U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on March 18, 2022, that it is updating guidance to address the documentation that certain E and L nonimmigrant spouses may use as evidence of employment authorization based on their nonimmigrant status. USCIS noted:
- On November 12, 2021, USCIS issued a policy announcement to clarify that it would consider E and L spouses to be employment-authorized based on their valid E or L nonimmigrant status. Since the November 2021 announcement, the Department of Homeland Security added new Class of Admission (COA) codes to distinguish between E and L spouses and children.
- As of January 30, 2022, USCIS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began issuing Forms I-94 with the following new COA codes for certain E and L spouses: E-1S, E-2S, E-3S, and L-2S. An unexpired Form I-94 reflecting one of these new codes is acceptable as evidence of employment authorization for spouses under List C of Form
I-9. - An E or L spouse age 21 or over who has an unexpired Form I-94 that USCIS issued before January 30, 2022, will receive a notice from USCIS beginning on or about April 1, 2022. This notice, along with an unexpired Form I-94 reflecting E-1, E-2, E-3, E-3D, E-3R, or L-2 nonimmigrant status, will serve as evidence of employment authorization. An E or L spouse who is under 21, or has not received the notice by April 30, can email E-L-married-U21@uscis.dhs.gov to request a notice.
- USCIS will only send notices to individuals identified as qualifying spouses based on a Form I-539 approved by USCIS. Individuals who received their Form I-94 from CBP should visit www.cbp.gov.
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