Can a person go from a TN to an H4 and back to a TN?

IF I go to the US on an H1B (because my job's not on NAFTA) and my husband is on a TN and then say, after a few years, his contract ends, can he switch to an H4 until he finds work again so he wouldnt have to leave the country? Would he then be ineligible for a TN once he got another job offer because his wife is on an H1B and they would say he has immigrant intent because of having been on the H4?

Surely we cannot be the only professional couple where one spouse qualifies for a TN and the other has to go the H1B route? This puts people in a weird situation if one loses a job and the other doesn't.

Question#2; If I eventually apply for a employer sponsored green card what effect does that have on him? Would he then be unable to apply for TNs? If I get a green card does that automatically get him one too?

He's your spouse so if you get LPR status you put him down on your app basically and he gets it too.

You can certainly change status back and forth, however USCIS doesn't like it if you do it frequently.

Cool! Once again Steven, you are a fountain of information! But what about this stuff I read about when one spouse gets a green card, it does not mean the other one gets it right away (you have to apply for your spouse) and that it can take up to 5 years after applying, during which time your spouse is not allowed in the country???? (I guess unless they have their own visa or something...).

No idea what you're on about there, he's on the G-325A or whatever form it is so he gets it simultaneously.

But bear in mind he has to get the I-765 or the LPR card - given that he no longer has non-immigrant intent then anything like TN-1 goes out the window.

There was some horror story in the Seattle PI I think it was, Reba posted a link about some researcher who got caught in this trap. I.e. their non-immigrant status expired and they carried on working while applying for EB-1, which was turned down because she was working illegally. Basically a gap caused by slow processing of the paperwork, but things seem to be speeding up with the economy in the toilet.