Getting from Mexico to the US — walked through step by step

To keep Canadian permanent residency, I need to have been physically present in Canada for at least730 days — two years — within a rolling 5-year window.

That window isn't fixed to when I first became a PR. It's counted backward from whenever IRCC actually examines me — most likely when I apply to renew my PR card, or if I'm questioned re-entering Canada. Every day that passes, the window slides forward, so days I banked early on can eventually age out if too much time passes before I catch up.

My PR card expires August 2, 2028card expiry. I'm treating that date as the assessment point for planning — the point at which IRCC would check whether I've met the 730-day requirement.

Counting back exactly 5 years from that date lands on August 2, 2023. I already spent time in Canada from June 26, 2023 to August 29, 2023, but only the days from August 2, 2023 onward still fall inside that 5-year window. So what I can actually count as already banked is 28 daysbanked, not the full stay — leaving 702 daysstill needed.

That 28-day figure is what sets the real threshold. Working backward from card expiry by exactly the 702 days still needed — assuming I move back and stay continuously, with no further trips abroad — the absolute latest I could move and still just reach 730 days isSeptember 1, 2026latest possible, zero margin.

My original intention had been to move by August 22, 2026, but that was based on math I'd gotten wrong — it assumed more of the original stay stayed banked than actually survives the rolling 5-year window. Recalculated properly from the 28-day threshold, that original date still lands safely before the September 1, 2026 cutoff, leaving a real but thin +10 daysbuffer — not the large margin I'd originally assumed, but not a failure either.

Part of that buffer is a genuine assist from the calendar: 2028 is a leap year, so February 29, 2028 falls inside this window and adds one extra day to the runway that wouldn't exist otherwise.

The plan is to keep my existing Mexican employment contract unchanged — no renegotiation, no new contract — while living in Canada.

Canada and Mexico have a tax treaty that coordinates which country taxes what, so the same income isn't taxed twice. That's not the same as Canada simply "not caring" as long as taxes are paid in Mexico: living in Canada long enough will likely make me a Canadian tax resident, which means my worldwide income — including the Mexican salary — becomes reportable there. I'd then claim a foreign tax credit for what's already paid in Mexico, so nothing is double-counted. Worth confirming the exact mechanics with a cross-border tax advisor before relying on this.

Keeping the Mexican contract also preserves stronger labor protections — severance, benefits — than a Canadian employment contract would offer.

This isn't unfamiliar territory: I did this once before. As a temporary worker in Canada under a 6-month Mexican contract, I lived there from late September through December 2021. For that partial tax year, I had to pay provincial income tax on that Mexican-sourced income to the province I was living in — so I've already been through the mechanics of filing Canadian taxes on foreign income while living there.

L1B covers intracompany transfers for specialized knowledge — cloud infrastructure expertise (AWS, Azure, Terraform) fits this category well. It also requires a qualifying relationship between the foreign employer and a US entity (parent, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate) — my current employer already has a presence in the US, so that piece is already satisfied.

The requirement is 1+ yearcontinuous employment with the same employer, within the preceding 3 years. I already meet this — continuously employed sinceQ1 2025. But this eligibility is tied specifically to my current employer: if I switch companies now — including moving directly to the client — that clock resets to zero and L1B eligibility is lost.

If the employer sponsors it, they file the petition and cover legal costs. Initial approval is 3 years, renewable once to a 5-year maximum.

As a Mexican citizen, the L1B visa itself requires an interview at a US consulate — it's not available at a port of entry the way it is for some other nationalities.

Two things have to be true for this path to work: I stay with my current employer, and the employer is willing to file. Worth a direct conversation on whether they'd support it.

One structural advantage over TN: L1B is a dual intent visa. Pursuing permanent residency later wouldn't jeopardize the status itself — a meaningful difference in risk, not just a difference in Green Card strategy.

As a Mexican citizen under USMCA/CUSMA, TN status has no annual cap or lottery — unlike H-1B. Eligible categories for this work include Computer Systems Analyst and Engineer.

I've held TN status before, and my degree matches an eligible category exactly — between the two, the risk of denial at the consulate is very low.

Either the client (as a direct hire) or my current employer could provide the qualifying offer letter. If the client hires me directly, TN is the natural route — but my current employer could also choose TN over L1B as its own simpler, faster option.

As a Mexican citizen, TN is a visa obtained via a US consulate interview — not a port-of-entry application, which is only available to Canadian citizens (for them, TN is a status, not a visa). The visa itself can be issued for either 12 months or, under the current reciprocity schedule,up to 48 months (4 years), with multiple entries — so I wouldn't need a new consulate interview every time I travel.

That's separate from the period of stay: each admission or extension is still capped at up to 3 years, same as everyone else on TN. The useful part is that extensions of stay can be filed with USCIS while remaining in the US — so within the visa's 4-year validity, I wouldn't have to exit the country just to renew my status.

Unlike H-1B, TN has no portability: switching employers isn't a transfer, it's starting over. As a Mexican citizen I'd need a new visa from a US consulate for the new employer, and I can't start working there until that's approved — there's no "file and start working" option like H-1B workers get. It's a renewable non-immigrant status, not a permanent one.

A sharper risk than "no Green Card path": TN is not dual intent. Every renewal and every consulate/border encounter requires demonstrating I still intend to return home, and an approved immigrant petition is treated as direct evidence otherwise — putting future renewals and re-entries at real risk. Not a live concern today, since no Green Card process is in motion — but it's a real constraint to keep in mind if that changes later, and a status-security difference from L1B either way.

One reason this plan is in motion now: USMCA (the successor to NAFTA, which TN eligibility depends on) includes a sunset clause requiring a joint six-year review. That review took place July 1, 2026, and the US declined to confirm an extension — triggering a new annual review process that will continue until the parties agree to extend or the agreement expires in 2036. USMCA remains fully in force today and extension is still possible at any point, but the long-term certainty behind TN eligibility is now genuinely an open question, which is part of why locking something in sooner rather than later matters.