Treat anticipated spouse earnings as uncertain unless the arrangement and timing are supported. An eligible L-2 spouse may work incident to qualifying status, but prospective family income does not itself establish the company’s current financial capacity.
Separate household and company resources
Show which funds are actually available to the business and document any genuine contribution appropriately. Confirm the spouse’s status and employment evidence before relying on a work start. Children in L-2 cannot work, and dependent eligibility generally requires being unmarried and under 21.
The new-office case needs a credible company operating plan rather than an assumption that family members will generate income immediately after arrival. Household planning fails when a spouse’s expected earnings are treated as a start date rather than a possibility. Work authorisation for an eligible L-2 spouse follows valid status, and whatever documentation step the family relies on should be identified before commitments are made, not after a lease is signed.
Children in L-2 cannot work at all, and dependent eligibility generally requires being unmarried and under 21, so a child approaching that age needs the timing examined early. Hypothetical example: A farm-machinery dealership transfers a manager whose household budget assumes the spouse earning from the first month; the status and documentation steps take longer than the relocation itself, and rent committed on that assumption becomes the pressure point.