H1-B petition approved and TN visa

I hope someone can help me.
I have a H1-B approved from October 1st with company X. The approval is valid until Sep 30, 2009.

However, I am interested to work with Company Y on a TN until the middle of next year and later transfer to company X on their original H1-B. Is that possible. I mean, can I get a TN visa for a couple of months while my H1-B of a different company is approved.

Any replies will be highly appreciated.

Do you have the visa in your passport already, or do you just have the I-797? Legally it is possible to do this (at least the first bit), but it might raise eyebrows at the POE if you apply for TN-1 when you have a valid H-1 visa in your passport. I suspect you'll also have various questions if you then enter later on the H-1, i.e. why did you leave it so late to do the initial entry?

Thanks Steve. My H1-B is not activated/stamped yet. I just have the I-797 approval until Sep 30, 2009. Legally I can enter anytime before September 30. but what you said is right. It can raise a few eyebrows as to why I wanna go on a TN-1 with one employer when I have a H1-B from a different employer already approved.

I have to decide soon. Appreciate your response.

What I would do in your case is simply double-check with the consulate that they're okay with you leaving the H-1B visa application until the middle of next year. It does take awhile to get an interview date, although they won't want to interview you usually unless you have weird qualifications or something like that.

Without the visa in your passport, the question of why you want TN-1 when you have H-1B won't come up.

And in fact it won't come up at all, because Canadians don't need a visa for H-1B, oops.