Canadian with L-1 Visa and non-Canadian Spouse

[KiloGolf]

Hi

Just wondering if anyone has run into this issue before. My company is transferring me to the US and I am a Canadian citizen and I will be applying for a L-1B visa. We both live in Canada but my wife is not yet a Canadian citizen. She is a Canadian Permanent Resident and she is at the stage of waiting to write her citizenship test. She also has a US 10 year multi-entry visitor permit.

My company immigration lawyer has told me that I do not need to visit the US consulate: I just go to the border, present my L-1 Blanket petition and, if approved, I get in. However, my non-Canadian wife needs to apply for her L-2 visa at the US consulate and she can only begin to book an appointment after I have secured my L-1 visa. This means at least a two week delay from when I get in. This is crazy.

My plan is to go to the US Consulate and present my petition with my wife and simultaneously get both my L-1B visa and her L-2 visa approved. I've been looking through all the US immigration websites and have not found anything written that says this is not possible. On the other hand, I can't find any documentation that says it is possible. Can anyone point me to official documentation on this issue - or have any other work-around or advice? Thanks in advance!

[francesjacobgreene]

Hi

Just wondering if anyone has run into this issue before. My company is transferring me to the US and I am a Canadian citizen and I will be applying for a L-1B visa. We both live in Canada but my wife is not yet a Canadian citizen. She is a Canadian Permanent Resident and she is at the stage of waiting to write her citizenship test. She also has a US 10 year multi-entry visitor permit.

My company immigration lawyer has told me that I do not need to visit the US consulate: I just go to the border, present my L-1 Blanket petition and, if approved, I get in. However, my non-Canadian wife needs to apply for her L-2 visa at the US consulate and she can only begin to book an appointment after I have secured my L-1 visa. This means at least a two week delay from when I get in. This is crazy.

My plan is to go to the US Consulate and present my petition with my wife and simultaneously get both my L-1B visa and her L-2 visa approved. I've been looking through all the US immigration websites and have not found anything written that says this is not possible. On the other hand, I can't find any documentation that says it is possible. Can anyone point me to official documentation on this issue - or have any other work-around or advice? Thanks in advance!

Your lawyer is correct. The consulate can't issue an L-2 visa to a spouse if the principal has not yet been granted L-1 status, since the whole basis of the L-2 is the principal's approved L-1. The L-1 has to come before the L-2. This is one of the rare circumstances in which it actually makes sense for a Canadian to make an L-1 visa application. It's been a few years since I've seen this, but I'm pretty sure you can apply for a visa even if you don't need one. To get something in writing, drop an e-mail to the nonimmigrant visa section of the US consulate where you will apply. Email addresses can be found here: https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-ca/niv/information/niv

[KiloGolf]

Plan A didn't work - plan B?

Thanks for the response and the suggestion to send an email. When I consulted with my company immigration lawyer, she agreed with my plan to visit the US Consulate and get simultaneous approval for both my L-1B and my wife's L-2 and I applied for an interview appointment.

Two days before my scheduled interview, I received an e-mail from the Consulate saying "it has been determined that the Department of State does not have jurisdiction over the adjudication of Blanket L applications from visa exempt Canadian citizens... In order to pursue your application you must seek admission in Blanket L status directly at a Class A U.S. port of entry where a U.S. Customs and Border Services (CBP) officer will determine your eligibility... We therefore ask that you cancel your visa interview appointment". However, the e-mail was sent 10 hours after the deadline for cancelling my appointment and so I decided to proceed anyway.

At the interview, they told me that they would not proceed with my application but they would provisionally proceed with my wife's application. They informed me to go the local airport which has a US CBP Pre-Clearance center and get my approval there, scan it, and e-mail it back to the consulate where they would proceed with my wife's L-2 application. The problem is that when I phoned the CBP office to reconfirm this information, the CBP officer told me that I can only do this is by flying into the US and they cannot provide me with approval without activating the visa.

So now I am stuck again. My next thought is have my wife accompany me and not apply for her L-2, but travel as a visitor. I believe she can then change her status within the US at a local CIS office.

From the CIS website. nothing I see explicitly prohibits this:
Family of L-1 Workers
The transferring employee may be accompanied or followed by his or her spouse and unmarried children who are under 21 years of age. Such family members may seek admission in L-2 nonimmigrant classification and, if approved, generally will be granted the same period of stay as the employee.

If these family members are already in the United States and seeking change of status to or extension of stay in L-2 classification, they may apply collectively, with fee, using Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Status.

Has anyone tried this?

[newacct]

So now I am stuck again. My next thought is have my wife accompany me and not apply for her L-2, but travel as a visitor. I believe she can then change her status within the US at a local CIS office.

She could, assuming they let her in as a visitor. But Change of Status costs $370 and takes 4 or 5 months. It would probably be easier for her to just leave the US and apply for an L-2 visa (after you have entered so you have the L-1 I-94).

[KiloGolf]

Thanks!

Thanks newacct for the advice. If it takes 4 or 5 months and $370, it doesn't really make sense as it would be quicker and cheaper for me to go first, get my L1 and she applies and waits for her L2. I guess we are the unfortunate victims of a loophole in the bureaucracy. It's an inconvenience but we will survive - and laugh about it later!