Can Your Partner Travel Nurse With You?

Whether you have a partner or even children, you might be thinking if it’s possible for them to join you as you travel nurse in the USA. I am lucky to travel with my husband now as he has a TD Visa. I will discuss all the things you need to consider when thinking about travel nursing from Canada with your partner.

Visit the FAQ at the end of this article to few some quick answers.

How does my Spouse Travel with me?

I advise you to speak with an immigration lawyer if you have any questions or concerns; this information is from personal experience and not meant to replace any professional recommendation.

When you get a travel nursing job in the USA, you will go to the border and receive a TN Visa for the duration of your assignment. A TN Visa makes you eligible to work for your travel nursing agency and the hospital your assignment is for. When I started travel nursing, my partner and I were not yet married. He continued working full-time in Canada and would come and visit me. As a Canadian, you can visit the United States for up to six months.

However, after we got married and realized doing travel nursing full-time was possible for us, we started to figure out the steps to get my husband to join me. That is when we found out about the TD visa.

For context: My husband and I are Canadian with Canadian citizenship only

Read more about US Visa laws here.

What is a TD Visa?

Your spouse can join you in the United States under your TN Visa by applying for TD visa. They do this at the same time as you would apply for your TN Visa. A TD Visa allows them to be in the USA with you for the duration of your working visa.

Your spouse can only apply for a TD Visa if you are married with a valid marriage license. They do not accept common-law arrangements.

Your spouse can apply for a TD Visa at anytime with you, just bring along your official marriage license. When we got married we needed to wait a few weeks for that document to come in the mail before we could go to the border to apply.

Limitations for your Spouse with a TD Visa

Your spouse is NOT able to work in the US under the TD Visa under any circumstances. To work in the USA, you must have a Social Security Number (SSN) and a valid job offer/sponsorship.

The border officers will review your education and employment letter, then grant you a TN Visa. Your spouse will not need to provide these documents given as they will not be working in the USA.

For your spouse to work in the USA, they need their OWN TN visa. The TD Visa only allows them to stay with you for longer than the 6 months they would otherwise have as a tourist.

Your Spouses Employment

After a few months of travel nursing, my spouse decided to quit his job and travel with me as rates were at an all-time high where I was working. We grew our savings tremendously and can comfortably travel this year even with lower rates.

Having only one income for a household is not for everyone. It takes careful planning and a great amount of savings. It also takes flexibility to live in the unknown as a travel nurse. Not knowing where you are living in 3 months can be very stressful!

My husband is lucky to still be employed in Canada. He works freelance in the car industry and also writes for a travel blog based in Canada. The alternative was also looking into remote job opportunities.

Building a Credit Score

My husband built a credit score in the USA by applying for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). An ITIN is not an SSN but allows you to apply for credit cards and gain US credit history. Having an ITIN will enable you to build credit and helps open the door to many reward points with Canadian and US cards. This helps us travel abroad more often.

Frugal Flyer has a great article on ITIN and getting started on applying for US-based credit cards. You can read more here.

How We Make Travel Nursing Work

Having a “stay-at-home husband” has been great for us. My husband drives me to work and manages the house on my working days. On my days off, we explore the city we are in and plan our next vacations.

The biggest reason my husband decided to quit his job (aside from wanting to be together) is so can go on all of our dream vacations between my contracts and aren’t dictated by time off limitations that existed while he worked full-time.

After each assignment, we plan a big vacation and visit family and friends before moving to a new city. That’s what our life will look like for the foreseeable future and it works great for us.

Conclusion

Every couple and family should assess their goals and priorities when deciding to have your partner join you travel nursing. I have had many friends travel nurse for a year to build some savings, return home, and continue working toward their family goals.

My husband and I did not make this decision lightly. It has now been about a year and a half of travel nursing together and we still are learning something new with every assignment. I’ve taken assignments in three different states and we’ve driven over 70 hours across and country with our two cats. We make this work with my husband working freelance in Canada and me taking about three assignments a year.

We wouldn’t trade this lifestyle for anything right now, and we are so fortunate to have made this work.

To learn more about getting started in travel nursing, visit our guide and learn about our favourite travel nurse agency Host Healthcare.

FAQ