The spouse’s own status and employment conditions require an individual assessment. Your transfer does not automatically change or preserve their independent authorization.
Maintain separate status timelines
Record the spouse’s employer, validity dates, activities and travel. If a dependent L route is considered instead, qualifying spouses may work incident to valid status with appropriate evidence, but it must actually apply. Do not assume an independent status converts automatically when the principal changes assignments. Children’s permissions remain a separate question.
Once L-1B status is approved based on the specialist's company-specific procedure knowledge, family members qualify for L-2 status through their relationship to the specialist, not through any separate evaluation of the underlying specialized-knowledge claim. L-1B requires qualifying organizations doing business, twelve continuous months of qualifying employment abroad during the relevant preceding thirty-six months, and specialized knowledge for the U.S. assignment. Where a family previously moved together, the questions worth re-asking are narrow: has any child married or turned 21, does any family member now hold a different status, and has any document been superseded by later travel. If the family intends to stay for the whole assignment, list each person's passport and Canadian status, since a spouse or child who is a permanent resident rather than a citizen will process L-2 at a consulate rather than at the border.