Foreign Phd work OK prior to EAD?

[jbiel590 0]

My fiancee recently began a Phd prgram in her home country. While she is a "student" in a sense, she is paid - similar to a stipend in the U.S. I suppose. She may be permitted to remain in the program while residing in the U.S. She would basically write papers and do research in the U.S. and would travel back home a few times a year to meet with her supervisor, attend meetings, etc.

The problem I see is that she would have to seamlessly continue the program immediately upon arriving here, so waiting months for the EAD would be out of the question. Would this be considered "work" that would fall under the rules of the EAD? We're hoping that the Phd aspect qualifies it as education as opposed to employment. Anyone been in a similar situation?

[Bobby+Umit 161]

She probably would be waiting just as long for the AP to travel outside of the US (90 days or so) as she would be for the EAD.

I'm not sure if this would count - most things I have read about the EAD tend to lean toward US based employers/jobs though.