The grace-period provision can cover TD dependents as well as the TN principal. Review each person’s admission validity and circumstances instead of assuming either immediate loss or automatic protection until the principal’s printed expiry date. Separate status, citizenship and a child approaching age 21 require individual answers.
Handle each dependent's situation separately
A child turning 21, a spouse who holds a different status, or a U.S.-citizen child each sit outside the general pattern and need their own answer. TD permits study but does not authorize employment, with remote work and unpaid placements requiring specific review, so a spouse cannot bridge a gap by working. Where children are enrolled in school, ask what a mid-term departure means for records and re-enrolment.
Where a dependent's situation is disputed, the governing record is that person's own I-94, not the principal's. A spouse who entered on a different status, or who travelled separately, may hold a different validity period entirely, and the household's plan cannot be built on a single date. The failure that recurs is assuming symmetry: one departure date, one deadline, one set of permissions.
A child approaching 21 faces a deadline nobody else in the household faces. A spouse asked to take short paid work during a gap is being asked to do the one thing TD does not permit. List each household member with their own record, their own age and their own status, and answer the question once per person.