The actual agreement and service scope determine payment obligations; a renewal clause does not explain every government or professional charge.
Clarify costs for later preparation
Identify what the employer has agreed to reimburse. No paid renewal or benefit term guarantees future status or a government outcome.
A port-of-entry TN application carries a modest admission charge, while an employer's Form I-129 petition carries USCIS filing fees set out in the G-1055 fee schedule; check the current figures rather than relying on a colleague's memory from a previous year. Price the TN preparation by separating official filing or admission charges from optional professional work such as legal analysis, credential evaluation, translation, licensing review, or a confidentiality protocol. A Canadian citizen ordinarily presents the application at a port of entry, which carries its own processing charge; an employer that files Form I-129 instead pays the petition charge and any optional premium processing it elects. Separate expected government charges, evaluation or licensing expenses, and professional invoices from the records that prove the applicant meets the occupation standard. What the two routes share is the cost of preparing the file: credential evaluation where the degree is foreign or unusual, certified translations, and professional fees if the applicant or employer engages counsel. Government charges apply according to the route taken and should be confirmed through official sources, since those amounts are set independently of any employer arrangement.