Tie household commitments to verified funding and immigration milestones rather than an intended opening alone. Eligible spouses and unmarried children under 21 may seek L-2. A spouse in valid L-2S status is employment authorized incident to status; children are not work authorized by L-2. Check each person’s documents and dates separately.
Two households, two dates
A delayed launch often means the principal moves first and the family follows. Decide what that split costs: duplicate housing, travel between two homes, a spouse carrying the household alone, and a school year that may not align with the eventual move. Write down the point at which the split stops being worth it, and what the family would do then.
That threshold is easier to set now than during month five. There is a second reason to separate the two dates. The initial new-office approval runs for one year, so a household that relocates on the intended opening date rather than on an authorised start may find part of that year spent before anyone has arrived.
Ask counsel to state in writing the earliest point at which family members could be included and the earliest at which a move would be realistic, then let the household choose between those two facts rather than between hopes. A family told one month and later given another loses confidence in the whole plan, even when the change followed predictably from a funding condition everyone already knew about.