L-2 Spouse or Child of an Intracompany Transferee
L-2 is the derivative status for the spouse and unmarried children under 21 of an L-1A or L-1B transferee. Since January 2022 an L-2 spouse has been work authorised simply by holding the status, with no application to USCIS, which makes it one of the most useful dependent categories in the system. Children may study but may not work.
- Срок
- Generally the same period as the L-1 principal, and it ends when the principal's status ends. L-2 dependants are bound by the principal's seven-year L-1A or five-year L-1B cap.
- Продление
- Granted alongside the L-1 principal's extension. Dependants abroad get new visas; dependants inside the United States file Form I-539 collectively. An L-2 spouse's work authorisation follows the I-94 validity rather than a separate document.
- Работа
- An L-2 spouse in valid L-2S status is employment authorised incident to status. An unexpired Form I-94 annotated L-2S is itself a List C document for Form I-9 purposes. Filing Form I-765 for an EAD card remains optional and is only worth it where an employer insists on a List A document. L-2 children are not work authorised.
- Двойное намерение
- true - L-2 inherits the L category's dual intent, so a pending green card case does not undermine the status.
- Члены семьи
- Not applicable. L-2 is itself the derivative classification.
- Путь к грин-карте
- No independent route. L-2 spouses and children are normally derivative beneficiaries of the L-1 principal's employment-based immigrant petition, most often EB-1C for an L-1A principal. An L-2 spouse who has their own employer can pursue a separate case, and the incident-to-status work authorisation makes that practical.
- Срок рассмотрения
- Visa issuance tracks the L-1's interview wait. Form I-539 for dependants inside the United States runs several months; premium processing is not available for L-2 on Form I-539. The optional Form I-765 adds months and is usually unnecessary.
Кто подходит
- Legally married spouse of an L-1A or L-1B nonimmigrant, including same-sex spouses
- Unmarried children under 21 of an L-1A or L-1B nonimmigrant
- Family accompanying the transferee, or following to join later
Требования
- The L-1 principal must be in valid L status
- Proof of the qualifying relationship: marriage certificate or birth certificate
- A copy of the L-1's approval notice or, for blanket L, the Form I-129S
- Own Form DS-160 and MRV fee for each dependant applying abroad
- Where already in the United States, a Form I-539 filed collectively for the family
Как подать
- 1
Gather the L-1 principal's approval notice or Form I-129S and the marriage or birth certificates
- 2
Complete a separate Form DS-160 for each dependant and pay the $205 MRV fee each
- 3
Interview at the same post as the principal, in the country of nationality or residence
- 4
On admission, check that CBP annotated the spouse's Form I-94 as L-2S rather than plain L-2
- 5
Give the employer the L-2S I-94 for Form I-9; no EAD is required
- 6
Where already in the United States, file Form I-539 collectively with the principal's extension
- 7
File Form I-765 only if an employer insists on a physical EAD card
Сборы и формы
| MRV nonimmigrant visa application fee, petition-based tier | $205 per dependant |
| Form I-539 to extend or change status inside the United States | $470 paper, $420 online, filed collectively for the family |
| Form I-765 for an optional EAD card | $520 paper, $470 online |
| Public Law 119-21 visa integrity fee | $250 statutory minimum; absent from the State Department fee schedule as of September 2026, so collection is unverified |
Что изменилось в 2025 и 2026 годах
- L-2S remains the operative Form I-94 code for work-authorised L spouses. USCIS and CBP have issued this code since Jan. 30, 2022, and an unexpired L-2S I-94 is accepted as a List C document.
- Oct. 1, 2025: the interview waiver rollback announced Sept. 18, 2025 took effect and superseded the July 25, 2025 guidance. Almost every nonimmigrant applicant now needs an in-person interview. The standing carve-outs are A-1, A-2, C-3 other than personal staff, G-1 through G-4, NATO-1 through NATO-6, TECRO E-1, diplomatic and official visas, and 12-month renewals of B-1/B-2, Mexican border crossing cards and H-2A. Waiver-eligible applicants must also apply in their country of nationality or residence, must never have been refused a visa unless overcome or waived, and must have no apparent ineligibility. The old under-14 and over-79 age exemptions were abolished. No further update has issued as of September 2026.
- July 15, 2026: State told nonimmigrant applicants to interview in their country of nationality or residence, or at the designated processing post if their country has no routine operations. Applying elsewhere is allowed but harder to qualify, the MRV fee is non-refundable and non-transferable, and waits are much longer. A, G, C-2, C-3, NATO and diplomatic applicants are exempt.
- Jan. 1, 2026: Presidential Proclamation 10998, signed Dec. 16, 2025, took effect at 12:01 a.m. EST and replaced Proclamation 10949 (signed June 4, 2025, effective June 9, 2025). It fully suspends visa issuance to nationals of 19 countries - Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - plus holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents, across every nonimmigrant and immigrant category. It only reaches people who were outside the United States and held no valid visa at 12:01 a.m. EST on Jan. 1, 2026; no earlier-issued visa was revoked under it. L visas are not inside the partial suspension list.
- July 4, 2025: Public Law 119-21 added non-waivable immigration surcharges on top of normal filing fees. The ones that touch nonimmigrants are the Form I-94 fee, held at $24 for FY 2026, the parole fee, adjusted to $1,020 for FY 2026, parolee EAD surcharges of $560 initial and $280 renewal, and a statutory visa integrity fee of at least $250 on nonimmigrant visa issuance. The $250 visa integrity fee is enacted but unverified as collected: it appears nowhere on the State Department fee schedule as of September 2026 and no implementing rule has published.
- Current USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055 edition 05/29/26: Form I-539 is $470 on paper and $420 online; the optional Form I-765 is $520 on paper and $470 online.
- Sept. 9, 2026: a DHS final rule issued Aug. 10, 2026 requires covered employers to pay the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee on every H-1B and L-1 petition, $4,000 for H-1B and $4,500 for L-1. A covered employer has 50 or more US employees with more than half in H-1B, L-1A or L-1B status. It does not apply to an amended petition that does not seek to extend status. The fee runs on petitions filed on or before Sept. 30, 2027. The fee falls on the employer's petition, not on the L-2 filing, but it changes what employers are willing to sponsor.
Где чаще всего ошибаются
- Presenting an old plain L-2 I-94 to an employer instead of the L-2S annotation, which stalls Form I-9 completion.
- Assuming the spouse's work authorisation survives the principal losing L status. It does not.
- An L-2 child turning 21 with no plan, since there is no derivative status beyond that point.
- Paying for a Form I-765 EAD that is not needed, and then waiting months for it.
- Forgetting that L-2 is capped by the principal's five or seven year limit, which constrains the spouse's own career planning.
- Filing Form I-539 late so the family's status lapses while the principal's extension is approved.
Также в категории Intracompany transferee
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