Qualifying L dependants may accompany or follow to join, with their own required documents and eligibility assessment. Plan around the principal’s actual valid status, not simply the facility’s opening.
Prepare the later family entry as its own step
An accompanying or following child must be unmarried and under 21 and does not receive spouse work authorization. A qualifying spouse who intends to work needs valid L dependent status and appropriate spouse-specific I-94 evidence; a later move does not eliminate those conditions.
An L-2 spouse is employment-authorized incident to status and may work for any employer, including a dealer. Following-to-join dependants generally need their own copy of the approval notice or petition receipt to support a separate visa or travel application, so ask the employer or attorney when that document becomes available rather than assuming it travels automatically with the principal. Consular scheduling and processing for a spouse or child runs on its own timeline, independent of when the facility itself opens, and can lag well behind the principal's arrival. Confirm whether a spouse intends to work immediately on arrival, since that intention affects which supporting documents should be gathered in advance. Keep passports, marriage and birth records, and prior admission history organized separately from the employer's paperwork, because a following application is reviewed as its own case rather than an extension of the principal's file.