TN Approved for Industrial Designer in Apparel and Fashion Accessory Industry Despite Prior Denial under Management Consultant TN Category.

The company in this case sought the services of a Canadian professional to design, develop and merchandise its global brand apparel and fashion accessories. The company initially presented a TN application at a PFI in the category of Management Consultant. The inspecting officers denied this application because the job description did not fall within the scope of a Management Consultant. The officer stated that the application revealed day-to-day duties that were not consistent with that of a management consultant under NAFTA.

Upon our review of this prior TN application, we also concluded that the job description and duties did not fall within the ambit of a TN Management Consultant. The job description and job duties did, however, fall within the scope of an Industrial Designer.

In order to qualify for TN status as an Industrial Designer, NAFTA requires that the applicant possess a “Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree; or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate, and three years’ experience.” The TN applicant in this case possessed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Fashion Design and significant relevant experience in the design, development and merchandising of global brand apparel and fashion accessories.

Our office contended that the TN applicant’s proposed job duties were consistent of those of an Industrial Designer as described in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, the Occupational Outlook Handbook, and O*Net OnLine. We also argued that a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Fashion Design was well suited for an Industrial Design position in the apparel and fashion accessories industry.