Following the settlement of a US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) lawsuit that finally recognizes that dependent L and E spouses are able to work lawfully incident to their status, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) updated its admission system to designate on the I-94 admission records those spouses who are authorized to work without applying for an EAD. L and E spouses should be admitted with an “S” after their status to indicate that they are spouses authorized to work. The new I-94s do not explicitly state “work authorized”, but the “S” designation tells employers for I-9 purposes that they are authorized to work for the validity of their I-94s. When they apply for extensions of their visa status with USCIS, the new I-94s issued as part of the extension approval process also should carry the “S” designation. Those L and E spouses already in the United States without the S designation on their I-94s still need to apply for EADs to work lawfully, or depart/return with valid visas to obtain new I-94s with the work-authorized designation. However, some CBP Deferred Inspection offices have been willing to update the system so that the I-94 contains the “S” designation. Deferred Inspection office contact information can be found here. Once corrected, the updated I-94s can be printed from the CBP webpage here. Those L and E spouses entering the United States should review their I-94s to ensure that they contain the “S” designation. If not, they can contact Deferred Inspection for correction.
Here is a sample I-94 issued on February 2, 2022, showing the L-2S designation.
- Partner
Ian’s practice focuses on business and family-related immigration matters. As part of the Labor and Employment team, Ian counsels corporate clients on various aspects of immigration and nationality law, including temporary ...
Search
Recent Posts
Categories
- Adjustment of Status
- Asylum
- Business Immigration
- CBP
- CIS
- Consular Processing
- Court Decisions
- COVID-19
- DED
- Deferred Action
- DHS
- DOL
- E-Verify
- EAD
- Enforcement
- F-1
- Federal Agencies
- Federal Laws/Legislation
- Global Immigration
- H-1B
- H-2B
- Homeland Security
- Humanitarian Relief
- I-9
- ICE
- Immigrant Visas
- L-1
- Labor Certification
- Legislation
- Naturalization
- News & Events
- Nonimmigrant Visas
- Other
- Processing Times
- REAL ID
- Refugees
- SSA
- State Department
- State Laws/Legislation
- TN
- TPS
- US Embassies
- USCIS
- Visa Lottery
- Visa Waiver Program
- Waivers
- Workplace Enforcement
Tags
- AC21
- ACA
- ACWIA
- Adam Rosser
- Adjustment of Status
- Adjustment of Status Applicant
- Adoption
- Advance Parole
- Agencies
- AILA
- Air Travel
- Application Service Centers
- Appropriations
- Arizona
- Asia
- Asylee
- Asylum
- Attorney General
- Awards
- B-1 Business Visitor
- B-1/B-2
- B-2 Tourist
- BALCA
- Biometrics
- Blanket L-1
- Board of Immigration Appeals
- Bob Quackenboss
- Brazil
- Brett Burns
- Brexit
- BRIDGE ACT
- Business Existence
- Business Immigration
- Business Immigration; USCIS; National Interest Waiver; labor certification
- Business Travel
- California
- Canada
- Cap
- Cap-Exempt
- Cap-Subject
- CARES Act
- CBP
- CDC
- Certification
- Chad
- Chaffetz
- Chambers USA
- Change In Location
- Change In Work Site
- Charities
- China
- Chris Pardo
- Citizenship
- Compliance
- Consular Processing
- Controlled Technology
- Coronavirus/COVID-19
- Court
- Covid test
- CPT
- Current Events
- Customer Identity Verification
- Customs and Border Protection
- DACA
- Decisions
- DED
- Deemed Export
- Deferred Action
- Deferred Inspection
- Department of Homeland Security
- Department of Justice
- Department of Labor
- Department of State
- DHS
- Diversity Visa
- Diversity Visa Lottery
- DOL
- DOMA
- Domestic Violence
- Donald Trump
- DOS
- DREAM Act
- Driver License
- DS-160
- DV Lottery
- DV-2019 Dates
- E visa
- E-1
- E-2
- E-2 investors
- E-2 Spouse
- E-2 Visas
- E-3
- E-3 Australians
- E-3 Spouse
- E-Verify
- E13
- E21
- EAD
- EADs
- EAR
- Earthquake
- EB-1
- EB-1 Backlog
- EB-2
- EB-3
- EB-5
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Electronic System for Travel Authorization
- Embassy
- Emily Burkhardt Vicente
- Employer
- Employment Authorization
