A qualifying L-2 spouse is employment-authorized incident to status and may work without a separate permit. Unmarried children under twenty-one may enter in L-2 status and attend school, but they may not work, and their status ends when hers does.
Dependent rights do not differ between L-1A and L-1B
The spouse and child rules are the same whether the principal transfers as a manager or on specialized knowledge, which surprises people who assume the more limited category carries more limited family rights. Priscilla's spouse could take any U.S. job, work remotely for a Canadian employer from inside the United States or start a business, with the annotated Form I-94 as the evidence employers ask for.
Children may enrol in school. Two timing points matter for a two-year assignment that may be extended. A child who will turn twenty-one during the stay needs an independent status arranged in advance, whether as a student or in their own right.
And because the five-year L-1B ceiling applies to Priscilla, it effectively caps how long the household can remain on this basis, so a family that intends to settle should ask about other routes early.
- USCIS: L-1B Intracompany Transferee Specialized Knowledge
- USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2 Part L, Intracompany Transferees
- Department of State: 9 FAM 402.12, L classifications
- USCIS: employment authorization for certain spouses, Policy Manual Volume 10 Part B Chapter 2
- USCIS translation requirement, 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3)