E-2 Visa Form I-539A: Filing for Dependents as Co-Applicants

Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, historically allowed a principal applicant to list accompanying dependents on a single form. USCIS restructured this in April 2019 by introducing Form I-539A, Supplemental Information for Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, as a mandatory supplement for each co-applicant — meaning each spouse or unmarried child under 21 who is included in the same application package.

The change gives every individual a separate signed attestation and allows USCIS to collect a separate biometric services fee for each person who must appear for fingerprinting. From an adjudication standpoint, the I-539A also gives officers a complete, structured record of each co-applicant's travel and immigration history.

For E-2 purposes, the relevant population is E-2 dependents: the spouse and unmarried children under 21 of the principal treaty investor, who derive status under INA 101(a)(15)(E) and 8 CFR 214.2(e)(7). They are not separately petitioned employees or investors; they are derivative beneficiaries of the principal's status. When the principal files Form I-539 to extend E-2 status (or when dependents are changing status to E-2 without having entered as E-2 dependents), each dependent files I-539A as a co-applicant to that same Form I-539.

Form I-539A is required whenever a co-applicant is included in a Form I-539 package, regardless of whether the principal is extending nonimmigrant status or changing to E-2 from another classification. Each co-applicant who is 14 years of age or older at the time of filing must also appear for biometrics at a USCIS Application Support Center (ASC).

Co-applicants under age 14 are still included in the application and still require a completed I-539A, but they are exempt from the biometric services fee and the ASC appointment. USCIS instructions for I-539A confirm this exemption, though the supplement itself must still be filed with the package for every named co-applicant regardless of age.

Form I-539A is not required when the principal treaty investor uses Form I-129 — the Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker — to extend or change status. I-129 covers the principal investor's own status when filed by an employer or through the investor's U.S. entity. Dependents of an I-129 beneficiary use a separate process: they would file Form I-539 as principals, with I-539A for any of their own co-applicants. However, in many E-2 self-petition contexts where the investor files Form I-539 for themselves (not through an I-129), the spouse and children are co-applicants on that same I-539 and each requires an I-539A.

• I-539A required: each co-applicant added to the principal's Form I-539 for E-2 extension or change of status
• Biometrics required: each co-applicant age 14 or older at filing
• Biometrics not required (but I-539A still required): co-applicants under age 14
• I-539A not required: when dependents are filing their own standalone Form I-539 and have no co-applicants of their own
• I-129 route: dependents of an I-129 beneficiary do not use I-539A as part of the principal's I-129; they file I-539 independently

Part 1 of I-539A collects the co-applicant's full legal name, other names used, date of birth, country of birth, country of citizenship, Social Security number if any, and USCIS Online Account Number if one exists. This section is straightforward but generates RFEs when names differ between I-539A, the passport, and any prior USCIS records. Use the name exactly as it appears in the co-applicant's passport, and disclose prior names in full.

Part 2 asks for the co-applicant's current immigration status, the date status was last obtained, and the I-94 arrival-departure record number if applicable. For an E-2 dependent who entered as E-2, this means the current E-2 status and the I-94 number from the most recent admission. If the co-applicant entered in a different status and is now changing to E-2, the form should reflect the current status being changed from.

Part 3 covers passport and travel document information: passport number, country of issuance, and expiration date. While USCIS does not refuse status extensions solely because a passport is nearing expiry, a co-applicant should renew an expiring passport before appearing at a U.S. consulate for a future visa stamp.

Parts 4 and 5 request the co-applicant's address history and employment or school history for the past five years. Inconsistencies between the co-applicant's history and the principal's supporting documents — a claimed address that conflicts with the household lease, for example — can generate questions from an adjudicator. Part 6 collects information about children of the co-applicant and is biographic only; it does not substitute for separate I-539A supplements for each child listed.

Part 7 is the signature and certification. Each co-applicant age 14 or older must sign personally; a parent or guardian may sign for a co-applicant under 14. USCIS will reject an I-539A submitted without a signature, restarting the filing process and losing the original filing date.

As of the 2024 USCIS fee schedule, filing Form I-539 carries a base filing fee that the principal pays once. Each co-applicant age 14 or older pays a separate biometric services fee. USCIS publishes the current amounts on its website and in the I-539 instructions; practitioners should confirm the fees at the time of filing because USCIS has adjusted them periodically.

The biometric services fee is not waived for E-2 dependents regardless of nationality, and USCIS will reject a package where the biometric fee is missing for an eligible co-applicant. If the package contains multiple co-applicants — for example, a spouse and two teenagers — each of those three pays the biometric fee. Only the child under 14 is exempt from the biometric fee; they are not exempt from being listed as a co-applicant.

