Receipt of money is not immigration permission. Follow the applicable process and establish authorization before starting the work.
Coordinate the start on the right milestone
Keep the payment date, proposed start and actual admission or status decision distinct. An employer’s payroll action cannot guarantee the government outcome.
Set a specific milestone for receiving corrected, consistent documents, and only build the rest of the timeline, including any planned start date, around the confirmed corrected assignment dates. State surveying licensure and any required examination usually take longer than the immigration step, and a start date built around a field season leaves no slack. Sequence the analysis before the first productive US workday: identify the professional category, assemble the employer record, choose the appropriate entry or petition route, and obtain the required permission. TN admission is granted for a period not exceeding three years and is tied to the employment described, so an application made against an unsettled plan produces either a refusal or an authorization that no longer matches the work. What goes wrong at this point is a calendar error with real cost: non-refundable flights and a moving date are booked around the start date in the offer, as though that date and the date work may lawfully begin were the same thing.