Rainmaker

Hi All,

A very Happy New Year to you all.

I am hoping light can be shed on a point I require clarity on. In being granted a H-1B visa and relocating to the US along with my spouse, would the spouse be eligible to work? There has been talk recently of changes to eligibility post a USCIC settlement, however, I am not quite clear on what would apply to my spouse and myself. I assume that the settlement does not apply and my spouse will remain ineligible to work based on my H-1B.

Any information you would be able to share would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks!

civilservant

The settlement would not apply to your spouse unless/until you have been approved for an EB green card.

So no, my understanding is that your spouse would not be able to work on an H4, assuming you have not been approved as above.

Irish_Girl

Yes, I agree with civilservant - you would still require the H1b visa holder to have submitted for an EB green card. The settlement is meant to help with extensions of the EAD renewal for the H4 holder so that they do not have gaps in their employment. They can only renew 6 months before the EAD is set to expire, but renewal was taking more than 6 months, so in that instance they would be ineligible to work - if I remember correctly. A H-4 spouse will still need to apply for and receive EAD card in order to be authorised to work. I'm a H4 visa holder (well actually my green card got approved a couple of days ago).

I'm not sure if you're moving over as an academic or in the H1b lottery - but if you can, try and agree with your employer to start the green card process as soon as possible. We did this and it has taken just over a year in total. This will be different for everyone (depending on who you work for, where you're from, type of green card etc). I've enjoyed the opportunity to not work for a year and explore, make friends, further my studies etc. But I know that's not for everyone, both personally and financially.

Rainmaker

civilservant and Irish_Girl thank you both ever so much for the clarity of your responses, very much appreciated!

I need to trouble you with another question please. Assume I am in the US, on a H-1B visa, and my employment is terminated/I resign/company gets acquired with layoffs/etc., is there any way in which I can remain in the US for the tenure of my visa (beyond the 60-day window) while being unemployed? I was under the impression that the L-1B ties you to your employer, whereas the H-1B affords you the flexibility of remaining in the US without employment, although I believe I was mistaken. Are you able to shed any light on this please?

Thank you both once again.

postbox134

You'll typically need to find a new job and employer who can sponsor you in that grace period or leave.

Irish_Girl

I'm by no means an expert on this - my wife's H1b was not a lottery visa but an academic, tenure tracked position at a University. So, in the case of that it was very much tied to her employer as they were her sponsor (for want of a better word).

But from everything I know, you would need to find another employer willing to petition you to work in the US within that 60 days. There is NO flexibility when on a non-immigrant visa. This is one of the reasons we waited until we had our green cards to buy a house, you just never know what could happen and 60days is not a long time to uproot you life and leave.

For this reason as well, we had an agreement to start the green card process almost immediately - if that's something you can get your employer to agree to I would 100% go for it.