xjames

Hi all this is my first post here and would be extremely grateful for any help.

Firstly, I am seeking any advice regarding what seems to be the highly sought after but extremely elusive H 1B visa. Is it true that there are only 65,000 visas available each year and that the first date that applications are accepted is the 1st of april only allowing you to enter and start work the following October. Also I have read that the quota of 65,000 for this year was taken up in under 2 days therefore there seems that it would be at least next october 2009 until I would ever have a chance of gaining entry to work in the states under the H 1B visa, that is if I was ever successful in obtaining sponsorship and getting accepted for the visa in the first place,is this correct?

Secondly, the K1 finance visa, I understand it is possible to work on this visa when you enter the states by filing for an EAD but how long does this take and how likely is it that I would actually recieve it before the 90 period ended when a marriage would be required?

Thanks all in advance.

christmasoompa

Hi and welcome.

In regards to your questions - yes, you are correct with everything you've said about H1B visas (although I think they all went on first day this year, they usually do, not in 2 days), Oct 2009 would be the first date you could start work unless you could find work in a company that is cap exempt. Otherwise it's basically a lottery.

And no idea about K1 visa, sorry!

Best of luck.

Tracym

With a K-1 visa, if you enter through JFK (and not from Dublin or Shannon) you generally can get a temporary EAD stamp which will allow you to work.

Once you marry, you apply for adjustment of status - along with this you apply for the *permanent* EAD. This takes up to 90 days to arrive.

In theory, you can work from day 1 of your arrival on a K-1 visa.

The only hitch to this plan is - the first EAD stamp expires at the end of 90 days. The other EAD takes up to 90 days to arrive. So unless you marry and apply to adjust statues immediately upon arrival, there is likely to be a gap between the expiration of the first one, and the arrival of the second.

Spouses of USCs are generally forgiven for unauthorised work - but an employer could be liable for employing and unauthorised person if you worked during that gap.

ian-mstm

Correct.


They were all gone the same day the window opened - April 1.


Correct.


If you enter the US on a K-1 visa via JFK, your passport will be stamped and you will be immediately authorized to work... but *only* for the 90 days the visa is valid. You will still need to apply for a Social Security Number - and you can't do that for about 10 days after entering (so you show up in the system). Regardless of whether you work or not, you must marry the USC who sponsored you within 90 days.

Let me also add here, that unless you already have a job lined up in the US, being able to work and being able to find work... are two completely different things!

Ian

MsElui

there is the other route for marriage (CR1) that allows work and perm residance from day 1 of arrival.

xjames

thanks alot for the replies

Regarding entry via jfk on a fiance visa, is it the only port of entry where I can get a temporary EAD stamp?

Tracym

Yes, the only place to fly in anyway. I've heard something about some land borders, but not sure what. Practically, for you I would think, only JFK. My fiance went through some serious travel gymnastics to go through there.

They seem to give it to everyone, but be sure to check you actually got the thing before you leave there.

meauxna

JFK is the only POE that *reliably* gives out this stamp. Others may, at various times.

But, even though you haven't given any details about your plans or desired outcomes, I'm guessing you want to move here to be with another half, but you need to be working from Day One.

If that's the case, you should rethink this a bit. There is NO guarantee that you will get this stamp, that the program will continue or that some other change won't happen that upsets your careful balance of "90 days work authorization".
K-1 fiances will be best served by planning on several months of unemployment in the US, imo.

Otherwise, get a visa that truly allows for work authorization from the get-go. The K-1 wasn't designed with the intent of the foreign fiance working in the US immediately.

xjames

Yes thats true, myself and my girlfriend are considering the options available to us before we proceed on a more definite course of action. She is a US citizen and as I am willing to pursue a route to go to the US she too is willing to come here. From what we have read it seems alot less bureaucratic for her to pursue the option to move here and whole lot quicker too.Utimately what we want is a route that allows us to be together sooner but also allows whoever is the immigrant to obtain work as soon as possible.
What then is the process for her to obtain the equivalent of a H 1B over here and is there a cap like the US system?