Indeed they are pretty good over there at Peace Bridge POE.
Heres my experiences there.
First TN: Job was for Engineering Technician with a Civil Engineering firm in Pittsburgh, PA. Job was to start Monday, June 20 2005. I went down and applied for TN status the previous monday (June 13, 2005). The first border monkey (when I first drove up to the border booth) tried to intimidate me by saying "Hah, do you think you're gonna GET your TN?" to which I replied nothing.
Anywho, went into the waiting room area. Had brought with me my 3-year diploma in Transportation Engineering Technology, a certificate showing membership in Ontario for certified Engineering Technicians & Technologists, my college transcripts (sealed in an envelope), My resume, the job offer letter from the company, my passport.
Officers last name was "Tirranno" I believe. Asked me what my job duties would be, where the company HQ was (Pittsburgh), asked if anybody was in the car with me accompanying me down (to which I said no), and asked for all my proof of education, resume etc. After reviewing everything (educational stuff, job letter, resume etc) my passport was stamped and I-94 stapled into my passport. Took about 20-30 minutes to be approved and I was on my way. I should note that my TN occupation falls under "Scientific Technician (Engineering)" in the job occupation list. A NAFTA occupation that is normally scrutinized.
Only thing that sucked was that the POE was busy that day so I actually waited 3 hours before I was even called in to see the CBP officer.
Current TN: I applied for this back in July 27, 2006 with the new employer I am with now. I basically brought the exact same proofs & documents as the first time (Diploma, membership certificate, College transcripts, job offer letter etc). The TN classification I sought was the same (Scientific Technician). This time it was a different officer, not exactly the most friendly person but not a bad CBP officer either. Asked what classification I was applying for to which I replied "Scientific Technician". He then reviewed my job offer letter and looked at my diploma, membership certificate etc. Was not interested in my resume.
There was a slight error in my job letter. The officer said "I can't approve this TN right now. How do I know your supervisor is an Engineer? To be approved as a Scientific Technician, you must work under the direct supervision of an Engineer. You need to reword the letter to state that you will be working directly under the Engineer and provide to me a copy of his engineers license (P.E. license). I told him I could call my supervisor right now and the CBP officer said "what woul dthat do? WOuld he be able to fix this right this moment?" and I said that I could try to see if he can. CBP officer said "Call him and have him fax us a reworded letter saying you will be working under him, and to provide us a copy of his Engineers license. Once I get all that faxed I will call you back in". The CBP officer provided me with the Peace Bridge POE fax# to fax the new letter and license copy.
He kept all the paperwork, put it aside, and I was back in the waiting room calling my boss who eventually faxed the corrected letter and engineers license copy and I was called back in by the same officer. Looked over everything again and said "ok, everything looks good". Asked me the following questions:
CBP: "Have you ever lived in the U.S before?"
ME: "Yes"
CBP: "What did you do to the I-94?"
ME: "I sumitted it to the Canadian Officials on the way out?"
CBP: "When was that?"
ME: "End of May 2006, I don't remember the exact date"
CBP: "Ok, thank you".
Got my passport stamped with the new TN, paperclipped an I-94 inside my passport and I was on my way. I applied for this TN a little closer to my start date, about 4 or 5 days before I had to start work.
Sorry for going on and on, I hope this provides some glimpse as to the folks over at Fort Erie / Buffalo NY POE.
Canadian John