Payments are submitted by check or money order payable to 'U.S. Department of Homeland Security,' or electronically through USCIS MyAccount. If filing on paper, include a separate instrument for each applicable fee — one for the I-539 base fee and one per biometric services fee — and label each check with the co-applicant's name to prevent intake errors.

• I-539 base filing fee: paid once by the principal applicant
• Biometric services fee: paid separately for each co-applicant age 14 or older
• Co-applicants under 14: no biometric fee, but I-539A is still required
• Online filing: available through USCIS MyAccount; allows electronic payment
• Paper filing: use separate checks per fee category, labeled clearly

After USCIS receives and accepts a properly filed I-539 package with I-539A supplements, it sends biometric services appointment notices to each co-applicant who is 14 or older. These notices are mailed to the address on the application, so the address in Part 1 of I-539A must be a current, deliverable address — not the attorney's address unless the attorney has a G-28 on file and checked the box to receive notices directly.

Each co-applicant must appear at the designated ASC on or before the appointment date, bringing the appointment notice, a government-issued photo ID, and their passport. Missing an ASC appointment without requesting a reschedule in advance will cause USCIS to send a notice requiring appearance or requesting an explanation; a failure to appear can result in abandonment of the application.

The ASC collects fingerprints and a photograph, typically in 30 to 45 minutes. USCIS uses the biometric data for criminal background checks and identity verification. Each co-applicant's ASC appointment is independent; the principal's biometrics, if applicable, are scheduled separately.

The most common error is submitting the principal's I-539 without the I-539A for one or more co-applicants. USCIS will reject the entire package if a co-applicant is listed on the I-539 but no corresponding I-539A is included. Practitioners should build a checklist that maps every co-applicant named on page 2 of the I-539 to a completed, signed I-539A supplement in the package.

Name inconsistencies between I-539A and the passport create RFEs that slow adjudication by months. This is particularly common with names from countries that use different romanization conventions — a co-applicant whose name appears as 'Kim Jihyun' in one document and 'Jihyun Kim' in another should have both versions disclosed, with a brief explanatory cover letter note.

Missing or incorrect I-94 information is another frequent source of RFEs. If the co-applicant entered the United States and was not issued a physical I-94 card (most admissions since 2013 are recorded electronically), the I-94 number should be retrieved from the CBP I-94 website before filing. An entry that shows the co-applicant as admitted in a different classification than the one claimed on the I-539A will require explanation.

Signatures are missed more often than expected in multi-supplement packages. Every I-539A for a co-applicant age 14 or older must bear the co-applicant's original signature — not a stamp, not an attorney signature, and not a photocopy. USCIS processes paper packages without manually verifying signatures at intake; unsigned supplements may not surface until an adjudicator reviews the file months later. Relatedly, practitioners occasionally omit the biometric services fee for a co-applicant who just turned 14, treating them as exempt. The exemption applies only to co-applicants under 14 at the time of filing.

USCIS processing times for Form I-539 vary by service center and can range from a few months to well over a year. USCIS publishes current estimates on its website by form and service center; practitioners should check those times regularly because they affect strategy advice about when to file and whether premium processing for the principal's I-129 (if applicable) can indirectly affect the timeline.

Premium processing is not available for Form I-539 or for I-539A co-applicants as of this writing. If the principal treaty investor's status is extended via Form I-129 with premium processing, the dependents' I-539 package still proceeds at standard processing times. This creates a situation where the principal's status is extended while the co-applicants are still pending, which is lawful as long as the dependents maintain their current nonimmigrant status during the pendency of the I-539. The I-539A instructions and 8 CFR 214.2(e)(7) confirm that dependents may remain in the United States while a properly filed I-539 is pending, even if their current authorized period of admission has expired.

Once the I-539 and all I-539A supplements are approved, USCIS issues an approval notice specifying the new period of authorized stay for each person. If any co-applicant is denied while others are approved, USCIS issues separate notices. A denial of one I-539A does not automatically deny the principal's application.

An approved I-539A for an E-2 spouse extends the derivative E-2 status, but it does not by itself grant work authorization. E-2 spouses who wish to work in the United States must separately file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, using the eligibility category applicable to E-2 spouses as published in current USCIS instructions.

The timing of the I-765 relative to the I-539A matters. Under 8 CFR 274a.12(c)(9), a person with a pending I-539 may apply for employment authorization, but that authorization is not automatic. Practitioners advising E-2 spouses on work authorization continuity should file the I-765 concurrently with the I-539 package so the EAD application and status extension proceed in parallel.

Children who are E-2 co-applicants generally do not seek work authorization; they attend school under their derivative E-2 status. Children who age out of derivative E-2 status — that is, who turn 21 — lose the ability to remain on the parent's E-2 status at that point. The Child Status Protection Act does not apply to nonimmigrant status in the same way it applies to immigrant visa petitions, so the 21st birthday is a hard cutoff under 8 CFR 214.2(e)(7).