Questions about L1 and L2 visas, no idea what we're doing!

[ocaisceti94]

Hi guys, my wife and I are moving to Austin, TX with our 3 kids (L1 for me and L2 for my wife), and we have a few questions about the visas we're going to use, and would appreciate any and all help!

1. How long is the process to obtain the visas?
2. Where are the visa interview questions held? (We're in tTweakboxhe UK, so not sure if here or the US)
3. Will the visas come through at the same time, or do I have to enter the US alone first?
4. When applying for the EAD for my wife to work, how long does it take and can this be applied for Appvalleybefore entry to the US?

Thanks!

[toby_otto]

Hi there,

I'm just going to share my experience. Not sure the impact due to covid as most of the consulate general was either closed or was operating with partial service capability.
We moved to the US (L1A for my husband and I am on L2 with EAD) from Canada in September 2017.

1. How long is the process to obtain the visas? For my spouse L1A, it took about 2 weeks. I applied my L2 visa upon his L1a visa approval, from scheduling an L2 visa interview to getting the approval. It took approximately 1.5 month.
2. Where are the visa interview questions held? (We're in the UK, so not sure if here or the US) For the L2 visa interview, I had it at the US consulate general located in Toronto, Canada. I would assume that's the same case, either at the US consulate general or embassy in UK.
3. Will the visas come through at the same time, or do I have to enter the US alone first? My spouse received his L1 visa approval in July 2017 and waited for me in Canada until my L2 visa was approved in September 2017 before entering the US. My husband communicated his preference to not enter the US until the dependent was able to accompany.
4. When applying for the EAD for my wife to work, how long does it take and can this be applied for before entry to the US? I applied for my initial EAD in mid October 2017 and was approved in February 2018. About 3.5 to 4 months in total. I also applied for EAD renewal on 28Jan2020 (precovid) and got my approval on 03Apr2020.

Hope this answer your questions! Best of luck!