Should a Wickham biochemist apply for a TN before her degree is conferred?

No. TN admission is granted for a period not exceeding three years and is tied to the professional employment described, so the profession's own qualification rule must be satisfied at the moment the application is made. A registrar's letter confirming that every requirement is complete is not a conferred baccalaureate, and entering as a visitor while the parchment catches up creates a worse problem than a delayed start.

Apply against facts that have already happened

Hypothetical example: Leonie has finished a baccalaureate in biochemistry and has been offered a bench position in an American public-health reference laboratory beginning in March. Her convocation is in May, and the university will not confer the degree before then. The Appendix 2 entry for Biochemist is satisfied by a baccalaureate degree, which makes the conferral date rather than the completion of coursework the fact that decides her file, and that fact has to exist when she presents the application rather than shortly afterwards.

Two improvisations are common here and both are dangerous. The first is applying in March on the strength of the registrar's letter and an assurance that the degree will follow, which invites a refusal that then attaches to every future crossing and has to be explained each time. The second is entering as a business visitor to attend meetings and orientation while quietly beginning laboratory work, which misstates the purpose of entry rather than saving time; the line between permitted business activity and employment does not move because a start date is inconvenient.

The safer sequence is to ask the employer to move the start past conferral, obtain the parchment and a certified transcript with certified English translations where the records are in French, have the engagement letter reissued with the revised dates, and only then apply, whether at a port of entry, at a preclearance facility, or through an employer petition.