TN visa procedures

Hi I'm about to start a post-doc in Vermont.

My letter of employment states my work term as from March 1, 2010 to august 31, 2011. I've already got an apartment leased in Vermont but I have yet to apply for my visa as the paperwork is in the mail.

So question 1 is - assuming my paperwork gets here this week, and I plan to physically move to Vermont on or about Feb 26, can I make a trip down next weekend to make the visa application? Or is that too soon?

Secondly - the general rule of thumb seems to be not to offer too much information to border officers, but is it kosher for me to tell them that my purpose for this early visit is to get the visa sorted and pick up keys to my place? Or do I just tell them I going to get my visa sorted and visit for the day?

Finally, a friend has offered to drive me down for this trip (as I don;t have a car), will this complicate things at all (other than the 20 -60 minute wait he'll have to endure while I'm doing the interview bit)?

Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated.

You shoudl not have any problems.

You shoudl not have any problems.

I'm curious how you intend this to be interpreted. Looking at the dates on the posts, the original poster was posting about 3 weeks before his/her start date, but your later reply is less than a week before the start date.

Does your "should not have any problems" apply to the 1-week time interval or to the longer time frame of almost 3 weeks? Since the general rule of thumb has traditionally been to apply not more than 2 weeks before, the difference could be significant.

It applies to his entire post. Besides, we would have heard back by now.