hark

Hi all

Assuming that everything is approved, I'm going to be moving to the US later this year with my wife. She's a professor and expects to get an H1-B, so I should get an H-4.

Obviously my options include finding a job and employer and applying for an H1-B in my own right, as well as simply not working, until such time as my wife's status changes. But I'm wondering if anyone has successfully managed to get permission to be self-employed in the "spouse with H1-B" situation - I'd prefer not to take a career break of two to four years if I can avoid doing so.

My current status in Europe is self-employed, doing freelance translating and consultancy work (all for European clients). I don't have a limited company and don't employ anyone.

Thanks in advance for any advice and/or reports of experience.

Elvira

In a word - no. Been there, done that. It sucks.

What category H1b is your wife going to be - will she need labor certification - what's the anticipated timeline for applying for permanent residence (and with it for your EAD) - is she subject to retrogression...

Those are some of the questions you need to ask.

dbj1000

No, this is not possible - we've been in this situation too, and have looked at this in issue in great detail with our lawyer.

The bottom line is that while you are resident in the US on an H4 visa, you may not undertake ANY paid employment of any sort. This includes freelance work outside of the US.

As Elvira points out, you need to read up about Priority Date Retrogression, and understand that it will take a very long time indeed for your wife to go from H1-B to Permanent Resident right now, and that you could find yourself unable to work on your H4 visa for significantly longer than 4 years.

Elvira

As a matter of interest: is it possible for an H4 to remain outside of the US and work there?

Or for a spouse to not get an H4 visa in the first instance, i.e. remain outside the US and only get the H4 and move to the US shortly before the H1b files for AOS?

Ivonne

I'm sure that's possible. Having a H4 does not require one to actually live in the US

dbj1000

Yes, I believe that so long as the H4 holder does not take up residence in the US, there would be no problem at all. In fact, if the H4 holder can prove that their primary place of residence is outside the US, they can probably work abroad and spend some period of time in the US. The problem is that this sounds like just the kind of gray area that can get you in trouble with USCIS rather easily!

hark

Thanks to Elvira for the loud and clear "no" and to dbj1000 as well. Not what I was hoping to hear, of course, but more or less what I expected and I appreciate you both taking the time to reply.

That's probably saved us a few hundred dollars in lawyer's fees :-)

Those questions are also appreciated, as this is very much new territory for us. The good news is that her labor certification application will be filed under a "special handling" procedure, which I understand could be a little faster than the plain vanilla variety. But clearly it's still going to take a considerable time - long enough for me to do a PhD, I suspect...

Thanks again for the comments made so far.

J. J. Farrell

Elvira wrote:
    > As a matter of interest: is it possible for an H4 to remain outside of
    > the US and work there?
    > Or for a spouse to not get an H4 visa in the first instance, i.e. remain
    > outside the US and only get the H4 and move to the US shortly before the
    > H1b files for AOS?

If they're not in the USA, they're not an H-4. US law doesn't apply to
them (assuming they're not US citizens or PRs of course).

No need to get an H-4 visa until they want to become an H-4 by using it
to enter the USA.