Visa question of the month - Multiple employers allowed in the US?

Ich werde in den USA für die Tochtergesellschaft meines jetzigen Arbeitgebers mit dem L-1 Visum arbeiten. Kann ich mit dem L-1 Visum gleichzeitig auch für andere US-Arbeitgeber tätig werden?

YOUR QUESTION:

I will be working in the US for the subsidiary of my current employer on the L-1 visa. In this regard, I have the following questions: Can I work for other US companies at the same time with the L-1 visa? And how can my wife get a work permit for the USA?

OUR ANSWER:

At theL-1 visait is a matter ofWork visa, theCompany-linkedis. The official petitioner of the L visa for you as a future employee (=beneficiary) is the US company.
I.e., you are only permitted to work for this specific U.S. location.

The only exception: If the L-1 application is a so-called "blanket procedure" (i.e. based on an L-blanket registration of the group of companies), you can work with the issued US visa for all US locations in the USA that are listed on the L-blanket registration. However, it is a prerequisite that they carry out the same activity as stated in the application process. However, this should be checked again in detail in advance.

Is it aL-1Individual visa, then you are permitted to work only for the petitioner, i.e., the petitioning U.S. company.

Working for other employers in the United States, whether permanent, part-time, freelance, etc., is not permitted. Not even in the context of self-employment.

Your spouse can obtain an L-2 visa derived from your L-1 visa.

Under the following conditions it is possible for L-2 spouses to work or be self-employed in the USA:

• The residence status in theI-94Entry form was marked on entry as "L2S"("S"=Spouse) is issued. The I-94 document with the corresponding suffix "S" is then sufficient as proof and entitles the holder to work in the USA immediately after entry. This is not bound to a certain US employer (=general work permit).
  
  
• Spouse:insidewithoutcorresponding addition "S" in the Form I-94, i.e. whose status was only shown as "L2", still require a mandatory general work permit (Employment Authorization Document, EAD) before they can engage in any activity in the United States. The EAD application can only beAfter entering the USAbe filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and is initially valid for a maximum of 2 years (depending on the I-94 residency status granted); renewal is possible. The application process takes approximately4-12 monthsand therefore employment can only be taken up after this waiting period.