How Do My Spouse and Child Apply to Change Their Nonimmigrant Status?
If your employer files INS Form I-129 (Petition for Alien Worker) for you, then your spouse and child must carefully read and complete INS Form I-539 (Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status) and submit any required supporting documents to change to a new nonimmigrant category. It is best to submit both forms at the same time. You may include your spouse and any unmarried children under the age of 21 in your INS Form I-539 application if you are all in the same nonimmigrant category, or if your spouse or children were given derivative nonimmigrant status. Derivative nonimmigrant status means that your spouse and children were given nonimmigrant visas based on your nonimmigrant status. For instance, if a student is given an F-1 “Academic Student” visa, then the spouse and child are given F-2 “Spouse and Child of an Academic Student” visas.
