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SHEDIAC · L-1B FIELD GUIDE

Can a spouse start work because the new parent company offers a family benefit?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

A company benefit does not establish US work authorization. The spouse’s actual status and required evidence govern.

Separate employment support from permission

Qualifying L spouses may be employment-authorized incident to appropriate status. Pending dependent preparation or an employer promise does not supply that status.

A child who is nineteen at the move will be twenty-one before a five-year assignment ends, and on that birthday dependant status ends regardless of school enrolment or family circumstances. If a spouse intends to work, ask for that route to be assessed on its own facts rather than treating employment authorisation as something the principal case delivers automatically. School enrolment is generally straightforward for dependants and is a separate matter from work authorization, though the two are often confused in the same conversation. The usual mistake is treating petition approval as proof that every relative already holds the correct status or may begin employment. Unmarried children under twenty-one accompany the family and may attend school, but nothing in the derivative status permits them to be employed. The admission record and dependent rules settle immigration classification, while school admission and licensing authorities settle separate local requirements. The translator should preserve the document’s original purpose and dates, rather than label a marriage record or the principal’s approval as the spouse’s work authorization.