LaurenUSA

Hi everyone,

so we are in the process of a move to the USA.

Partner has a H1B visa, i have nothing at this point.

The (loose) plan (subject to change) is for me to travel to states for 2 weeks before xmas when he starts new job, back mid Jan on an esta for 2 periods of 3 months - Jan to March - broken up by a month in UK in April and then 3 months back in states again

we will then likely get married in UK.

He plans to apply for his green card as soon as he can

I would like to be able to work as soon as possible (set up my own consultancy as I do here in UK)

What would you guys recommend as the best/easiest/most likely way for me to be able to work.
I will not get a H1B on my own merit - no degree etc.


Thanks

Pulaski

There is no way for the spouse of an H-1B to be allowed to work based on their H-4 status.

You could set up your consultancy on an E-2, but you'd need to be investing some capital, and it can't be a "subsistence business" - so it needs growth potential and/or to have US-resident employees.

If you have employees in the UK you could appoint a manager to run the business and then open a branch in the US using an L-1A, but you'd need experience equivalent to a degree.

mikelincs

General rule of thumb if you are on ESTA is to spend at least as much time out of the US as in it, so if you are there for 90 days, and would suggest staying only around 87 days in case of delays with flights etc, then you should spend at least the same amount of time back in the UK, so only one month back might well send up red flags to the immi people, particularly as you are visiting your partner who is on an H1-B. The simplest way to avoid this is to get married.

LaurenUSA

Thanks guys.

Everything is pointing towards a quickie wedding being the best way forwards, but we really didnt want to do if it can be avoided.

Interesting to know you should spend same amount of time out as in, I hadnt seen that advice before.

I will be quitting working for my current employer, and will work when i am back in UK which i understand i am allowed to do, despite whatever visa i end up on.

What, from your experience, is the quickest way for me to get a visa to be able to work? Assuming we get married soon. He plans to apply for green card as soon as possible and then i understood i can apply for a visa which allows me to work?

Are we in cloud cuckoo? We dont need me to work to survive monetarily but I am keen to be able to work as part of settling in and for my own sanity (I am a Director of a company here and have never not worked before!)

Mike - are you from Lincolnshire?? I am too!

Pulaski

Have you read post #2, above? ..... Unless one of those ways works for you, you will have to wait until a green card application is commenced - and you will have to be married. Then, under the current rules, as laid down by President Obama, you can apply for an Employment Authorisation Document (EAD) once your green card apply has been submission. The EAD will likely take 60-90 days to be sent to you. ..... It is quite possible that the next President could halt the issuing of EADs to green card applicants, in which case you'd have to wait 1-2 years for your green card to be issued.

scrubbedexpat099

Get a job with a US Company that will sponsor you for a work visa. Might take some time unless they are cap exempt.

You are asking for trouble abusing VWP, may get lucky, may not.

az2014

Wasn't this answered before?

http://britishexpats.com/forum/us-im...hicago-879638/

scrubbedexpat099

yep

ian-mstm

The US has no interest in what you do when you're not in the US.


The quickest way to get a visa is to apply for one - preferably, a visa for which you're qualified, and - even better - one that gives you status that allows you to work. We don't know your education or skill set, so it's difficult to even suggest a way forward.


Even if you get married, so long as he has an H-1B visa, you'll get a derivative H-4 visa and will not be allowed to work. I'm not sure that you fully understand that.


He can't apply for a green card independently... the sponsoring company must start that process on his behalf - and the company is under no obligation to do that for him.


If the time comes (and, realistically, you're looking at 5-6 years down the road) when an application is submitted, you can also be part of that application (so long as you two are married) and you can get an EAD and that will allow you to work. It is not a visa.

To clarify, a visa is a travel document... nothing more, nothing less. A visa does not allow you to work. The status that you receive when you enter the US... that is what allows you to work.

Ian

scrubbedexpat099

In her other thread she shared this was a short term assignment and she is a Recruitment Consultant.

ian-mstm

Wow - and now she's a Director of the company! Sweet transition in only 6 weeks.

Ian

Pulaski

For a few hundred pounds anyone* can form their own British Ltd company, and can appoint themselves "director". Indeed the owner is likely going to be a director unless they want to shell-out for lawyers or accountants to be nominee directors.

* With the possible exception of someone convicted of fraud or probited by the courts from being a company director.

sherbert

It's important to realize that you will never be able to work on a H4 visa and there is actually no other option for you to get a visa in your own right unless you too go through the H1b lottery which you already said was impossible.

Your only real option to maintain your sanity and to stay within the confines of the law is to get married asap, have your h4 visa so you can get in and out of the country easily and continue your work from stints back home/abroad.

LaurenUSA

Hi everyone, I am a Director, but do not own the company, so when i leave, I leave.

The company bringing partner in want him to stay long term due to the nature of his role and the lack of available talent in this area. They have stated they will assist him in starting the green card process as soon as possible, as they want us both to stay and settle and they know happy wife = happy life!

H1B options for me seem a waste of time, as the chances as so slim and the process so long (we have just been through it - 1.5 years and were obviously very 'lucky' given stats)

I have 12 years exp but no degree

We understood and possibly wrongly so that once his greencard was in process, we can apply for this EAD - APOLOGIES FOR USING THE WRONG TERMINOLOGY- new to all this as i guess most people are asking for you guys invaluable guidance.

So the approx timeline we had in our head was that if we were married, and he applies (with full support of company) after 6 months for green card, once that is in traction, I can get EAD and work?

Pulaski

You are correct, under the process introduced by President Obama. The next president is under no obligation to continue to issue an EAD ahead of the green card being issued.