Describe the proposed activity and review the spouse’s individual status and work permission. Informal assistance should not be assumed permissible merely because it helps the family business.
Check the basis before assigning work
Qualifying L spouses are employment authorized incident to status with appropriate documentation. Children do not gain work permission solely through L dependent status. Keep family staffing plans distinct from confirmed authorized participation.
Since the policy change recognizing L-2 spouses as employment-authorized incident to status, a spouse admitted in L-2 does not need a separate employment authorization document to begin work, provided the admission record carries the spouse annotation that employers accept for verification. Confirm the spouse's actual documentation of employment authorization rather than assuming a particular card is always required. Create a household timeline listing the principal’s authorization, each dependent’s status evidence, school plans, and any intended work. Children hold L-2 status as dependants, may attend school, and remain dependants only while unmarried and under twenty-one. The principal should also track the seven-year L-1A maximum when planning the family’s stay. A frequent mistake is assuming that access to affiliated locations flows automatically from the L-1A approval; the spouse’s status and the actual employer relationship must stand on their own.