EAD Extension

Regardless of which L-1 category you hold, your wife remains an L-2 as long as there is no break in status. Normally I believe that your wife would not need to do anything concerning her work authorization if she did not apply for an L-2 extension when you applied for your L-1B to L-1A visa conversion. The difficulty here is that the employment authorization is generally seen as tied to the application. U.S.C.I.S. has a procedure under which the application for L-2 benefits must be approved first and then the EAD application can be approved. So technically, the first petition would be superseded by the second petition and the EAD attached to the first petition could be seen as invalid. It may turn out, however, that if no one says anything, nothing will happen as your wife is still carrying around a facially valid EAD and the law in this area is not tremendously clear. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.