Applying for an L2 EAD(Employment Authorization Document) on your own

Form I-765

I was talking to a friend recently and she is also working in US with L2 EAD. She had applied for EAD for the first time with the help of the lawyers at her husband's company. Well, it was sponsored by the company itself at that time. She got an EAD in FEB, 2015 for 2 years and she had to apply for renewal a few months back. During the conversation, it came up that she had to pay a $1000 for the renewal. I was surprised because I remember to pay around $400 for the same and then we realized that she had paid the rest for the lawyers' fees. That's why I thought of writing my experience of getting an EAD without paying anything extra.

This Link https://www.uscis.gov/i-765 has all the information needed for applying an EAD.  I just printed the I-765 Form and the checklist and took a print of all the required documents and wrote a cheque and sent across to the address and got my EAD in 3 months. So, I had applied for L2 EAD for the first time on August, 2015. I got my EAD copy on November, 2015. My current EAD is valid till Oct, 2017 and I applied for renewal recently. 

So, below is the step by step directions to apply for a L2 EAD or renewal of L2 EAD.

1. Download the form I-765 from Form I-765 (PDF, 289 KB). Take a print.

2. Download the instruction sheet to fill the I-765 form from Instructions for Form I-765 (PDF, 332 KB)

3.  Download the form G-1145 to get an email notification or a notification on your mobile number once received.  Form G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance (PDF, 229 KB)

4. Fill in the I-765 form.
    For fresh application:
    Tick off ' Permission to accept employment' at 'I am applying for:' section
    Put I-94 Number at 10 (Alien Registration Number)
 
   For renewal application:
   Tick off ' Renewal of my Permission to accept employment' at 'I am applying for:' section
   Put A- Number at 10 (Alien Registration Number)
The Eligibility Criteria, for L2 EAD is a(18)

5. Check for filing fees at https://www.uscis.gov/forms/our-fees and write a cheque for the same amount. As of today's date, the fee is $410.

6. Get ready with the below supporting documents:

• Filled Application form I-765
• Filing Fee Cheque for $410
• A copy of I-94 (front and back)
• A copy of last EAD copy (front and back) for renewal
• 2 recent color photographs
• L1 Visa copy
• L2  Visa copy
• L1 I-94
• Marriage Certificate Copy

7. Send all the documents to the USCIS lockbox address. Address depends on the category that you have chosen.For category a(18) address is available at : USCIS Phoenix and Dallas Lockbox facilities chart

8. Check the EAD status at https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do

Edit1: Got my renewed EAD copy in exactly 2 months. But since my L2 Visa was valid for 1 year (11 months to be precise), got my EAD for 11 months this time.

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