Corporate review can run longer than the family expects, so dependants should not commit to dates set by the integration schedule. Eligible spouses and unmarried children under 21 may seek L-2. A spouse in valid L-2S status is employment authorized incident to status, and an EAD is not universally required; suitable status and employment-eligibility evidence is still needed.
Keep household commitments behind the evidence
Acquisitions create internal deadlines, such as a site opening or a reporting change, that rarely match the pace of document retrieval. Record who would travel, each person's nationality and current status, and whether the household depends on a spouse's earnings. Children are not work authorized by L-2.
Where a later family arrival is planned, discuss school enrolment and any separate visa steps rather than assuming everyone moves on the principal's date. Add one further household consideration that acquisitions specifically create: internal deadlines move for reasons nobody explains. Integration programmes are re-planned as the buyer learns what it bought, and a transfer date confidently given in one month is revised in the next, often without anyone telling the family.
Agree what the household will and will not commit to against an internal date, and ask to be told when the programme changes rather than assuming word will reach you. Hypothetical example: a salon franchise operator's integration plan moves twice in a quarter, and the household that had agreed to keep housing and schooling decisions behind a defined evidence milestone, rather than behind the business date, is unaffected by either change.