Read the general life across the border overview
One spouse holds work status in their own right, while a child is admitted as a dependent of the principal applicant. Those are different legal positions, with different expiry dates and different permissions. Build a household table before making commitments, so nobody assumes that a change affecting one person carries the others with it automatically.
Build the household table
Give each person a row: current status or authorization, the document evidencing it, its expiry date, and what that status permits regarding work and study. TD dependents may study; TD status does not authorize employment, and an unpaid activity is a specific question rather than a blanket allowance. Qualifying E and L dependent spouses are employment-authorized incident to valid status, with proper I-94 evidence; the rule for children is not the same. Record where each date came from — the admission record, the approval notice, the passport — instead of the household's shared impression of when things expire.
Test what a change to one person would do
Hypothetical example: a spouse holds employment-based status in their own right, while a child is admitted as a dependent of the other parent. If that parent changes employer, files an extension, or the family separates geographically for a school year, the derived status and the independent one are not affected in the same way. Ask for the consequences person by person, in writing, rather than a single answer for the household. Note which questions belong to the principal's file and which require their own assessment, and keep preferences about schooling or timing visibly separate from the legal conditions.
Watch the dates that move independently
Family members can have different expiration dates even when they enter together, and a child's age can change available options. Distinguish filing, approval, admission and effective work authorization. Review the latest applicable I-94 and any later USCIS notice, including an attached I-94, rather than treating the original entry record as permanently controlling. Do not assume a pending filing permits every planned activity. Before signing a lease or accepting an offer, identify the unresolved status decision and who must be notified if its timing changes.
When the household's documents disagree about a date
Households go wrong on dates because they trust one memory shared by four people instead of four documents. Everyone recalls arriving together, so everyone assumes a single expiry, and the record that would settle it sits unread in an email attachment. Print each person's admission record and approval notice and lay the printouts side by side; where two documents give different dates for the same person, the later notice generally governs, and the discrepancy is worth resolving while it is still theoretical. Give one person responsibility for holding the file and re-checking it after every entry, every extension and every change of employer, since each of those events can quietly replace a date somebody is still relying on.
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.