Read the general life across the border overview
North Saanich households should distinguish travel, civil documents, work permission and payment evidence instead of assuming one complete-looking file establishes every person’s case. The decision for a household built around an E-2 principal is who will carry which document. The spouse's right to work is real but must be evidenced to an employer, an adult child is not a derivative at all, and a younger child must plan for the twenty-first birthday from the day of entry.
Check individual work authorization
TD does not permit employment. Qualifying E and L spouses may work incident to appropriate status with required evidence; children do not receive that spouse permission. A customer badge, recruiting opportunity or pending case is not authorization.
Review immigrant family eligibility
Identify the actual qualifying relationships, age facts and CSPA issues where applicable. Follow the relevant translation instructions for civil records. Immigrant-visa derivatives enter with or after the principal, and translated documents do not guarantee eligibility.
Reconcile actual programme payments
Gold Card adds US$1 million plus US$15,000 nonrefundable processing for each eligible included spouse or child, including corporate cases. A prior household donation receipt should not be assumed to satisfy the instructed family gifts. Eligible children generally must be unmarried and under 21; assess any applicable CSPA protection on the individual case facts.
Hypothetical example: an E-2 principal, a working spouse and two children of different ages
Hypothetical example: a North Saanich woman buys a controlling interest in a US marine-repair business with her own committed funds and qualifies as the E-2 principal. Her husband, an aircraft maintenance technician, has an offer from an unrelated US employer; their daughter is nineteen and their son is twenty-three. The husband's position is the strongest: an E-2 spouse is treated as employment-authorized incident to status, and an I-94 record annotated to show E-2 spouse status serves as evidence of that authorization for the employer. If his record is not annotated he should have it corrected or obtain an employment authorization document before starting. The daughter may enter as an E-2 child, study, and not work; on her twenty-first birthday her derivative status ends whatever her mother's business is doing, so a student status or another route should be planned a year ahead. The son cannot be included at any age above twenty-one, married or not, and needs his own basis or stays in Canada. Each derivative also depends on the principal maintaining E-2 status, which in turn requires the enterprise to remain qualified; within that constraint, age and work evidence are determined person by person.
Which record answers each member's question
For the principal: the purchase agreement, proof that the funds were paid and at risk, and the ownership register. For the spouse: the marriage certificate, and the annotated I-94 or employment authorization document to show the employer. For the daughter: her birth certificate, her passport and a calendar note of the twenty-first birthday against every planned entry. For the son: nothing in this case; his file is separate. Citizenship also decides procedure, since a household member who is a Canadian permanent resident but not a citizen generally needs a consular visa before travelling. If the family later considers EB-5 or the Gold Card framework, the same age and relationship rules and the individual per-person charges apply to each child.
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.