Yes. An L-2 spouse is employment authorized incident to status, so the authorization comes with the status itself and the spouse may work for any employer. Unmarried children under twenty-one accompany as derivatives, may attend school, and are not authorized to work.
The spouse's authorization comes with the status; the children's does not
This is one of the sharpest practical differences between categories, and it changes household arithmetic considerably. Because the authorization is incident to status, the spouse is not tied to a single employer and is not dependent on the principal's employer for anything. Employers occasionally ask for a document before adding a person to payroll, so it is sensible to know in advance what evidence of authorization the family will hold and to keep it accessible.
Children are treated differently. They may study at any level, but they hold no work authorization, and they cease to qualify as derivatives once they turn twenty-one. A household whose eldest child is nineteen at the start of a multi-year assignment should plan that birthday deliberately, because the alternative is arranging a student route under time pressure in the middle of a school year.
- USCIS: L-1A Intracompany Transferee Executive or Manager
- eCFR: 8 CFR 214.2, Special requirements for admission, extension and maintenance of status
- USCIS Policy Manual: Volume 2, Part L, Intracompany Transferees
- USCIS Policy Manual: Volume 10, Part B, Chapter 2, employment authorization for certain spouses
- USCIS: Form G-1055, Fee Schedule