Home › Blog › TN Visa Cost for Nurses

TN Visa Cost for Nurses: Every Fee in 2026

By Sese Hang Limbu  ·  Updated September 2026  ·  8 min read

If you’ve ever googled “TN visa cost,” you’ll come across something like “$50 at a Canadian port of entry to over $4,500 if you file through USCIS with premium processing.” Add a lawyer and it climbs even higher. You might think it’s time to close the tab.

But here’s the good part a simple Google search won’t tell you: most of that money usually isn’t yours to pay. The scary fees belong to your employer. What’s on you is smaller, and a lot more predictable.

This guide goes through every fee, line by line, with 2026 numbers checked against the official sources. Then it adds them up for three real kinds of nurses, so you can see what you’d actually spend.

TL;DR: what you’ll actually pay

Your exact number depends on three things: when and where you were licensed, which state you’re heading to, and whether you apply at the border or your employer files with USCIS first.

The TN fees themselves

Good news first: the TN part is cheap.

If you apply at the border or an airport

As a Canadian, you can walk up to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with your paperwork and get a decision on the spot. Here’s what that costs in 2026:

• TN application fee: $50
• I-94 fee at a land border: $30. That’s the old $6 fee plus a new $24 fee that started September 30, 2025. The Federal Register’s 2026 update kept it at $30.

There’s no separate I-94 fee when you fly, so an airport preclearance (like Toronto Pearson or Vancouver) is cheaper than driving.

If your employer files a petition first

Some employers prefer to file Form I-129 with USCIS so you know the answer before you travel. That route has much bigger fees, but they’re normally paid by the employer:

• Form I-129: $1,015, or $510 for small employers and nonprofits (USCIS fee schedule)
• Asylum Program Fee: $600, or $300 for small employers, $0 for nonprofits
• Premium processing (optional): $2,965 for a decision within 15 business days. It went up from $2,805 on March 1, 2026, so a lot of older guides are wrong on this one.

The $250 fee you can ignore

You may have seen headlines about a new $250 “Visa Integrity Fee.” It applies to people who need a visa stamp. Canadians on the TN don’t, so it doesn’t apply to you.

TN fees, added up

The licensing fees (the part that’s actually on you)

This is where your money really goes.

Before you can work, you need a U.S. state license and a VisaScreen certificate. These are almost always the nurse’s cost unless your employer agrees to cover them.

Fees are from TruMerit’s fee schedule and Pearson VUE. Need it faster? TruMerit charges $650 extra to expedite the VisaScreen and $425 to expedite the credential report. Not sure whether you need the NCLEX? We cover that in Do Canadian Nurses Need the NCLEX?

What states actually charge

State fees vary more than you’d think. Here’s what five popular states charge in 2026:

Be mindful, though: the state you pick affects a lot more than the fee. It decides whether you need a credential report, whether you can apply without an SSN, and how long you wait. Our state-by-state licensing guide compares all of that side by side.

Bringing your family

Your spouse and kids can come with you on TD status. At a land border, each one pays the $30 I-94 fee. There’s no $50 TN fee for them. So a family of four driving across adds $90 on top of your own $80.

One thing to plan for: a TD spouse can’t work in the U.S. They can study, but not hold a job. For a lot of families, that matters more than any fee on this page.

Optional costs

• Immigration lawyer: usually $2,500 to $6,000 for a TN case, according to a 2026 cost guide from Manifest Law. Many hospital employers cover this or use their own counsel.
• Expedited VisaScreen or credential report: $650 and $425 extra. Worth it only if a start date is truly tight.
• Premium processing: $2,965, and only on the employer-petition route.

If you paid for all of these yourself, they could add about $6,500 to $10,000. In practice, most nurses pay none of them.

Three real nurses, three real totals

Numbers are easier to trust when you can see yourself in them.

• Priya was licensed in Ontario in 2019. She has an offer in Texas and will drive to the border.
• Marc is a Quebec nurse with an offer in Florida. He’ll fly through preclearance in Montreal.
• Jen finished her BScN in B.C. in 2018. She has an offer in New York and will drive down.

Marc pays the most because Quebec never switched to the NCLEX. Jen pays the least because New York’s route for recent Canadian grads skips the credential report (she’ll just need two short courses New York requires). In every case, any petition fees are the employer’s to pay.

Who pays what, and what to ask

This is where a good offer and a bad one really split apart.

There’s no law that says a TN employer has to cover your licensing costs. But strong employers often do, either upfront or as a reimbursement after you start. Before you sign, ask:

• Will you pay for, or reimburse, my VisaScreen, credential report and state license?
• If you file an I-129, are you covering the petition and premium processing?
• Do you provide an immigration lawyer, or am I finding my own?
• Is there a relocation bonus, and do I have to pay it back if I leave early?

How an employer answers tells you a lot about how they’ll treat you once you’re there.

Don’t forget renewals

A TN is granted for up to three years at a time. Renewing means paying the TN fees again. Your VisaScreen is good for five years, so you may need a new one on your second renewal. And your state license has its own renewal fee every one to two years, depending on the state.

The Final Verdict

A TN move costs most Canadian nurses about $950 to $1,900 out of pocket. That’s a real number, but it’s not the scary one you see online. The big fees belong to your employer, and the right employer will cover some of yours too.

Want the whole process, not just the price? Our full TN visa guide walks through every step, and our TN pathway page shows how we help.

Frequently asked questions

← Back to all posts