I am preparing to reallocate to Amazon US. My wife at the same time got admission to Ph.D program. So she can apply either L2 or F1 visa. I’ve checked. F1 is considered to be non resident tax alien so we can not do married-fill-join for tax return (which can help us save 15k/year). My wife Ph.D financial package would be in form of 1st year fellowship and TA/RA for subsequent year. My question is: 1. Which one is better option for us, L2 or F1? 2. I will apply for green card once I arrive US (sponsored by amazon). If she goes with F1/L2, can she apply together with me even though she does not work but study. Does she need amazon sponsor (not her own employer)? 3. If she goes with L2, should we apply together now? The problem is that my wife is currently in another country. She will quit her job and move in with me soon (in ~3,4 weeks) but i want to secure my visa first so that i can finish my paperwork for my move( i made an appointment in 2 weeks). Will it make l2 visa harder for her if applying separatedly? Or i should really wait for her and make one single appointment. 4. Any other benefit of L2 vs F1 Thank you so much for your help
If you’re not afraid of losing your job or getting divorced the L2 is better because she’ll be able to get a green card as well. The green card process takes years, and is composed of 3 steps (for employment based green card): PERM, I-140 and AOS. You’ll file for PERM and I-140 alone, only the AOS is filled together. So she can stay abroad, an file for L2 and AOS after you already came to the US. (My wife actually asked her L2 one year after I moved to the US and now we’re filling the AOS)
If she applies F1, would she still be able to fill in AOS with me (at the same time I apply for GC)? We will probably apply L1-L2 visa together to avoid questions from the visa officer and we will roll out GC process immediately once we go to US. Thx
As long as you legally married they can add her to your gc application. With l2 she will be able to travel once aos is filled vs not on f1
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You should ask the lawyer whether either option creates any complication. If it doesn't make any difference then she should go F1 in my opinion. Reason being that you each then independently have status. For example if your lost you job she would not lose her status and would not be forced to withdraw from her school on short notice. Plus you would be able to convert to f1-dependant and stay in the US while you figured out what to do.
I guess in the worst case she still can change from L2 to F1 (leaving us and getting F1 stamp). But i want to know about the green card process and other benefits if any for L2 holder ( in term of GC for example)
I think you should ask the lawyers, it's the kind of question that can have pretty obscure gotchas.