RICH

Hi All

I know the common wisdom is that "only JFK" will stamp "work authorised" and then only "sometimes".

What legal diference does it make, not having a stamp (which they put on the I94 not in the passport anyway, i hear)? - the authorisation to work is through the Visa, not the stamp, correct?

What practical difference? Is it the employers ignorance that makes it hard to get jobs? Anyone out there been able to work without the stamp? (by having K1 visa i am assuming that means you are not working illegally!!)

Anyone working without SSN? does not having a JFK stamp affect the getting of a SSN?

Thanks for any feedback
Rich

Rete

Yes

Working and not working

correct

No you can get a SSN without work authorization stamped in your passport.



You are missing the whole other and far more important questions pertaining to work authorization. Say you are lucky and get the stamp and then are super lucky and your name is in the SAVE system when you go to the SSA office and you are given a SS number within ten days after applying. The more important question is:

How do you continue working after the expiration of the 90 day temporary EAD and the issuation of the one year EAD? You don't unless the employer is willing to let you remain unlawfully as an employer.

The only way to insure continuity is to enter JFK, get the stamp, marry the same day, the next day file for AOS and a one year EAD, and on day 91 after not receiving the EAD go to the local office for the interim one. There would be perhaps only a week or so without work authorization in that case.

Rete

dbark

Yes, take me for example. I did not enter via JFK, therefore I did not get the stamp. I did apply for SSN prior to marriage, and got it long before I had my EAD. Therefore I have only just last week, when I received my EAD, been able to work legally. (Although I have not yet found a job!)

Debbie

RICH

HI Rete
I just saw in another thread you mention to the effect that an "activated k1" is good for 90 days work, but it is prefereble to have it in black and white ie "the stamp" as many employers dont understand.

Is a K1 that complicated or obscure that a reputable employer would wrongly "deny" its validity for work?

I am hoping to do temp work when i arrive as an acclimatising exercise, so i am not currently too concerned with the long term questions you raised - but...

Here in UK, an alien with some kind of temp entry/work auth, can usually keep the same conditions after expiry, IF they have the equivalent of AOS pending. After all, the administration is what gets in the way, the status may expire but it doesnt neccesarily change, like a passport can expire but your nationality wont! It makes sense to me - do US gov and/or employers see it differently

thanks for the quick reply
Any other points of view out there?

R

Rete

Do not compare the UK with the US. It is like comparing oranges to watermelons. Two separate countries, government and immigration laws and procedures. If possible have your spouse or rather fiancee migrate to the UK. I know their immigration processing is far ahead of ours. And yes, it is different ... you cannot work with a pending EAD receipt. You need visible proof of your eligibility. But then the employer might be willing to take the chance and risk and keep you on and pay a possible fine. It is their choice.

As for the issue with the K-1 there is nothing that will prevent you from working if you have a valid 90 day K-1 and a valid usable SSN, if you can convince the employer that the K-1 has work authorization attached to it. You should understand that corporations, companies, firms, etc. do not have an USCIS manual by which they can tell which is and is not a workable visa. A larger company will know about H-1Bs perhaps but any SSN with a work authorization legend on it means the employer wants cold hard fact that you are indeed eligible to work. Unless you are willing to locate the details of the K-1 from the USCIS site and hand that to the human resources department, you probably will not get a employer to take your word for it.

You mean by temping you will be getting a feel for what companies are hiring, at what salary and at what benefit level. Depending on what you do for a living and where you live, temp agencies might not touch you. Particularly if you don't have concrete proof of the eligibility to work. See a post from Nathan the other day. He works for a temp agency and they denied a PR the right to register with their agency because her green card had expired and she was waiting for removal of conditions. She still was in PR status and eligible to work but the agency wouldn't sign her on with a stamp from the local district office.

Rete

buffalo24

Okay, now I'm completely confused. Where does it say that a K1 can work without an EAD? I mean where does the USCIS say that (I've seen the link where the SSA says K1s can work).

I was under the impression that a K1 visa holder could not work without either an EAD card or stamp, and I've also been told by our district office that once a K1 visa holder is married, their eligibility to work based on that status is no longer valid.

I'm confused!! If there is a way that my husband can work until his K1 visa expires we'd love to hear about it (he has an unrestricted SS card, btw).

Rete

It is clearly misrepresentation and/or possible fraud if he were to use the SSN that does not have a work authorized legend on it since he is clearly not eligible to work without authorization from the USCIS as he is a K-1 recipient.

You can look through google for the actual verbage as I believe it was posted a long long time ago. Or you can research the USCIS website for that information.

As for the local district office telling you that a K-1 recipient's benefit expires once they marry I don't know where they get that idea from. It is the first I've heard of that.

Rete

Rete

there you go:

http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/EAD.htm

http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/i-765.htm

Page 4 of the I-765

http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/f...iles/i-765.pdf


Now to convince the employer. By the way, the old adage that to file for a 90 day temp EAD is useless as it will take longer than that for them to get it still holds true.

The thing is in years past, you were able to get the stamp in every POE and later only a select few. Today only one that is currently still doing it. The very fact that you are eligible under the USCIS regulations to apply for and get a 90 day temp EAD is "proof" to me and the attorneys that you have the inherent right to work for those 90 days. It says nothing about the K-1 right to work being terminated upon marriage. It does make mention in one of the documents that after marriage you have to apply for the one year EAD.

Rete

buffalo24

Thank you. I was confused because it sounded like the OP was referring to a case in which the K1 holder did not get a work stamp or an EAD card. I thought that you were saying that a K1 can work based only on that status without formally applying for an EAD.

About the SS card, what I meant was that the SSA issued him an unrestricted card, no notations, that any US citizen would get for employment, for example. This is because they had in their database that this was the card he should get; they told him that he was authorized to work and that he should work. However, from researching the USCIS website and reading online, I see that this is not correct.

Thanks; I think I originally just misunderstood this entire thread.