Read the general life across the border overview
Hypothetical example: the Paradise developer on this site holds a TN offer, her husband is a paramedic who wants to keep earning, and their daughter is sixteen. TD status would let him live and study in the United States but not work, so his need decides the question before hers does. If the household needs his income, the developer should explore whether her employer's structure supports L-1B, where an L-2 spouse is work-authorized, or accept TN with the husband remaining in Paradise or retraining. The daughter's school is the easiest link in the chain; the spouse's work is the hardest.
Run the spouse's question first
In the hypothetical above, the husband cannot practise as a paramedic in any dependant status without his own work authorization, and TD offers none. The realistic options are: he stays in Paradise and the family lives in two places for a period; he moves as a TD dependant and studies, for example toward a U.S. credential he could use later under a status of his own; or the developer's route changes so that he holds L-2 or E-2 dependant status with work authorization incident to status. Paramedic is not in Appendix 2, so TN in his own right is unavailable. The developer's employer cannot manufacture an L-1B to help him; the corporate relationship and her specialized knowledge would have to be genuine. Decide which option the household can live with before the TN file is finalized.
Plan the daughter's school and her twenty-first birthday
A sixteen-year-old enters as a TD dependant and may attend public or private secondary school on that status; no student visa is needed, and the school will ask for her admission record and proof of address. She keeps TD status while unmarried and under 21, and the family should note the date she turns 21, five years away, because on that date TD ends whatever her mother's TN status is doing. If she plans U.S. university study she can change to student status while still in valid TD status; if she plans to return to Canada for university, she simply leaves before the birthday. TD does not permit her to work, including summer jobs, and the family should not assume a campus job later without checking the rules of whatever status she then holds.
Keep the chain honest as the routes change
The household's decisions run in a fixed order: the spouse's work plan, the principal's route, the admission, the resignation, the school enrolment, the house. If the developer's route later changes from TN to L-1B through a genuine transfer, the husband's status changes to L-2 and his work authorization arrives with it, but only after that petition is approved and each family member is admitted in the new status; nothing changes on the day the plan does. Keep each person's passport, admission record and, for the daughter, the birth certificate in one file. If permanent residence is the long-run goal, the daughter's age will then be measured under the Child Status Protection Act, under rules different from the TD limit; ask before assuming she can be included.
What else is on your mind?
Is a matching job title enough for TN?Can years of experience replace a degree for TN?Can my own U.S. company employ me under TN?Can my spouse work if I hold TN status?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.