Eligible spouses and unmarried children under 21 may seek TD to join a TN principal later. They must establish the qualifying relationship and meet the applicable application and admission requirements. Later travel is not automatically covered by the principal’s admission, and each dependent’s nationality can affect visa requirements.
Check the principal’s position at the time of travel
Confirm that the principal is maintaining TN status and that the evidence reflects any employer change, extension, or new admission since the first trip. Review the child’s age and marital status rather than assuming a past family application settles current eligibility. A hypothetical family traveling after a school term should prepare for its actual departure date.
The principal’s original offer letter explains planned employment but does not alone establish the status on which a later TD application relies. Verify the principal position at the moment the dependant travels, not at the moment the offer was accepted. Hypothetical example: an astronomer enters first for an observatory research post and changes employer four months later, and the family departs assuming the original arrangement still describes the principal.
What settles it is the principal current admission record, read alongside evidence of any employer change, extension or new admission since the first entry. Confirm the child age and marital status against the documents rather than relying on a prior family application. A first offer letter explains planned employment and cannot establish the status a later dependent application depends on.