US L2 visa

[Ednafrommooneyponds]

Sorry if there's already a thread on this, I couldn't find one. DP (soon to be DH) is being transferred to the US in November on an L1 visa. Does anyone have any experience of being on an L2 visa? As I understand it I will be able to work but I'm not sure how potential employers may view it. Any experiences or advice would be greatly appreciated! I'm in a legal field which isn't too difficult to transfer to the US.

[lakespring]

I'm on an L2 visa.
I got an EAD but it had run out before my license for my work was sorted was sorted, partly COVID chaos.
Now that is sorted I've just reapplied but I understand there are much longer waiting times than a few years ago.

You can't work or do volunteering which could be anything other than volunteering until you have the EAD.

[fairlygoodmother]

As lakespring says, you are allowed to work on an L2 visa but you have to apply for an employment authorization through USCIS. You should probably allow for this taking several months at least. Whoever is dealing with your husband’s visa/immigration should be able to give you advice on likely timescales.

I don’t think employers will have any issues with your visa status once you have the authorisation.

[Ednafrommooneyponds]

@lakespring @fairlygoodmother. Thank you both very much. That's really helpful.

[knitnerd90]

Most jobs will be fine. They only want to know if you're legally allowed to work in the US.

Some jobs involving government work require you to be a US citizen but these will say so in the ad.

[Kote]

Agree with what others have said above. I moved to the US last year on an L2. I applied for the employment authorization when I got there expecting it to take months after what I had read online. This was during the height of covid and I got mine approved in around 4 weeks.

I applied for several jobs once I got it but was rejected from them all without even an interview. I'm not sure if my visa had anything to do with this or whether it was just due to a super competitive market during covid job losses (I was mainly looking at basic admin jobs). I started my own business instead which is also allowed on an L2.

[Ednafrommooneyponds]

@knitnerd90 annoyingly the direct equivalent of my job is only open to US citizens.

[Beetle76]

I’m here on an L2. Pretty much the same as everyone else. I was told 6 weeks by the immigration people handling our move but it took 4-5 months. Applied in fall 2019 but once covid hit, it seemed to speed up (fewer applications being processed maybe).
This affected my ability to get a state drivers license. I wasn’t allowed to book the appointments until I had a social security number which was linked to my EAD application. (You can do some different form filling if you aren’t eligible for a SS number. I was eligible, but just didn’t have one yet, so those rules didn’t apply.)
In terms of finding work, employers in my area and field are certainly not used to dealing with non-US citizens. I do minimum wage stuff for small employers so I think they may be more used to illegals wanting cash in hand quite frankly! I don’t think they were put off by the EAD, but not having local or US based references was definitely an issue and I was told as much at one interview.
But I’ve been working for 6 months now so it sorts itself out eventually. Just plan for a long haul financially.
Do you know whereabouts you are heading?

[BritWifeinUSA]

[quote Ednafrommooneyponds]@knitnerd90 annoyingly the direct equivalent of my job is only open to US citizens.[/quote]
So it’s a federal government job here? As far as I know, only certain federal jobs are for USCs only. All other jobs are open to all who have work authorization, assuming you meet the qualifications and experience needed.

[knitnerd90]

It's not just jobs working directly for the federal government. Some other jobs that deal with government work require US citizenship or the ability to get a security clearance which is effectively the same thing.