Assess the spouse’s own valid status and activity. A qualifying L spouse may work incident to valid dependent status, but the principal’s assignment alone does not establish that record.
Identify who is performing the supporting work
Describe whether the spouse will prepare, translate or deliver material and where the activity occurs. Confirm classification, validity and applicable evidence before relying on work authorization. Children do not receive the spouse benefit. The family relationship should not be used to obscure who performed the work claimed as evidence of the principal’s specialized knowledge.
A household review should identify every person’s intended activity, status evidence, and the date on which that person needs authorization, rather than borrowing the principal’s conclusion. Confirm the qualifying organizations, the continuous qualifying foreign year in the preceding three years, and the particular knowledge before relying on a project need. The five-year L-1B ceiling must be calculated independently from the duration the business would prefer. Hypothetical example: a developer of tasting-room software transfers its analyst while the spouse wants to photograph weddings independently.
That separate review prevents one person’s plan from being treated as another person’s permission.