As we reported in a previous news release last November, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reached a settlement agreement with nonimmigrant plaintiffs in which it agreed to, among other things, recognize work authorization incident to status for the spouses of L visa holders.
Earlier this week, the DHS began implementation of this change and expanded its application to the spouses of E visa holders. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is now inputting new Class of Admission (COA) codes on I-94 admissions records generated for spouses of E and L visa holders upon entry into the United States. With this new COA code, E and L spouses will have work authorization incident to status, and the I-94 can be used as a List C document for I-9 purposes. The new COA code will only be applied to new entries into the U.S. made by E and L spouses on or after January 31, 2022.
Please contact your Graham Adair attorney with any specific questions, or contact us at info@grahamadair.com; +1 408 715 7067.