A planned transfer does not itself establish derivative status or permission. Review the principal’s eligibility and each family member’s intended entry and activities.
Distinguish spouse and child permission
Qualifying L spouses may be employment-authorized incident to status with appropriate evidence; dependent children do not gain that spouse work permission. Pending preparation is not that status. Dependent eligibility generally concerns a spouse and unmarried children under 21.
Separate the principal’s petition sequence from each relative’s proposed entry. L-2 spouses are employment-authorized incident to status, but that authorization does not arise from a transfer announcement or an unapproved petition; children do not receive spousal employment authorization. Gather passports, marriage records and travel dates, then verify the documents evidencing actual L-2 status before employment begins. Meanwhile, confirm the principal’s parent, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate relationship, the generally required continuous year of full-time foreign employment within the relevant preceding three-year period, and managerial or executive U.S. position. Except under the initial U.S. new-office rules, the company must conduct ongoing operations in America plus another country. Moving is commonly mistaken for permission to start family activities.
Hypothetical example: A Russell cybersecurity consultancy plans to transfer its service-delivery manager after she resumes foreign duties, while her spouse hopes to accept an American bookkeeping role. The household should not use the manager’s internal return date as the spouse’s work-authorization date. They can organize relationship evidence and travel contingencies while the employer documents the principal’s eligible service and actual managerial authority. The spouse may work only after acquiring qualifying L-2 status; the children’s school plans are distinct and do not create work permission.