When Immigration Matters

Immigration issues have been dominating the news with increasing frequency, leading to a heightened awareness of the various statuses. While most people understand the difference between a student or tourist visa and an H1B or EB-5, there continues to be some confusion over permanent residency vs. citizenship. While both immigration categories allow you to stay in the U.S. indefinitely, what are the principal differences between them.? In this blog, the team at Pollak, PLLC addresses this question.

In August of 2022, new rules were put into place for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. These changes seek to codify many of the current guidelines that were in place for the program in the past, but will also make some major reforms that could potentially have a big impact on the DREAMers who make use of the program.

H1B visas are nonimmigrant visas that give noncitizens the ability to work in a specific job for up to three years. Employees and employers must understand that a leave of absence could negatively impact an H1B visa. Whenever the worker or employer initially petitions for the visa, specific terms and conditions must be met to maintain your status. For instance, if you apply for a full-time position, you must continue to work full-time. This is commonly referred to as “maintenance of status.” Leaves of absence can disrupt this. 

The goal of the EB-5 visa program is to stimulate the United States economy by incentivizing capital investments from foreign investors. To do so, the program offers a path to permanent residence for investors and their families if they place a substantive amount of investment in U.S.-based enterprises and creates at least ten permanent full-time positions for U.S. workers. New policy updates have changed how foreign investors should apply to the program, which we will cover in detail today.

On May 4, 2022, United States Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) announced a temporary final rule that increases the automatic employment extension on Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) from 180 days up to 540 days in certain visa categories. The primary objective for the additional 360-day  extension is to prevent gaps in work authorization due to the USCIS’ significant processing delays for work permit renewal applications. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is implementing premium processing for certain petitioners who have a pending Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications. This expansion of premium processing only applies to certain previously filed Form I-140 petitions under a multinational executive and manager classification or EB-2 classification as a member of professions with advanced degrees or exceptional ability seeking a national interest waiver (NIW). Petitioners who wish to request a premium processing upgrade must file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service.

For non-citizens who wish to become legal permanent residents (green card holders), you will have to have an immigration medical exam. One of its intended purposes is to ensure you don’t have any communicable diseases that could be brought into the country. Examples of these are measles, mumps, and rubella. During your examination, doctors verify whether you have received the appropriate vaccinations. 

Spouses and dependents of L1 visa holders are issued L2 Visas. L-1A visas are foreign nationals who come to work in the US in a managerial or executive capacity. L-1Bs are similar, but the nature of work pertains to specialized knowledge. These are non-immigrant visas that enable you to live in the United States for a limited amount of time.

L2 Visa holders are allowed to work in the United States. However, up until now they needed to file an application with United States Citizenship and Immigration to obtain work authorization and could not work until they received approval. There are lengthy delays in obtaining approval which in some cases can take 9 months to a year.

Timing & the EAD

As a result of a federal lawsuit, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a new policy which allows L2 visa holders entering the United States to immediately work without applying for work authorization. The ability to work will be noted on their I-94 issued by Customs and Border Protection and they will not have to apply for work authorization. The I-94 is the Arrival/Departure Record and the annotation will appear as “L2S”. The purpose of one is precisely what it sounds like—to keep track of non-citizens as they enter and exit the United States.

It is important to note that L2 visa holders who have not entered the USA since the change in recent policy still need to apply for work authorization or work authorization extensions unless they leave the USA and reenter on their L2 visa.


Pollak, PLLC

Contact Pollack, PLLC, for a complimentary consultation for more information about employment-based visas. We cannot change the world but we can change yours.

Spouses and dependents of L1 visa holders are issued L2 Visas.  L-1A visas are foreign nationals who come to work in the US in a managerial or executive capacity. L-1Bs are similar, but the nature of work pertains to specialized knowledge. These are non-immigrant visas that enable you to live in the United States for a limited amount of time.