Foreign payment does not itself authorize U.S. work. A qualifying L spouse may work incident to valid dependent status with appropriate evidence, including the applicable spouse-specific I-94 classification.
Check the spouse’s permission independently
The principal’s approval does not automatically put the spouse in status. Describe the proposed activity and location before relying on earnings; L dependent children do not receive the spouse’s employment authorization. Dependent-child eligibility ordinarily concerns an unmarried child under 21.
Review the spouse’s own actual status and work authorization before assigning business duties. A spouse admitted in L-2 status is employment-authorized incident to that status, so employment does not depend on the family finding a separate route first. Location while performing the work matters far more than which account the payment lands in: activity performed while physically present is generally treated as work regardless of which entity issues the payment. Ask whether the arrangement would classify the spouse as an employee or as a contractor, since that distinction changes what documentation a payer typically requests and keeps on file. Where the work would be for a different business than the principal's own employer, have that business complete its own eligibility check using the spouse's actual admission evidence, rather than relying on paperwork already gathered for the principal. Ask separately whether the intended work requires its own professional license, since that requirement does not depend on how or from where payment arrives.