Can my fiancee work after entering the US on a K-1 visa?

[mugumogu 18]

Pretty straightforward question. We're planning on getting married a week after she enters the United States. Will she be able to start working right away after filing for AOS or do we have to wait until the AOS is complete?

[Chris921 13]

You will have to apply for an EAD to be completed at the moment most of them are being completed in about 60 or so days, you apply for the ead at the same time as the AOS, until she receives the card she cannot work

[nenooye 8]

yes you can if you apple EAD in the same time with AOS..and dont forget to apple SSN before getting married.. EAD+SSN=working while your AOS on process

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

yes you can if you apply for EAD in the same time with AOS..and dont forget to apply for SSN before getting married.. EAD+SSN=working while your AOS on process

But not until the EAD is received, just to be very specific and clear to the OP.

If you really want, she could apply for an EAD upon arrival but you have to pay the $300 plus application fee (it's free is filed with the AOS) AND the EAD will expire on the same date as her I-94. Since EAD takes about 2 months to process she will still have to wait and then will only have a window if just about a month that she can legally work.

Just file AOS immediately after getting married...

Edited October 18, 2011 by Bob 4 Anna

[mugumogu 18]

But not until the EAD is received, just to be very specific and clear to the OP.

If you really want, she could apply for an EAD upon arrival but you have to pay the $300 plus application fee (it's free is filed with the AOS) AND the EAD will expire on the same date as her I-94. Since EAD takes about 2 months to process she will still have to wait and then will only have a window if just about a month that she can legally work.

Just file AOS immediately after getting married...

OK, but I have found different answers on whether she can start working after APPLYING for it or whether we have to wait until the paperwork has been processed.

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

OK, but I have found different answers on whether she can start working after APPLYING for it or whether we have to wait until the paperwork has been processed.

The short answer is NO. She is not authorized to work in the US until she has a SSN and either a Greencard or EAD IN HER HAND.

The long answer is when filing AOS the EAD will be received before the Greencard so she can work while waiting for the AOS to be processed/adjudicated but only AFTER she receives her EAD.

Edited October 18, 2011 by Bob 4 Anna

[Dave&Roza 748]

The employer must fill out an I-9 form which has certain required documents that must be shown in order for the employer to allow you to legally work for them. (I-9 form). There are several options, but you must have either a documnet in List A or documents in List B and List C to prove ID and elgibility to work. List A consists of a US Passport, the GC, the EAD card. List B is for ID and List C is for employement authorization. If you have a stae issued DL AND a SSC you can work, however; the K-1 visa's SSC will have a statment printed on it that says, "NOT VALID FOR WORK WITHOUT DHS AUTHORIZATION" which brings us back to the EAD or GC.

As others have stated, you need to file for AOS and EAD and wait for the EAD card to arrive (ours took 46 days) before accepting a job offer.

Good luck,

Dave

[mugumogu 18]

The employer must fill out an I-9 form which has certain required documents that must be shown in order for the employer to allow you to legally work for them. (I-9 form). There are several options, but you must have either a documnet in List A or documents in List B and List C to prove ID and elgibility to work. List A consists of a US Passport, the GC, the EAD card. List B is for ID and List C is for employement authorization. If you have a stae issued DL AND a SSC you can work, however; the K-1 visa's SSC will have a statment printed on it that says, "NOT VALID FOR WORK WITHOUT DHS AUTHORIZATION" which brings us back to the EAD or GC.

As others have stated, you need to file for AOS and EAD and wait for the EAD card to arrive (ours took 46 days) before accepting a job offer.

Good luck,

Dave

Very good information! Thanks.

[Tahoma 2,292]

The employer must fill out an I-9 form which has certain required documents that must be shown in order for the employer to allow you to legally work for them. (I-9 form). There are several options, but you must have either a documnet in List A or documents in List B and List C to prove ID and elgibility to work. List A consists of a US Passport, the GC, the EAD card. List B is for ID and List C is for employement authorization. If you have a stae issued DL AND a SSC you can work, however; the K-1 visa's SSC will have a statment printed on it that says, "NOT VALID FOR WORK WITHOUT DHS AUTHORIZATION" which brings us back to the EAD or GC.

As others have stated, you need to file for AOS and EAD and wait for the EAD card to arrive (ours took 46 days) before accepting a job offer.

Good luck,

Dave

1) A K-1er is not required to show their SS card to an employer unless the employer uses the E-Verify system.

