Read the general life across the border overview
Hypothetical example: an engineer from White City has accepted a U.S. role and will move with his wife, her fourteen-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, and their own six-year-old son. His wife is a registered nurse who wants to keep working. Two questions decide the household's plan. The stepdaughter qualifies as his child for immigration purposes only if the marriage took place before she turned eighteen, which it did. And dependent status will not let his wife work if he goes on TN, so her own TN as a nurse may be the better route for her.
Who counts as family under U.S. rules
A spouse and unmarried children under 21 can accompany a principal in TD, L-2 or E-2 dependent status. A stepchild is a child for these purposes if the marriage creating the relationship occurred before the child turned eighteen; after that, the stepchild is not a dependant and would need her own status. Bring the marriage certificate and the stepdaughter's birth certificate showing her mother, and, where the other biological parent has rights, a consent or custody document for travel and school registration. Common-law partners are not spouses for dependent status. Children age out at 21 in every category, and the Child Status Protection Act helps only in immigrant cases.
What the spouse can and cannot do
If the engineer enters on TN, his wife's TD status allows her to live and study but not to work in any capacity. If he enters on L-1 or E-2, she is employment-authorized incident to status and may take any job, subject to state nursing licensure. On TN, the better answer may be her own status: Registered Nurse is a listed profession, and her provincial licence can satisfy its Appendix 2 qualification; she would still need any state authorization required to practise, a U.S. hospital letter and the health care worker certificate to hold TN herself, independent of him. In that case the children can be dependants of either parent, and the household is not exposed if one job ends. Decide which parent's status each child attaches to, and keep the documentation for both.
Sequencing the move
The nurse's state licensure and certificate usually take longer than the engineer's TN letter, so plan her application on its own track and do not assume the family travels together. The stepdaughter's school enrolment will need her immigration record, so obtain her admission document with the correct classification at the border rather than fixing it later. Children in dependent status may attend public school without a student visa. If the family expects to stay beyond a few years, raise the permanent-residence question early, since TN assumes temporary intent and repeated renewals alongside a pending immigrant petition require careful handling. Review the plan again whenever a job, a marriage or a birthday changes a person's status.
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.