 1st preference case. The priority date for the case remains the same.

If the petitioner dies, your sister will lose her 2b status. Your mother could submit a petition on behalf of your sister under the 2b family preference but it would mean a completely new petition with a new priority date. You could submit a completely new petition under the fourth family based preference but there would be a new priority date and your sister will be waiting for more than ten years.

It is not completely impossible for your sister to obtain a B-2 admission while this family petition is pending, but I would not hold my breath. A pending petition is usually sufficient to show immigrant intent, which disqualifies the alien from B-2 status.

I am a Canadian citizen and have worked in the field of computers for approximately 2.5 years. I am thinking of attending a college to get a 2 year diploma in computer science. If I continue to work in the field during the 2 years I am in school, can I apply under TN status as a computer professional right after I get my diploma?

Some (but not all) ports of entry believe that you cannot use work experience gained prior to completion of your post-secondary diploma. I believe that this is an incorrect interpretation. In any event, many ports of entry do not have a problem with pre-completion work experience.

They will probably only give you part time credit for work experience gained while in school since you are almost certainly not be working on a full time basis during this time. However, since you already have 2.5 years of experience and will need only an additional six months to meet the three year work experience requirement for TN systems analysts, you should be fine.

I am a U.S. citizen married to a Canadian citizen. We have a child who was born in Canada. I was not physically present in the United States long enough to transmit citizenship to her at birth. However, I heard somewhere that I could obtain expedited naturalization for my child using the physical presence of my grandparents. Is this true?

Yes, it is true. However, it is not as simple as it sounds.

The section you refer to is §322 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. It is discussed in my naturalization article. Expedited naturalization is possible for the child of a U.S. citizen under this section. However, the child must first acquire lawful permanent residence before he or she can naturalize under this section.

Although the language of §322 suggests that the child must only be physically present in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission (and not a lawful permanent resident), 8 CFR §322.2 states that the child must reside permanently in the United States, in the physical and legal custody of the applying citizen parent, pursuant to a lawful admission for permanent residence.

The U.S. citizen parent must first petition the child under a family based category and then seek expedited naturalization under §322 after the child has obtained lawful permanent residence. This is not a method for by-passing the permanent residence process.

UPDATE: Upon further research, it was discovered that the INS regulations were invalid. The requirement that the child be lawfully admitted for permanent residence was eliminated by a 1994 amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act. However, the INS never modified their regulations to reflect the amendment. Therefore, to the extent that the INS regulations are inconsistent with the statute, they should be disregarded.