TD does not permit employment, regardless of the employer’s future plans.
Review the spouse’s actual work basis
A longer commercial relationship does not change the dependent category’s work rules. Assess an independent lawful route before including the spouse’s proposed earnings in the move budget. TD dependants may study but may not work.
If the arrangement is later treated as self-employment, the consequence is not confined to the principal's own position; a spouse and children whose status derives from it are affected at the same time, in the middle of a school year and a lease. Avoid discussing school enrollment, housing, or work plans for family members until that foundational question has an answer, since the entire route, not just the timing, is still open. TD status is available to a qualifying spouse and children, but it does not authorize employment; calling services occasional, remote, unpaid, or consulting does not settle whether they constitute US work. Start the spouse's assessment first where the household's finances depend on the second income, because it is the longer and less predictable of the two enquiries and it may return an answer that changes the whole plan. Identify the spouse’s proposed customers, duties and location before relying on that income; professional presentation skills and informal family assistance are not separate work permission.