What process do I need to follow to work from the US following a K1 fiance visa application? Given all the delays we've had my employers have very kindly said I can work my notice period remotely from Florida.

A friend of mine did something very similar following his spousal visa approval and said I just need to include my employment details on the financial forms.

Which stage would I need to declare that? as I've not seen any mention of this type of info on any of the suggested forms in the K1 process (unless I missed one)

Rob

After you arrive in the USA and after you get married, you will file the Adjustment of Status (AOS) package. As part of this package there is Form I-765 for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). After you file the AOS package, including the EAD application, it takes between 60 - 90 days to get EAD in hand. You can't work in the USA until you have EAD in hand. So you'll be looking at several months where you won't be work authorized right after your arrival on the K-1.

Do you mean your UK employer will allow you to work for them, once you arrive in the USA? You aren't supposed to do this without an EAD, but whether anyone will find out or not, I don't know. You would need to report this income on your US tax return, though.

I don't know which "financial forms" he's referring to, but you can't compare a spousal visa (Immigrant Visa) to a K-1 visa, because the Immigrant Visa allows the immigrant to work in the USA from Day 1. The K-1 visa does not.

You lost me. Declare what?

Rene

As Rene noted, after you enter the US and get married, you file for AOS. In that package you include form I-765 which, when approved, will give you employment authorization. It takes about 60-90 days to process... but, of course, you can't apply for it until you submit the AOS paperwork.


That's very nice of him, but you can't - well, at least, not legally! Not until you have an EAD.


If your friend got a spousal visa, then he was authorized to work the day he entered the US. You won't be.


Since you can't work until after you have employment authorization, it doesn't much matter! All income, whether legally or illegally obtained, must be declared to the IRS on your annual tax return.

Ian

I know I need to wait for the US work permit after we're married but meant working for my current employer from the US.

Yes, as above they have said they would let me work for them from the U.S. as I don't know when I'm going to be able to give them my notice but it sounds like I won't be able to do that now. I'll just have to hand it in based on my interview date on the assumption that I get the Visa of course, which sucks but hey ho.

I was referring to the financial documents that my friend filled for his spousal visa (which clearly don't apply following what you've said)

Cheers for the advice.

This is what we meant, too. It doesn't matter where the employer is located, you are not legally authorized to work while you are physically inside the USA, until you have your EAD in hand.

Can't you hand it in after you have your visa in hand? That way you'll be sure you actually have the visa, and that you are working right up until then.

Either they don't apply, or the term "financial documents" is just too vague for us to understand what exactly that is.

Rene

desperate to get across now to be honest and at the moment (he says fingers crossed and touching wood) we are still on plan for when we want to get married. But it means leaving as soon as I can once I get the Visa.

Ah, well... this supports something I've been saying for years: the more desperate you are, the more likely you are to make poor decisions.

Ian

My employers are flexible enough that if the worst happened I wouldn't be left jobless, I wouldn't have suggested it otherwise. Unless you are referring to other poor decisions I'm making perhaps?

You are unable to work for any employer, anywhere in the world, from the US, until you have received your EAD. It really is as simple as that.

No, it's not "as simple as that". For one thing, a K-1 is employment authorized incident to status for the duraton of their K-1 status, 90 days after entry. Perhaps that's enough time for the OP to satisfy his "notice period".

Regards, JEff

What Jeff said, I thought they could give you a 'temporary' EAD at the POE (temporary in that it's only valid until you get married, at which point you'll need to apply for a replacement along with your AOS).

So I guess it would depend on how long you'll be in the US before the wedding as to whether this would work for you

Ah, that's exactly what I was hoping for as it would allow me to have my interview, get the visa, hand in my notice and move to states straight away for a month before the wedding. So I can help out organising stuff while I work my notice.

Is that something I'd ask about at the interview? Has anyone done it before?

Rob

AFAIK it's something you ask the CBP Officer for at your POE.

You can ask, but to my knowledge they did away with that sometime ago. JFK was the last airport to hand out the temp EAD stamps, and my K-1 fiancé got one in 2004 at JFK. They stopped doing that shortly afterwards, maybe in 2005.

But my guess is that the OP will be OK working for the UK employer in the USA, because he won't need to prove he's allowed to work. It's the working for a US employer that's difficult because he won't have an EAD to show proof of right to work immediately. Since UK won't care about that, he can probably work remotely with no repercussions.

Rene

Not how long he'll be in the USA before the wedding, he will be in K-1 status for 90 days from when he enters regardless of when he gets married.

Regards, JEff