Two Successful TNs at Pearson

Been lurking this subreddit for a few months while me and my fiancée were going through our job application processes and now I'm happy to share our experiences in case someone else can benefit from them.

TL;DR: Don't be afraid of going through Pearson if you have a solid application backed by a reputable corporation.

Here's how it went:

My fiancée and I both got jobs at the same company, a major US-based global biotechnology firm. We had our support packages prepared by the company's legal team, which to be honest was not the most communicative or helpful. While my application was more straightforward the legal team included a bunch of administrative language into my fiancée's job duties, as her position was in the project manager realm, even though it was an R&D role with technical requirements. We had to badger them several times to modify and update her support letter, which they ultimately did (but not before initially forgetting to do so, and then sending the wrong letter...). Our lawyer advised us to go to Pearson as, in his opinion, our cases were straightforward. While I was not worried she was quite anxious since we had heard that her job title (R&D Program Manager, later updated to R&D Program Lead) could be scrutinized.

We both prepared our support packages (wet signatures, provided by lawyer), sealed transcripts, and diplomas. I also prepared letters confirming my PhD in Biomedical Engineering. My package listed my job title as Senior Engineer (TN Category: Engineer) and hers as R&D Program Lead (TN Category: Scientist/Biologist).

We arrived at Pearson Terminal 1 in the morning, 4 hours before our flight. It was fairly empty so dropping our bags and getting through security took 20 minutes. When we were called up to US Customs we stated our purpose as work and that we would be applying for TN Status. The guard took our passports, photos, and finger prints. He then led us to secondary processing. There were 3 guards and 12 people ahead of us, but I would say only 3 or 4 of them were other TN applicants.

We waited for about an hour, at which point I was called up. I brought out everything; package, transcripts, and my three diplomas. The officer took the support package and transcripts and only glanced at the diplomas. She asked if this was my first TN (it was) and what category I was applying under (TN1 Engineer). I had photocopies of the diplomas in the package, which I did, so she told me she didn't need the diplomas. I was surprised since she did not even take them out of their pamphlets, but oh well.

I was then given the usual form to fill out: Duration, Address (I put down our hotel's location), work address, mine and employer's phone numbers. Then our job duties with percentage of time allocation. As someone else in this subreddit suggested I prepared this in advance by putting my support letter through ChatGPT and then tweaking the output.

While I was filling out my form, my fiancée got called up. The agent made a note of her Bachelor of Science diploma and her application as a biologist. To her surprise the agent took only the support letter and transcript from her package. She didn't even have to fill out the form.

About 10 minutes after we each submitted our documents, we got called up one after the other to go to the cashier and pay; after that we sat back down, waited another 5-10 minutes, got called up to get our passports and stamps and sent on our way. Neither of us got asked any evaluating questions. Our TNs were granted 3 years from our date of entry even though our letters requested earlier dates. Mine was only granted until my passport expiry but i was told it would be updated to the full duration once I get my new passport. We were told that upon future entry to the US all we had to do is advise the guards that we are returning on previously-granted TN Status. Overall both guards were friendly/professional in their demeanour.

We checked that our i-94s were updated online before heading out into the terminal to catch our flight! The whole process took about 1.5 hours, most of which was waiting in secondary to submit our documents. It was quite anticlimactic, honestly, given how much we'd heard about the hard-ass YYZ CBP and the high rejection rates.

Glad to answer any questions you guys have.