Mexican IT professional considering CUSMA work permit - real experiences?
>Hi all. Mexican citizen here with 12+ years in IT infrastructure, cloud platforms (AWS, Kubernetes) and automation. I hold a university degree in IT Management, WES evaluation done, and I have a valid Canadian tourist visa.
I'm actively looking for Canadian employers and CUSMA came up as a potential route. I have a few questions where I can't find clear answers and would love to hear from people with real experience:
1. Occupation mapping — My role is DevOps/Cloud Engineer but that title doesn't exist explicitly in the CUSMA list. Has anyone successfully mapped a cloud/infrastructure role to "Computer Systems Analyst"? Did the officer push back on the title?
2. Mexican citizen process (post Feb 2024) — Since we now need a TRV, does applying online via IRCC make more sense than port of entry? Any recent experience from Mexican nationals?
3. Employer awareness — Do Canadian employers generally know about CUSMA? Is it a hard sell to convince them to go this route?
Any firsthand experience appreciated, especially from other Mexican nationals. Thanks 🇲🇽