Read the general life across the border overview
One favourable opinion about the principal does not cover the household. Write down what each person intends to do in the United States — earn, study, run a business, retire — and test that activity against that person’s own status rather than against the family’s shared plan.
Describe the real household roles
Start with intentions rather than categories. Hypothetical example: an accountant enters in TN status, her spouse plans to keep consulting for his Ontario clients, their 17-year-old will attend high school and their 20-year-old wants a part-time job near campus. Four people, four separate questions, and only one of them is answered by the principal’s classification. Put each person’s name, date of birth, relationship to the principal and intended activity on a single sheet, and revisit it whenever the plan shifts, because plans in a relocating household shift constantly. The 20-year-old’s date of birth belongs on that sheet in bold: eligibility as a temporary dependant generally ends at 21 regardless of where the person is living or which year of study they have reached, and a family that has not noticed the date will certainly notice the consequence.
Match each intended activity to a permission
Then apply the rules that separate presence from permission. TD status lets a dependant be in the country and study; it authorises no employment whatsoever, and physical location is what governs — consulting for Ontario clients from a kitchen table in Florida is still work performed in the United States, whoever pays for it. A spouse holding qualifying E or L status has employment authorisation flowing from the status itself, on appropriate evidence, and does not universally need a separate document to rely on it. Dependent children gain no equivalent benefit in any of these categories at any age. Dependants in TD, E and L status may study while they maintain status, but studying is something the status permits rather than something that maintains or extends it, and enrolment will not carry a child past the age limit.
Assess immigrant-family eligibility individually
Immigrant routes change the vocabulary without changing the principle. A spouse and unmarried children under 21 may accompany an EB-5 investor as derivatives, which makes none of them an investor in their own right and does not allow any of them to be counted among the ten qualifying U.S. workers the investment must create. Age protection in the immigrant context is calculated individually from filing and visa-availability dates rather than freezing automatically at the age on the day of filing, so it should be checked against the actual dates in the case. On the Gold Card route, current official material recommends identifying intended eligible joining family at the outset, with the stated additional fee and gift amount for each person, and a service package bought from an adviser cannot widen the set of relationships the programme itself recognises. Confirm each figure and condition on the official programme material before anyone pays anything.
Why the principal’s arrival date drives the calendar
Finally, note the rule that constrains the moving date rather than the eligibility. In an immigrant-visa case a derivative may not be admitted ahead of the principal; the principal goes first, or the household travels together. Families routinely plan the opposite — one parent settling the house and the schools while the other finishes a notice period — and meet the constraint only after flights are booked. Build the sequence around it, and around the expiry dates attached to each person’s own paperwork, including medical examinations, which run out on a schedule of their own. Worth restating as well: Canadian citizenship and Canadian permanent residence stay distinct for every member of the household, neither is supplied by a relative, and what each person plans to do on arrival is what settles the route that person requires.
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.