Read the general life across the border overview
Hypothetical example: an Otonabee-South Monaghan household plans a move on TN status, and the spouse is a registered early childhood educator who intends to keep working. TD permits residence and study but not employment, and no version of the application changes that. The household has three real options — the spouse qualifying in her own right, an employer sponsoring her, or the family choosing a principal classification whose dependants may work — and each requires its own qualification and its own timetable.
Understand what TD does and does not give
A TD dependant may accompany the principal, may live in the United States for the authorised period and may study; dependants in this class appear among those permitted to enrol in study. TD carries no employment authorisation and there is no application that grants one. This differs from the L and E classifications, where a spouse is employment-authorised incident to status, which is why some households discover late that the classification chosen for the principal has quietly determined the other adult's working life. Establish this before the principal accepts an offer, not after the family has arrived.
The three routes to a working spouse
First, the spouse qualifies independently in a listed profession with a prearranged American employer and holds TN in their own right; two TN principals in one household is ordinary. Second, an employer sponsors the spouse in a classification that permits employment, which takes time and a willing employer. Third, the household chooses a principal classification whose dependants may work, which means reconsidering whether an L or E route is available on the facts. For an early childhood educator, the first route depends on whether the actual position and credential match a listed profession, which should be checked specifically rather than assumed.
Put the children's dates on the same page
Dependent children may study but may not work, and dependent status ends at twenty-one. A household with a nineteen-year-old should identify now what that person's status will be at twenty-one, most commonly student status obtained in advance rather than scrambled for afterwards. A fourteen-year-old raises different questions: school enrolment requirements, and whether the family intends to remain long enough for post-secondary decisions to be made from the United States. Write every family member's birth date beside the expected assignment dates on one sheet. Households that do this find the conflicts early, when they are still solvable.
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.