Do not treat the principal’s account permission as the spouse’s authority to work or access company information. A qualifying L spouse may work incident to valid dependent status with appropriate evidence, including the spouse-specific I-94.
Separate employment permission from organizational security
The employer must address its own access rules, and each person’s immigration status needs its own evidence. The principal’s approval does not automatically grant dependent status; L children do not receive the qualifying spouse’s work authorization. Dependent-child eligibility ordinarily concerns an unmarried child under 21.
The employment question is straightforward; the duration question is where L-1B families get caught.
List the spouse’s inspection tasks before travel: handling products, approving quality, directing corrections, reporting to the company, or merely observing. Compensation for assistance does not have to take the form of a regular salary to raise a work-authorization question. A stipend, a flat payment for a single task, reimbursement that exceeds actual expenses, or a promised favor in return can all describe paid activity, regardless of how informally the arrangement is described between the parties. Ask the employer to state plainly, in writing, whether any proposed payment is actually being offered, since an unpaid label attached after the fact does not change what was really agreed before the work began. Confirm the spouse's status and authorization before accepting any form of compensation, and keep a written record of exactly what was offered, by whom, and when it was offered.