Read the general life across the border overview
Do not assume that a household partnership automatically meets a category’s spouse requirement. TD, L-2 and ordinary E-2 guidance identifies spouses and eligible children. Describe the relationship accurately and obtain advice about the actual circumstances before copying a married couple’s checklist or assuming the partner can accompany and work.
State the relationship precisely
Explain the current legal relationship and any planned change without using spouse as shorthand if that status has not been established. A shared address or long relationship may be important personal context, but it should not be treated as a completed answer to the specific U.S. dependent-category question being reviewed.
Keep alternative activity questions open
Describe what the partner intends to do in the United States, including any independent work or study opportunity. Those facts can support a separate route discussion where appropriate, but no alternative should be promised. The absence of an assumed dependent pathway does not justify reclassifying the relationship or overlooking the proposed activity.
Review before arranging the sequence
If marriage or another change is contemplated, discuss the actual timing and evidence with qualified counsel. This guide does not determine the legal validity of a relationship or offer a workaround. Coordinate travel and employment only after the relevant classification and procedural questions have been reviewed using the facts as they actually stand.
Describe the relationship in the words the category uses
Write the relationship down precisely and avoid the word spouse unless it is legally accurate, because the entire question turns on that description. Record the current legal status of the relationship, the jurisdiction under whose law it exists if it is registered in some form, the documents available to evidence it, and any change the couple is contemplating. TD, L-2 and ordinary E-2 dependent guidance identify spouses and eligible children, so a partnership that is not a marriage is not addressed by copying a married couple checklist. The record should also state what the partner intends to do in the United States, including any independent employment, because that question may point toward a route in the partner own right rather than a dependent one. Obtain advice on the actual circumstances before arranging travel or making commitments that assume accompaniment.
Hypothetical example: a checklist borrowed from the wrong couple
Hypothetical example: a couple who have lived together for many years and share a home and finances prepare a dependent file using a list intended for married applicants, assembling joint accounts, shared leases and correspondence. Every document is genuine and none of it answers the question the category asks. What would help is a plain statement of the legal relationship as it currently stands, put to counsel with the question of what, if anything, the partner may do. Where the couple is contemplating marriage, discuss the actual timing and evidence with qualified counsel before arranging a sequence, since a change made for immigration convenience and a change made for its own reasons are documented differently and are assessed on the facts. Keep the partner independent plans in the file as well, because they may be the more promising route.
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.