An L-2 spouse is employment-authorized incident to status and may work for any employer; L-2 children may attend school but may not work. Each family member needs valid passports and relationship records, and their status ends with the principal's.
The spouse's authorization is broad but not automatic paperwork
The L-2 spouse's authorization is incident to status, which means no separate employment authorization document is required to begin work, though obtaining one or the annotated admission record can make employer onboarding simpler. The spouse may take any employment, including continuing a Canadian practice from the United States, subject to ordinary tax and licensing rules. Children under 21 may study in public or private schools and may not work, including summer employment. A child who turns 21 during the assignment loses L-2 eligibility and needs a plan — a student status, or another route — before that birthday. Bring long-form birth certificates, the marriage certificate, and passports valid well beyond the intended stay. Hypothetical example: an East Hants family assumes a nineteen-year-old can defer college and work at the U.S. site; he cannot, and his own file needs its own answer.
Hypothetical example: an East Hants archival-digitization manager plans to move with a spouse who has a freelance editing practice and a twenty-year-old daughter. The review should split the family file into three rows: the spouse's onboarding evidence, the daughter's age-out date, and every passport's expiry. The spouse's work authorization flows from qualifying L-2 status, while the daughter needs a separate study or other plan before she turns 21. Waiting until a new employer requests proof can turn a manageable document issue into a missed start date.