The U.S. Department of Homeland Security settled a lawsuit in November 2021 that grants employment authorization to the spouses of L-1 intracompany transferees (“L-2 Spouses”) without the need to obtain a separate employment authorization document (EAD). The Immigration and Nationality Act states explicitly that “(DHS) shall authorize an (L-2 nonimmigrant) spouse to engage in employment in the United States and provide the spouse with an ‘employment authorized’ endorsement or another appropriate work permit.”
This settlement comes to the main benefit of employees who, amidst dealing with the particularly slow process related to their EAD applications, are no longer at risk of facing immediate termination due to the USCIS not having processed their EAD card renewal application. In addition, this also protects them from being placed under unpaid leaves of absence because their EAD card expired, which had been happening to L-2 spouses at an increasing rate over recent years.
An additional benefit of this settlement comes with it being designed with the possibility of transferring employees of foreign companies to U.S. branches. This makes migration a much more streamlined process that allows families to plan around without having to risk employment or sacrifice the benefits of the careers they have worked years to build. Under this new settlement agreement, L-2 spouses will not need a previously approved, separate EAD, which means they can search for employment in the U.S. while the transfer is in process and accept employment upon arrival.
Despite this recent settlement, Federal Laws still remain the regulating authorization entity when it comes to the employment of foreign nationals in United States territory. It is important to remember that employers might still face penalties were they to employ unauthorized individuals. Given that this is a recent development, it is likely that USCIS will issue regulatory revisions that will affect this change in the near future. Given our focus as an employment law firm, the staff of Donnelly will keep up with these changes, and we will be more than prepared if you need assistance.