You do not automatically have to remove the apps, but you must not actively run or maintain them while physically in the United States on employer-specific TN status.
“I'm a Canadian CS new grad interviewing for SWE roles in the US and would be on a TN visa. I have mobile apps on the Apple and Google Play stores that make a few hundred dollars a month. Do I have to remove or halt my apps to comply with TN visa rules against self-employment?”
Resumen
The rules do not say that you must delete your intellectual property or app listings merely because they exist. You can draw a manageable boundary before entering: leave them genuinely untouched, or pause them if they require ongoing attention.
The answer turns on what you personally do while physically in the United States, not simply on whether the apps remain listed.
If the apps can remain online with genuinely automatic payouts and you perform no app-related service or labor while in the United States, that is the narrowest passive branch. USCIS defines as service or labor performed within the United States outside your authorization (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 7, Pt. B, Ch. 6), but no official source gives this exact app-store arrangement a formal safe harbor.
Do not code, fix bugs, publish releases, answer customer support, market the apps, change monetization, or otherwise operate them while in the United States under employer-specific . The authorization is limited to the specific employer and permitted TN activity (8 CFR 274a.12(b)(19)); the few-hundred-dollars amount creates no exception in that rule.
If the apps require your attention, unpublish them, disable the activity that requires intervention, or perform the work only while you are physically outside the United States. The geographic distinction follows USCIS’s definition, which addresses service or labor performed “within the United States” (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 7, Pt. B, Ch. 6).
A TN petition or admission through a company you solely or controllingly own is not a workaround: 8 CFR 214.6(b) treats that arrangement as . State Department guidance says self-employment should instead be pursued under another visa category, possibly E-1 or E-2, but it does not establish that your small app business qualifies (9 FAM 402.17-5(A)).
This assumes you are admitted in TN status for the SWE job; it does not decide whether that particular job and its duties qualify under a USMCA profession.
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Watch out for
Próximos pasos
These steps create a clear boundary between your authorized TN employment and your existing apps.
Before your first TN entry
List every task the apps still require
Identify anything that requires your personal service or labor. There is no government form or fee for this step; complete it before performing any app task while physically in the United States.
Requisitos
Before entering in TN status
Freeze or hand off active operations
Stop new development, updates, support, promotion, pricing changes, and business management from the United States. You do not have to delete the listings if they can remain online without your work, but unpublishing or pausing monetization is the clearer option when intervention will be necessary.
Requisitos
Throughout your U.S. stay
Keep the arrangement passive while in the U.S.
Receive only automatic proceeds and perform no app work from the United States. Keeping records is not a prescribed government filing, has no fee, and helps distinguish completed pre-entry work from later active operation.
Requisitos
If an update becomes necessary
Resume work only outside the U.S. or under different authorization
Do not resume app work from the United States under your SWE employer’s TN authorization. A company you solely or controllingly own cannot solve this through TN; 9 FAM identifies E-1 or E-2 only as possible alternative categories, not automatic eligibility.
Requisitos
Fuentes legales
The controlling rules come from DHS regulations in 8 CFR, the USCIS Policy Manual, and the Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Manual.
8 CFR 214.6(b)
TN covers prearranged professional work for a U.S. entity and does not authorize a substantively self-employed business or practice.
§ 214.6(b)
Engage in business activities at a professional level means the performance of prearranged business activities for a United States entity, including an individual. It does not authorize the establishment of a business or practice in the United States in which the professional will be, in substance, self-employed. A professional will be deemed to be self-employed if he or she will be rendering services to a corporation or entity of which the professional is the sole or controlling shareholder or owner.
8 CFR 274a.12(b)(19)
TN is an employer-specific employment authorization incident to status, not an unrestricted work permit.
§ 274a.12(b), (b)(19)
The following classes of aliens are authorized to be employed in the United States by the specific employer and subject to any restrictions described in the section(s) of this chapter indicated as a condition of their parole or of their admission in, or subsequent change to, the designated nonimmigrant classification. A nonimmigrant pursuant to section 214(e) of the Act. An alien in this status must be engaged in business activities at a professional level in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 16 of the Agreement Between the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and Canada (USMCA);
USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 7 Pt. B Ch. 6
USCIS defines unauthorized employment by service or labor performed in the United States outside the person’s authorized scope.
Chapter 6(A)(1)
Unauthorized employment is any service or labor performed for an employer within the United States by an alien who is not authorized by the INA or USCIS to accept employment or who exceeds the scope or period of the alien’s employment authorization.
9 FAM 402.17-5(A)
The State Department directs a person seeking self-employment away from TN and identifies E-1 or E-2 as possible alternative categories.
9 FAM 402.17-5(A)(3)
If the applicant seeks self-employment, the applicant should pursue that employment under another visa category, possibly to include the Treaty Trader (E-1) or Investor (E-2) visa classification.
These are the official rules as published on the cited dates; rules change.
This is general information about official processes, not legal advice, and SettleKit is not a law firm.
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