u/mhmmh

Recently had my TN approved at YUL (Biologist category). The process took a while but was smooth. I arrived around 11:30 on a weekday morning and waited almost 2 hours to be called up. Only 1-2 agents were processing visas and there were ~5 people ahead of me when I got there. When I eventually got called up they asked for my documents, took them, made copies then spent a while typing on their computer before calling me up to pay/leave. The only question I was asked was what my salary is. This is my second TN for the same position/employer so I was hoping it would be straightforward but you never know!

FWIW everyone else waiting there for L-1/TN seemed to have a similar experience - didn’t see anyone getting grilled or not approved while I was there. I did my previous TN at YYZ and it was an awful experience so I will definitely be using YUL going forward.

My current TN (Biologist category) is expiring at the beginning of October. I am travelling to Canada in early September and would like to "renew" it then (I understand it's technically a new application). This is for the same role and employer as my current TN. I'm confused about which start date to put on the support letter. My employer's immigration office said to put an early October start date (coinciding with the expiry of my current TN) and travel with both my previous and current support letters, requesting another 3 years from October 2026. This concerns me because it seems like grounds for denial due to applying outside the 10 day window. It makes more sense to me to put a start date aligned with my date of travel (ie early September). The start date itself is meaningless for me since I'm continuing in the same role - just want to do whatever is least likely to invite scrutiny. Any advice? I'm planning to go to Alexandria Bay POE. I have a BSc and PhD in Biology and the job is conducting biological research so in theory the adjudication itself should be straightforward.