Change of Employer and Spouse's Visa

sara_ab

New Member
Hi,

Me and my husband are both Canadian. My husband applied for a TN visa at Toronto airport border on Jan 2017. I went to same port few days after him and got my dependent (TD) visa with no problems. Both our visas are valid till Jan 2019.

Then last month my husband changed his employer, he got an offer from a very big software company here in LA. He went to same border last week, Sept 23rd, and got a 3 year TN visa. Again he had no issues at all.

Now I need to change my visa too. I know one way to do so is to apply within US. But I rather not wait for months. My question is, how long after my husband I can go to border to change my visa. Considering I am in US right on a visa from his old employer.

I need to go to Toronto around Nov 10th for a family event and I would love to change my visa then, rather than spending time and money to do it sooner. That will be 7 weeks after my husband changed his visa. Is it too late or risky?

Thank you
 
You are still in valid TD status until Jan 2019, since your TD status is dependent on his TN -- any TN. It has nothing to do with how long after he got a different TN. You only need to get new TD in Jan 2019, not because your spouse got a new TN, but because that is when your I-94 expires. If you had an I-94 that was expiring on September 24, you would have had to go with him at the time he was getting new TN, there is no grace period.

The next time you cross, you will show his new I-94 and your marriage cert and get a TD I-94 which expires on the earlier of sept 2021 or the date of passport expiry. If it had been inconvenient for you to cross before I-94 expiry, you could submit an I-539 by mail to extend your current, valid status to coincide with his new TN expiry date.

And just so you are clear, you and your spouse have TD and TN status, not visas. Visas, are issued at consulates granting permission to attempt to enter in a particular status. Cdns are exempt of visas for most statuses, including TN and TD.
 
You are still in valid TD status until Jan 2019, since your TD status is dependent on his TN -- any TN. It has nothing to do with how long after he got a different TN. You only need to get new TD in Jan 2019, not because your spouse got a new TN, but because that is when your I-94 expires. If you had an I-94 that was expiring on September 24, you would have had to go with him at the time he was getting new TN, there is no grace period.

The next time you cross, you will show his new I-94 and your marriage cert and get a TD I-94 which expires on the earlier of sept 2021 or the date of passport expiry. If it had been inconvenient for you to cross before I-94 expiry, you could submit an I-539 by mail to extend your current, valid status to coincide with his new TN expiry date.

And just so you are clear, you and your spouse have TD and TN status, not visas. Visas, are issued at consulates granting permission to attempt to enter in a particular status. Cdns are exempt of visas for most statuses, including TN and TD.


Thank you very much. That is great news.
I have been searching a lot for official rules about this, but I didn't find anything. I really appreciate the time and energy you spend to help us out.
 
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