I went with him this morning expecting to wait outside. But, they actually let me in. We had the original NOA2 and because it had my name on it (and I had my passport), they let me in.
We got there at 7:20 for an 8 AM appointment. The appointment times mean nothing. First step, you walk up to the guards and the tourist visa folks stand in one line and the permanent resident applicants stand in other line. It was about 60 people in line when we arrived in the permanent resident line and they were letting people in 8 - 10 at a time. It moved smoothly and we were there for about 25 minutes.