The spouse’s actual work permission must be assessed separately from the principal’s business itinerary.
Distinguish accompaniment from providing services
Qualifying L spouses may work incident to appropriate status with required evidence; children do not receive those spouse rights. Attending as a family member does not itself authorize productive client work.
Separate attendance from services by writing down what the spouse would actually do at each visit. A spouse admitted in qualifying L-2 status is generally employment-authorized incident to that status, but the family should retain the appropriate status evidence and confirm that it covers the planned start. L-2 children do not receive the spouse’s employment authorization. The principal’s case independently must show the related organizations, the continuous qualifying year abroad during the relevant three-year window, and a US role that is primarily managerial or executive. A family itinerary cannot expand either person’s permission, so schedule productive follow-up only after the spouse’s own status is effective.
Hypothetical example: A Saint-David-de-Falardeau berry-processing company transfers its finance executive, whose spouse plans to take notes and prepare customer invoices. Merely sitting in the meeting as a dependant is different from creating billable records. They should confirm the spouse’s L-2 admission and evidence before any invoicing, while the company documents the executive’s budget authority, foreign employment, and qualifying corporate relationship for her L-1A petition.