Darren Leditsch

Hi,

A US based company is looking at applying for a H1B visa for myself to work
temporarily in the US - I am an Australian citizen and passport holder. My partner is
a Serbian citizen living as a permanent resident in New Zealand. She would like to
travel with me and potentially work for the same company I will be although is not
eligible for a H1B as she doesn't hold a degree. The main point to this is that she
wants to be able to work whilst in the US. What is the best type of visa for her to
apply given this situation? Can we apply for this type of visa or does a US company
have to? Is it possible for her to travel intially as a temporary visitor and then
when some employment for her is secured change her visa type accordingly? How would
this scenario work?

Thankyou in advance.

Ingo Pakleppa

On Sun, 26 May 2002 03:28:45 GMT, "Darren Leditschke"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >Hi,
    >
    >A US based company is looking at applying for a H1B visa for myself to work
    >temporarily in the US - I am an Australian citizen and passport holder. My partner
    >is a Serbian citizen living as a permanent resident in New Zealand. She would like
    >to travel with me and potentially work for the same company I will be although is
    >not eligible for a H1B as she doesn't hold a degree. The main point to this is that
    >she wants to be able to work whilst in the US. What is the best type of visa for her
    >to apply given this situation? Can we apply for this type of visa or does a US
    >company have to? Is it possible for her to travel intially as a temporary visitor
    >and then when some employment for her is secured change her visa type accordingly?
    >How would this scenario work?

You say "my partner" rather than "my spouse". As a general rule, US immigration law
treats such people as strangers. Fortunately, there is one exception: as long as you
don't file paperwork for a Green Card, she could accompany you on a tourist visa.

Still, I would recommend that you get married and she get an H-4 visa.

Unfortunately, there really is no good suitable visa for her. The reasoning is that
the US wants US jobs preferably to go to US citizens and residents - and there
usually are enough people without college degree for most jobs.

Paradoxically, it might possibly be easier for her to get a Green Card, although it
would take several years to do.

Here is one option, although it is probably not practical:

- have the employer hire you in Australia or New Zealand for one year.
- marry your partner
- have the employer sponsor you for an L-1 visa. This is very similar to an H-1B, but
requires that you already worked for that company abroad.
- for your spouse, get the L-2 visa. This DOES allow working.

Ingo

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. For reliable advice, please consult
with a professional immigration attorney.

For further information, check the following frequently-requested links.

For many questions, you may find answers at
http://travel.state.gov/visa_services.html (Department of State)

or http://ins.usdoj.gov (INS).

For consular policies and visa reciprocity fees, find your consulate in
http://travel.state.gov/links.html

For visa denial and suggestions what to do about them, see
http://travel.state.gov/visadenials.html

For DOL Online Labor Certification: http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/

For information on affidavit of support for marriage to US citizens (I-864), go to
http://travel.state.gov/i864gen.html and http://travel.state.gov/checklist.html

For information on entering the US as a K-1: http://www.k1poelist.com/

For poverty levels, see http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/poverty/00poverty.htm

For information on H/L/O/P visa extensions at Dept. of State in St. Louis, MO, see
http://travel.state.gov/revals.html

For non-official information, check:

(When using these sites, and any Web sites, please watch out for privacy, as I do not
know all site operators.)

http://www.visalaw.com http://www.shusterman.com http://www.immigration.com
http://members.aol.com/MDUdall http://www.murthy.com/ http://www.richw.org/dualcit/
(dual citizenship FAQ) http://www.ilw.com http://www.srs-usvisa.com
http://www.getusavisa.com http://greencard-lottery.virtualave.net/
http://www.jcvisa.com (H-1B) http://www.h1bresources.com (marriage and fiancee)
http://www.kamya.com/misc/ (marriage and fiancee)
http://www.mindspring.com/~docsteen/...o/visainfo.htm http://www.workpermit.com

This is not an endorsement of any of these Web sites. I am not affiliated with any of
the Web site owners and do not receive nor accept payment in return for listing them,
and typically don't even know them.

(if believe you have a good immigration-related Web site and want your Web site
listed here, please e-mail me).