An internal assignment extension does not automatically extend individual immigration status. Review the principal’s and each family member’s actual records and required steps.
Use authorized dates rather than project dates
A qualifying L spouse may work incident to valid dependent status with applicable evidence; children do not receive the spouse work benefit. Preserve each person’s current classification and validity. The additional department’s project duration is commercial context, not a family admission period. Do not assume a planned employer filing has already changed anyone’s status. Dependent eligibility concerns an eligible spouse and unmarried children under 21; assess the individual status and authorized period.
Find out which category the spouse's occupation falls into in the specific state before the household budgets that income, and start any licensing application early, since it will run on its own timetable regardless of the immigration file. If the spouse works in a regulated occupation, begin the state licensing process early, since employment authorization comes with the status but the right to practise does not.
- USCIS — L classification documentation and evidence
- Department of State — 9 FAM 402.12
- 8 USC 1184 — specialized knowledge definition
- USCIS — employment authorization for certain spouses
- ICE — nonimmigrant classes that may study
- USCIS — fee schedule
- L definitions, foreign employment and new-office evidence
- L1B specialized knowledge and offsite placement statute