Remote system supervision is an activity to assess, not an automatic exemption because software performs other tasks. A qualifying L spouse’s work authorization depends on valid dependent status and appropriate spouse-specific I-94 evidence.
Describe the spouse’s real involvement
Identify whether the spouse reviews exceptions, directs workers or performs other services before scheduling that work. Unmarried children under 21 may qualify as L dependants but do not obtain the qualifying spouse’s employment authorization.
L-2 spouses are employment-authorized incident to status and may work for any employer or themselves. L-2 children may study but may not work, and the whole family's status ends with the principal's. Automation reducing how many hours a task takes does not change whether the underlying activity counts as work; a brief, occasional check-in and an ongoing operational responsibility can look similar on a screen but are treated differently. Keep a simple record of when the arrangement actually began relative to when the spouse's own status and authorization were confirmed, since timing questions are easier to answer with contemporaneous notes than with memory later. Distinguish observing or testing a system from actually operating or approving within it, and write that distinction down rather than leaving it to an informal understanding. Revisit the description whenever the arrangement's scope changes, rather than relying on how it was first described.