Read the general life across the border overview
TD, L-2 and E dependant classifications are available to unmarried children only while they are under 21, and those nonimmigrant dependant classifications do not themselves authorize employment; spouse work rights vary by category. EB-5 derivatives instead become conditional permanent residents and may work, with age eligibility assessed under the Child Status Protection Act. A Boischatel family with a teenager who wants a summer job and an older child approaching 21 needs each person's plan written down against the rules for the principal's actual route before accepting anything.
Record each person's age, status and intended activity on one page
Hypothetical example: a Boischatel hospital pharmacist is offered a position in Vermont and expects to apply for TN. Her husband works for a Québec engineering firm; their son is seventeen and wants to work part-time; their daughter is twenty and in her second year at university. On TD, the husband may not work, including remotely for his Québec employer from a U.S. address without separate authorization; the son may study but not work; the daughter has TD status only until her twenty-first birthday. The table makes the problems visible: the husband's income and the daughter's status both need answers that TN alone cannot supply.
Change the principal or the route if the dependants' rules do not fit
If the husband's engineering employer has a U.S. affiliate, an L-1 transfer for him would give the pharmacist L-2 status with employment authorization incident to status, reversing the household's problem, though her pharmacy licence would still be a state matter. If no such transfer exists, the husband may need his own employer-sponsored route, or the family may decide he stays in Québec part of the year. The daughter should look at student status for the period after she turns 21, applied for in advance, and the family should confirm how her Canadian citizenship and university enrolment support that. Each answer is a separate application, not an add-on.
Sequence the moves so nobody loses status by accident
Put the pharmacist's start date, the daughter's birthday, the son's school year and any student application deadlines on one calendar. Dependant admissions should be timed so that the daughter is admitted before 21 if she will be a dependant at all, and her change to student status filed before that date. The husband should not resign or agree to remote work until his authorization question is settled. If the family expects to stay for years, discuss permanent-residence options early, because TN provides none and each child's age keeps moving. Keep each family member's Canadian citizenship documents current; they will be needed again at every extension.
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.