Does a specialist’s customer rotation change a child’s L-2 work rights?

L-2 dependent-child status does not authorize employment, regardless of the principal’s customer schedule.

Separate dependent plans from assignment logistics

An eligible unmarried child under 21 may study while maintaining L-2 status. A customer’s offer of a paid project is not permission to accept it. Eligible L-2 spouses have a different incident-to-status work rule and need their own valid spousal-status evidence.

The spouse's authorization follows from L-2 status itself, so the employer in the affiliate's town does not need to wait for a separate approval, though the spouse should hold documentation that evidences the status and should check what a specific employer's onboarding process requires. Record each family member's citizenship, relationship evidence, age and intended activity, and confirm the spouse's current status documentation directly rather than assuming it automatically follows. Derivative L-2 status is available to a legally recognised spouse and to unmarried children under twenty-one; a common-law or domestic partner does not qualify, whatever their standing under provincial law. Children admitted as L-2 dependants may enrol in school and are listed among the classes permitted to study, but they hold no work authorisation, which matters where a teenager expects summer employment.