The United States, Canada, and Mexico have entered into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which provides for expedited admission of business persons of each country into the other country. NAFTA went into effect on January 1, 1994. The new treaty supersedes the U.S. - Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which had been in effect since January 1, 1989. The FTA had a significant impact on the movement of Canadian business persons into the United States, providing for far more liberal admissions in the B-1 category without the need for visa issuance and also providing special consideration for Canadian professionals in a new "TC" non-immigrant category. Canadian investors also received benefits under the treaty through eligibility for E visas. For the most part, NAFTA continues to extend similar immigration benefits to Canadian business persons as under the prior treaty and extends the immigration-related provisions of the FTA to Mexico, although the new agreement also introduces several crucial changes and imposes some restrictions that apply only to Mexican nationals.

The immigration-related provisions of NAFTA cover four categories of business persons from Canada and Mexico seeking entry into the United States:

1. B-1 temporary business visitors;
2. TN professionals;
3. E traders and investors; and
4. L-1 intracompany transferees.