Canadian married to L1-B visa holder entering the US

Hi,

I’m portuguese and will be marrying my canadian fiancée at the end of June in Portugal. She has dual–nationality being both portuguese and canadian.

I’m on an L1-B (intra–company transfer) and was wondering if anybody can confirm what we need to get her an L2 derivative visa.

My company’s lawyers are saying that all we require is a translated marriage certificate and, upon entering the country with a valid Canadian passport and accompanied by me (with all my L1 documents), she’s issued an L2 visa at the port-of-entry. Has anyone had any experience with this?

Cheers,
AD

You don't even need to be there.

The document you list will get her an I-94 in L2 status.

Once she has this, she can apply by mail for her L2 employment document, I-765.

Looking at the L1/L2 requirements (canada.usembassy.gov/visas/visas/categories-and-requirements/intra-company-transfer.html) it appears that the L2 applicant also needs to fill out the DS-160 form. Is this so?

Also, does the translated marriage certificate need to be certified/recognised or notarised by an american company or embassy?

Your spouse is Cdn, thus will not be going to any consulate, just like you did not.

Your spouse is Cdn, thus will not be going to any consulate, just like you did not.

I actually had to go to the American embassy to get my L1. I understand that american visas seem to work ever so slightly differently for canadians but that information I got (specifically the bit about the DS-160 form) was taken directly from the US Embassy’s Canadian website.

My company’s lawyers are saying that all we require is a translated marriage certificate and, upon entering the country with a valid Canadian passport and accompanied by me (with all my L1 documents), she’s issued an L2 visa at the port-of-entry. Has anyone had any experience with this?

Wow, a lawyer that got it right.

This is all that is required. Period. Just like Agnelson has also told you.

I actually had to go to the American embassy to get my L1.

Sorry, I mised the fact that you were not Cdn. Cdns enjoy the privilege to not have to get a visa to enter US in all but a few statuses.

No visa is required for L1 or L2 for Cdns.

Your spouse will have to apply by mail to USCIS for an EAD to work under L2, using form I-765, once she gets her L2 I-94.

Just a quick thank you to everyone for your help. My wife and I got back in the US without any problems. As usual, the officers at the point of entry didn’t really know at first what the process was but after clarifying with their superiors everything was really straightforward. We only needed my passport and L1 visa docs, her passport and our marriage certificate (translated, and we also had it notarised).

They stamped her passport with an L2 visa stamp and gave her an I94 form (which I had to ask for because they forgot about it).

We’re now looking into applying for an EAD but considering the implications if, in the future, she gets a job under a TN visa instead. To keep things simple and clear I’ve started a separate thread discussing the pros and cons of an L2 EAD vs TN visa: l2-ead-vs-tn-visa-vt10328.html.

Hi,

I’m portuguese and will be marrying my canadian fiancée at the end of June in Portugal. She has dual–nationality being both portuguese and canadian.

I’m on an L1-B (intra–company transfer) and was wondering if anybody can confirm what we need to get her an L2 derivative visa.

My company’s lawyers are saying that all we require is a translated marriage certificate and, upon entering the country with a valid Canadian passport and accompanied by me (with all my L1 documents), she’s issued an L2 visa at the port-of-entry. Has anyone had any experience with this?

Cheers,
AD

Hi,

I spent 3 years in Canada because of my job and my girlfriend (my future wife). I just complete the requirements of my visa to get here in Canada. I recommend you to tell the truth for the interview in getting your visa. Thats what I did in getting my visa

h1b visa

We’re now looking into applying for an EAD but considering the implications if, in the future, she gets a job under a TN visa instead. To keep things simple and clear I’ve started a separate thread discussing the pros and cons of an L2 EAD vs TN visa: l2-ead-vs-tn-visa-vt10328.html.

Sorry for my ignorance, but I'm very new to all this... can you please explain what the EAD is?