I'm on a TN Visa, what about my spouse?

I just got a 3 year TN work VISA for work in the states and my spouse is coming with me. While I am done in the States working with my TN Visa, my wife cannot work. While I am working though, can my wife apply for a Green Card for permanent residences so she can work in a few years or what steps would she need to do to work in the states while I'm working with a TN visa? It is not a rush for her to work because we are starting a family and she would want to stay home and take care of a new child anyways but what options do we have if she wishes to work in a few years?

No, your wife cannot apply for a green card unless she has some immidiate family member to sponsor her. Otherwise, how is she eligible? You're not eligible to sponsor her as a TN, her only options would be the derivative TD visa, or find an employer herself who would sponsor her for a TN.

Unfortunately the answer is: "none" basically, unless she independently qualifies for TN-1 or some other category.

Bear in mind you must maintain non-immigrant intent on TN-1, which is why dependents are not authorized to work. The "T" in TN-1 stands for "temporary". TN-1 is not really a solution for long-term stays in the US. Because for example what will your kids do when they grow up?

What should I do? Should I try to switch over to a H1 B Visa and then apply for a green card? What sort of options do I have so that my wife can work in a few years?

On H-1B your wife would be H-4, and you still can't work as H-4. Whether you're on TN-1 or H-1B your employer can still sponsor you for permanent residency, it's just a little bit more tricky with TN-1 because it's not dual-intent.

The question is whether your employer is willing to file an I-140 for you and how long it will take to be approved. Most skilled people fall into EB-3 Skilled Worker which takes roughly (this a guess) 3.5 years for a visa number to come up and best part of a year to adjust status. Depends on the demand for visas, which I suspect is going to go down rapidly over the next couple of years.

Your employer has to get labour certification for the job before they can sponsor you, which is described here:

http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/perm.cfm

Obviously with the recession it's going to get harder for them to argue they can't find anyone locally. You need certification for H-1B as well, but I can't see any real point going to it in your case.

Thank you very much for your help. I will try that. I hope it works.

Thanks again.

How about the spouse is not not Landed immigrant yet?

How about the spouse is not not Landed immigrant yet?

What about what?!

the spouse is not landed immigrant where?

Sorry for the confusion. Here is the situation: Husband is on a TN visa working; he is Canadian citizen. Now if his newly wed is a Bangladeshi citizen, not landed immigrant in Canada. Is she eligible for TN visa?

Thanks.