I had heard that obtaining work permits in Canada (i.e. the non-PR TN equivalent) was difficult. I know some companies do it but I don’t know how hard it is these days.

It was definitely the case that lawyers were required when I was getting my permanent residence card. Although, funnily enough, the company handling my application (Fragomen) is now under scrutiny for its practices in helping companies get H1B’s approved (“Here’s how you disqualify a US worker…”).

Getting my TN-1′s, however, was easy – show up at the border with the form, $50 USD, and an offer letter stating the job, the required qualifications, the pay, and the length of time for the job – that’s it.

This isn’t even a hard question – basically, “will I need to go to the US to provide biometrics?”. It’s a one word answer either way.

Contrast this to the paperwork when we applied for Ashley’s permanent residence in Canada: two sets of forms, one cheque, and no problems. The forms were self-explanatory, and provided all of the information. Easy.