Testing work needs assessment under the spouse’s actual immigration permission.
Do not assume experimental work is exempt
Qualifying L spouses may work incident to appropriate status with required evidence; children do not receive those spouse rights. Calling the activity a pilot does not itself make productive assistance permissible without the appropriate basis.
Write a task list for the spouse and classify each item as observation, study, or productive work. A spouse in qualifying L-2 status is generally authorized to work incident to status, subject to having the appropriate evidence; a pending petition or intention to accompany the principal is not enough. Unlike qualifying spouses, dependent children lack incident-to-status work permission. Meanwhile, the principal must independently establish one continuous year of qualifying foreign employment during the prior three, the qualifying organizational relationship and the business-activity evidence applicable to the petition type, and company-specific specialized knowledge for the US assignment. Experimental or unpaid assistance still may be work, so postpone testing until the spouse’s authorization is actually in place.
Hypothetical example: A Saint-David-de-Falardeau automated-dairy-equipment technologist is transferred to explain a proprietary calibration sequence. His wife, an industrial designer, proposes running trial units and recording errors. Those tasks contribute to development rather than simply accompanying him. The business should keep her activity off the schedule until her L-2 status supports employment, while documenting his own learned sequence, foreign year, and role with the related company.