TD status itself does not permit employment in the United States. A spouse who wants to work needs an independently appropriate authorization; the financial need to earn does not create an exception. Eligible children and spouses have their own admission and documentation steps.
Decide before relocating the second worker
Do not assume that remote duties for an overseas employer, freelance clients, or a family business are automatically allowed. Give an attorney the actual arrangement and physical work location for review. If a separate work route is unavailable or uncertain, compare postponement with a budget that excludes those earnings.
Family planning should also account for the spouse’s career interruption and benefit coverage, rather than treating the restriction as only a paperwork issue. Plan for the restriction lasting, and then plan for it changing. A spouse who cannot work in the dependent status may find a route later, or may not, and a household treating the restriction as temporary without evidence makes commitments on an assumption.
Give an attorney the actual arrangement and the physical work location for review rather than assuming that remote duties for an overseas employer, freelance clients or a family business are permitted. Account for the career interruption and benefit coverage as real consequences rather than as paperwork. Where a separate work route is unavailable or uncertain, compare postponing the move against a budget that excludes those earnings entirely.