Read the general life across the border overview
Hypothetical example: a Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel household is moving because the trucking company is sending the principal to its U.S. terminal under L-1A. The spouse, a bookkeeper, wants to work. One child is 17; the other is 20 and studying. Each position is different: the L-2 spouse may work, the 17-year-old may study, and the 20-year-old loses derivative status at 21 and needs his own plan before the family leaves.
The spouse: authorized to work, but check the record
An L-2 spouse is employment-authorized incident to status once admitted with the spouse annotation on the I-94, and may take a bookkeeping job, work for the family's terminal or freelance. That authorization would not exist under TN, where a TD spouse may study but never work, or under most visitor entries. So the principal's route determines the spouse's options, and a family choosing between an L-1A transfer and some other arrangement should weigh that. On arrival, confirm the annotation before accepting work; if it is missing, request a correction, because employers verify against the record. The spouse's own nationality does not matter for L-2. Keep the passport valid for the whole assignment, since derivative status cannot outlast the principal's.
The 17-year-old: study now, plan for 21
A child under 21 and unmarried is admitted in L-2, may enrol in public or private school and may not work at any age. High-school enrolment usually requires proof of residence and immunization records, so bring school and medical records with translations. Derivative status continues to 21, four years away, but a family planning to stay for the full seven-year L-1A period should already be thinking about what the child will hold after that birthday: F-1 for college, which allows limited on-campus work, or a route of the child's own if a listed profession and a job offer materialize. Marriage before 21 ends derivative status. Nothing about the child's status depends on the principal's employer beyond the principal keeping L-1A.
The 20-year-old: a plan that starts before departure
A child who is 20 at the move loses L-2 status on his 21st birthday, and neither his studies nor the family's intentions delay that. If he will attend a U.S. college, apply for admission and F-1 status now so that he changes status before the birthday rather than falling out of status after it; that change needs his own application and timing. If he stays in Canada to finish his studies, he can visit the family with no work permitted. If he holds a listed profession's degree and finds an offer, his own TN is possible as a Canadian citizen. Write his birth date against every planned date. A family that arrives with a 20-year-old and no plan has a problem with a fixed deadline.
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.