- Employment Eligibility Verification
- Employment-Based Immigration
- ESTA
- ETIAS
- European Union
- eVerify
- Executive Order
- Executive Orders
- Exempt Employee
- Export
- Export License
- F-1
- Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act
- Family
- Family Relationships
- FAR
- Federal
- Federal Acquisitions Regulation
- Federal Contracts
- Federal Law
- Fees
- Filing Fees
- Fingerprints
- Fiscal Year 2016
- Foreign Grads
- Form 140
- Form I-9
- Form I-944
- Form Updates
- Fourth Circuit
- France
- Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate
- Full Vaccination
- Furlough
- FY15
- FY2017
- FY2020
- Georgia
- Global Entry
- Global Mobility
- Golden Arrow
- Grace Period
- Green Card
- Greg Robertson
- Guam
- Guinea
- H-1B
- H-1B Cap
- H-1B Registration
- H-1B Workers
- H-1B1
- H-2
- H-2B
- H-4
- H-4 EAD
- H-4 Spouse
- H-4 Spouses
- Haiti
- Hawaii
- Help HAITI Act
- HIV
- Holly Williamson
- Homeland Security
- Honduras
- HR 1044
- Humanitarian Relief
- Hunton Andrews Kurth
- I-129
- I-140
- I-20
- I-485
- I-539
- I-601A
- I-765
- I-9
- I-94
- I-94 Automation
- Ian Band
- ICE
- iCert
- Identification Document
- Immediate Relatives
- Immigrant
- Immigrant Investor Program
- Immigrant Visa
- Immigrant Visas
- Immigration
- Immigration & Customs Enforcement
- Immigration in Sports
- Immigration Uncertainty
- India
- Infopass
- International Offices
- Interns
- interview
- Interview Appointment
- Iran
- Iraq
- IRCA
- ITAR
- J-1
- Japan
- Josefina Augusto
- Juan Enjamio
- Kurt Larkin
- Kurt Powell
- L Visa
- L-1
- L-1 Intracompany Transferees
- L-1B
- L-2
- L-2 Spouse
- Labor
- Labor Certification
- Labor Market Test
- LCA
- Legal 500
- Legal Resident Aliens
- Legislation
- Liberia
- Liberian Nationals
- Libya
- License
- Limited Vaccine Availability
- Litigation
- Liya Green
- Lottery
- LPR
- M-1
- M-274
- M. Brett Burns
- Maryland
- Matter of A-B-
- Medical Exams
- Mexico
- Multinational Manager
- N-400
- NAFTA
- National Interest Exception
- National Interest Waiver
- National Labor Relations Board
- National Law Journal
- National Prevailing Wage Center
- National Visa Center
- Naturalization
- Natz
- Nepal
- New York
- NEXUS
- Nicaragua
- Nicaraqua
- Ninth Circuit
- NIV
- NLRB
- No-Match
- Nonimmigrant
- Nonimmigrant Visas
- Nonresident Alien
- North Korea
- Northern Mariana Islands
- NTA
- NVC
- O visa
- O-1
- Office Closures
- OPT
- Oregon
- P-1
- Passport
- Pérez v. Pérez
- PERM
- Permanent Residents
- Policy
- Portability
- Practical Training
- Preclearance
- Preflight Inspection
- Premium Processing
- Prescreening
- Presidential Proclamation
- Prevailing Wage Request
- Priority Date
- Pro Bono
- Processing Times
- Prohibited Entry
- Prosecutorial Discretion
- Provisional Waivers
- Public Access Files
- Public Charge
- REAL ID
- Reciprocity
- Recovery Rebate
- Reducing Salary
- Refugee
- Refugees
- Registry
- RFE
- Rugby
- Ryan Glasgow
- Safe-Harbor
- Same-Sex
- Satisfactory Departure
- SAVE Jobs USA
- Scott Nelson
- SCOTUS
- Section 1
- Selective Service
- SENTRI
- Sessions
- Shaena Rowland
- Sierra Leone
- Social Media
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Special Events
- State Department
- State Law
- Stateside Waivers
- STEM OPT
- Stepchildren
- Stephen Pattison
- Sudan
- Supreme Court
- Syria
- Tax Credit
- Temporary Visas
- Terence Connor
- Texas
- TN
- TN visa
- TPS
- Tracker 8
- Trailblazer
- Trainees
- Transit Without a Visa
- Travel
- Travel Ban
- Travel Restrictions
- Trusted Traveler
- Tsunami
- U Visa
- U.S. Customs & Border Protection
- U.S. Department of State
- U.S. Embassies
- Ukraine
- UN
- Unemployment
- Unemployment Benefits
- Unfair Labor Practices
- Unlawful Presence
- US Citizenship and Immigration Services
- US Department of State
- US Embassy
- US passports
- US Travel Ban
- USCBP
- USCIS
- USD140
- USD150
- USD390
- Vaccine Passport
- Venezuela
- VIBE
- Visa
- Visa Bulletin
- Visa Control
- Visa Lottery
- Visa Revalidation
- Visa stamp
- Visa Waiver
- Visa Waiver Program
- Visas
- VWP
- Wait Times
- Waivers
- Whistleblower
- WHO
- Windsor v. United States
- Work Authorization
- Work Permits
- Work Search
- Worksite Enforcement
- Worksite Inspection
- World Health Organization
- Yemen
- “Buy American Hire American”