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THE
ABC'S OF IMMIGRATION - NEW LAW WILL PROVIDE WORK AUTHORIZATION
FOR SPOUSES OF E AND L VISA HOLDERS
Within the next few days, President
Bush is expected to sign H.R. 2277 and H.R. 2278, two bills Congress
passed shortly before recessing last month. These bills would
grant work authorization to spouses of E-1 treaty trader and E-2
treaty investor visa holders, and to spouses of L-1 intracompany
transfer visa holders. H.R. 2278 also shortens the length of
time a person is required to be employed abroad to come to the US
under a blanket L petition from one year to six months.
The blanket L petition is used by businesses the frequently transfer
foreign employees to the US. Once the INS approves the initial
petition, the individual beneficiaries have to show only that they
qualify for the position offered, and that they have worked for the
business for one year within the past three years. After the new
law takes effect, this period will be shortened to six months.
The other requirements for a blanket L petition are that
·
The US and foreign offices must be engaged in commercial trade or
services;
· The employer's US office must
have been in business for at least a year;
· The employer must have at
least three domestic or foreign branches, subsidiaries, or
affiliates; and
· The Employer must show one of
the following: a) at least ten L-1 visas were approved in the last
year; b) the company had US sales of at least million, or c) the US
work force numbers over 1,000 workers.
It is currently unclear how spouses
of E and L visa holders will show that they are work authorized.
It is possible that the INS will take the position that the
authorization is implicit in their status, and require no further
documentation than the visa. This is, however, unlikely.
What is more likely is that the spouses will be required to make an
application for an employment authorization document.
This application is made on Form I-765, and must be accompanied by an
application fee of 0. It is filed at the regional Service Center
with jurisdiction over the applicant’s residence.
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