Read the general life across the border overview
Hypothetical example: the Sagala-Tremblay household leaves East Ferris on an L-1B transfer. The principal's petition is the only part of the move anyone has examined. His partner intends to work, they have not married, and their elder child turns twenty-one during the assignment. Each of those is a separate question with a separate answer, and none of them is resolved by the strength of the principal's case, however carefully it was built.
Dependent work rights differ by category, sharply
An L-2 spouse is employment-authorized incident to status and may work without a separate application; so is an E-2 spouse. A TD spouse may not work at all, in any form, including remote work for a Canadian employer performed from inside the United States. That single difference has decided which route households choose more often than any other factor. Where the second income is essential, it should form part of the category decision at the start rather than a discovery at the border. Unpaid work that would ordinarily be paid, and self-employment, fall on the same side of the line as employment: a hobby that begins to invoice has changed character.
A partner is not a spouse, and a birthday is not negotiable
Derivative status for a spouse requires a legally recognized marriage. A common-law partnership recognized in Ontario is not a spousal relationship for these purposes, so this household has to decide whether to marry before the move or to find the partner an independent basis to be present: her own work category, or a student route with its own admission and funding requirements. Children hold derivative status while unmarried and under twenty-one, and the twenty-first birthday ends it whatever else is happening that month. An alternative for the elder child needs arranging months ahead, since the usual answer requires an acceptance, evidence of funds, and processing time nobody can compress.
Immigrant milestones run on their own calendar
Where a household is on an immigrant route rather than a temporary one, the milestones multiply. EB-5 derivatives — a spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one — receive conditional residence with the investor and are included in the later petition to remove conditions, filed in the ninety days before the second anniversary of admission. Under the published Gold Card framework, each accompanying spouse and each unmarried child under twenty-one adds a further processing fee and a further gift. In every case each person's own admissibility is assessed individually. The household's planning document should therefore be a calendar with names and dates on it, not a single line for the family.
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: 2026-09-08. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.
- USCIS — TN professionals
- Department of State — USMCA professional workers
- Foreign Affairs Manual — TN
- 8 CFR 214.6
- USCIS — L-1A
- USCIS Policy Manual — L
- 8 CFR 214.2
- Foreign Affairs Manual — L
- USCIS — L-1B
- USCIS — E-2 treaty investors
- Foreign Affairs Manual — E visas
- USCIS Policy Manual — treaty investors
- USCIS — EB-5 immigrant investor program
- USCIS Policy Manual — EB-5
- INA 203(b)(5)
- Form I-829 instructions
- Official Gold Card program
- USCIS fee schedule