An executive’s reference can describe facts about the transferee’s role, but cannot grant a relative work permission. A qualifying spouse in valid L status has the applicable incident-to-status work benefit; an L dependent child does not.
Keep the reference letter within the writer’s knowledge
If a letter promises employment to the spouse, identify that as a proposed arrangement and verify the spouse’s own status evidence before assigning a start date. Ask the writer to distinguish support for the manager from promises concerning relatives. Eligible dependents are a spouse or unmarried child under 21, with individual status requirements. A senior signature does not establish a marriage, preserve a child’s eligibility or replace an admission record.
Where the principal transfers within a company, the spouse's ability to work follows automatically from status rather than from a separate application, which matters a great deal to a family moving on the strength of one salary. Children in L-2 may attend school but may not work, and their eligibility ends at twenty-one, so a household with an older teenager should map that person's own route early rather than assume the family status covers them.