On January 16th 2002 the President of the USA, George W. Bush, signed into law two bills that allow accompanying spouses of L and E visa holders in the United States to obtain work authorisation.

Work Authorisation is issued by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
The INS has issued guidance on application procedures which will enable the spouses of temporary workers holding L (intracompany transferees) and E (treaty investors/traders or employees) employment visas to secure ‘open market’ employment authorisation in the US.
See: http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/ead.htm
The INS guidance is effective immediately.

Spouses of L and E visa holders must complete Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, which may be downloaded from the INS website at
http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/i-765.htm

On question 16 of the application form, the applicant should indicate “spouse of E nonimmigrant” or “spouse of L nonimmigrant.”

The Application for Employment Authorization may be filed simultaneously with an Application to Extend or Change Nonimmigrant Status, Form I-539.

The INS must confirm that the applicant is accompanying or following to join a spouse who holds E or L status. We recommend that the following documents should be submitted with the I-765 application form:

1. copy of marriage certificate
    
2. copy of I-94 arrival-departure record for both applicant and spouse
    
3. copy of L or E visa stamp in passport for both applicant and spouse
    
4. if there has been a change of status to E or L classification subsequent to arrival in the US, submit a copy of the petition approval notice, form I-797
    
5. two (2) recent photographs with a white background 1 ½ x 1 ½ inches
    
6. Form I-765 Signature Card (obtained from the local INS office) may be required although some Service Centers are capable of scanning the signature from the application form

The application must be submitted with the $120 filing fee. (This was increased on 19th February 2002 from the previous fee of $100.)

The application should be filed at the INS Service Center with jurisdiction over the dependant spouse’s place of residence. (The addresses are indicated on page 6 of the Form I-765 instructions.) The only exception is where the Application for Employment Authorization is being filed concurrently with the principal spouse’s I-129 Petition for E classification; in this case it may only be filed at the California or Texas Service Centers.

The INS has up to 90 days from the date the Service “receives” form I-765 to adjudicate the application. The INS will generate a filing fee receipt notice on form I-797 when it has “received” the application. (At some INS Service Centers there can be delays of several weeks from the date that the application is actually delivered (e.g. by Federal Express) and the date that the INS Service Center acknowledges receipt of the application by generating the I-797 fee receipt notice.) The actual processing time will vary at the different Service Centers.

If the applicant does not receive the approval notice, Form I-766, within 90 days from the date the application was received by the INS, he or she may go to the local INS District office and obtain an employment authorization document valid for 240 days.

The period of employment authorization for spouses of E and L nonimmigrants will be linked to the period of admission and/or status of their spouses but it may not exceed two years.

This information was prepared by one of our sponsors, CMS Cameron McKenna