The branch or subsidiary structure does not create different family eligibility rules. Eligible spouses and unmarried children under 21 may seek L-2 based on the principal’s qualifying L-1 case and their own required procedures.
Keep family records separate from entity records
A spouse’s qualifying L-2 status can authorize work incident to status, with appropriate evidence including L-2S documentation where applicable. Children may attend school but cannot work in L-2. If a later restructuring changes the principal’s employer or qualifying relationship, review its immigration consequences for the family.
The corporate choice itself does not grant admission or extend anyone’s stay. Dependent status is derivative, and that boundary is the one families most often misread. L-2 exists because the principal holds valid L-1 status; it carries no independent entitlement, no separate maximum of its own, and nothing that survives the principal’s status ending.
An eligible spouse may generally work incident to that status; children in L-2 may attend school but may not work through it. Hypothetical example: the spouse of a transferee at an animation studio treats an L-2 work authorisation as a personal permission and intends to keep the job after the principal’s assignment closes; the authorisation is tied to the underlying status, so a separate basis would be needed to continue lawfully. Establish what each dependent permission hangs from before anyone relies on it.