Following the November 12, 2021, announcement that USCIS would now be granting employment authorization to E and L dependent spouses incident to status, USCIS has updated its Policy Manual to provide clarity on what documentation eligible spouses may present to evidence their employment authorization for purposes of completing a Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification.
As of January 30, 2022, any E or L dependent spouse who has an unexpired Form I-94 with a Class of Admission (COA) code stating E-1S, E-2S, E-3S or L-2S can present that I-94 as an acceptable List C document to evidence employment authorization for I-9 purposes.
In addition, starting on or about April 1, 2022, E and L spouses age 21 and older with an unexpired Form I-94 issued before January 30, 2022, will be mailed a notice along with a new unexpired I-94 reflecting the new employment authorized COA code. E and L spouses under the age of 21 and those who have not received a notice by April 30, 2022, can email E-L-married-U21@uscis.dhs.gov to request a notice.