2) A K-1er's SS card will not always have "Not valid for work without DHS authorization" printed on it when the K-1er receives the card during their I-94 period.

Please see a more comprehensive discussion of this topic, including links, on this thread.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

1) A K-1er is not required to show their SS card to an employer unless the employer uses the E-Verify system.

2) A K-1er's SS card will not always have "Not valid for work without DHS authorization" printed on it when the K-1er receives the card during their I-94 period.

Please see a more comprehensive discussion of this topic, including links, on this thread.

Any person, foreign or native born, must satisfy the requirements of the I-9 form to legally accept employment in the United States.

Look at the back of the I-9 form for a better understanding of this issue.

I have never in 7 years reading immigration forums heard of a K1 entrant whose SS card was not restricted. The card your wife received was a mistake. Just like another guy runs around these forums and talks about how his wife was given a SS number the day after she landed in the US, before she appeared in the SAVE system. Both incidents were one offs.

[Tahoma 2,292]

Any person, foreign or native born, must satisfy the requirements of the I-9 form to legally accept employment in the United States.

Agreed.

Look at the back of the I-9 form for a better understanding of this issue.

I'm familiar with the I-9. I'm also familiar with the employers handbook for completing an I-9.

I have never in 7 years reading immigration forums heard of a K1 entrant whose SS card was not restricted. The card your wife received was a mistake. Just like another guy runs around these forums and talks about how his wife was given a SS number the day after she landed in the US, before she appeared in the SAVE system. Both incidents were one offs.

You very well may be confusing causation and correlation. Has it occurred to you that the reason you haven't heard about K-1s with unrestricted SS cards is because they haven't posted that information? On the flip side of the same coin, you don't see many postings from K-1ers who tell us about their restricted cards, do you?

As you know, the usual posting regarding a K-1er and a SS card revolves around how the SS office turned them down for a card entirely because the SS office didn't understand that K-1ers were even allowed to have a card. That's the usual posting. There's rarely see anything beyond that.

If you would care to give your "expert" card a rest and to actually back up your claim with a shred of evidence, I would be interested to hear it.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

I'm confused by your response, Tahoma.

You've been a member since 2008. Surely you have read threads of people going to the SS office successfully for their number and card. I know I have. Many many of them.

And I am also confused by your aggressive challenge. I am no expert; I am merely someone who has studied this part of the process extensively. My husband waited 18 months for his green card because of back logs at the time. This caused him to be in the US workplace with a restricted card for nearly two years. He had to pay for a second EAD and he had to twice prove to his employer that he was work authorized. My husband also was asked for a greencard by an employer, when he had an unrestricted card and a driver's license as proof of legality. So as I say, I am no expert but I've read and researched this topic about as extensively as any layperson would care to.

My "shreds of evidence" are in my husband's experience, and in the thread below.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/180237-is-a-k1-authorized-to-work-without-an-ead/

Edited October 19, 2011 by Rebecca Jo

[bigdog 376]

Easy, you can get a social with the k1, wait two weeks for government information to get into the system. Apply for AOS after marriage along with EAD work and AP travel document. Have fun working after EAD is issued with SSS. And of course a drivers license depending on state requirements.

[Tahoma 2,292]

@Rebecca Jo.......Yes, I remember that thread. It's as ambiguous as this one is. Nothing was settled there either.

I would like to hear from those K-1ers who are still in their I-94 window and who have been run through an E-Verify employer.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Pretty straightforward question. We're planning on getting married a week after she enters the United States. Will she be able to start working right away after filing for AOS or do we have to wait until the AOS is complete?

Neither.

You have to wait until you have at least an EAD which would come before the AOS is complete but not for 2-3 months after you file. In our case the green cards arrived before the EAD It happens sometimes

Do not plan on her working for 3-4 months after her arrival and that is if you do not delay in filing the AOS.

@Rebecca Jo.......Yes, I remember that thread. It's as ambiguous as this one is. Nothing was settled there either.

I would like to hear from those K-1ers who are still in their I-94 window and who have been run through an E-Verify employer.

they are not qualified. Nothing ambiguous about it. K-1s are not eligible to work without an EAD. Information to the contrary is wrong.

OK, but I have found different answers on whether she can start working after APPLYING for it or whether we have to wait until the paperwork has been processed.

Any answer other than "NO" is wrong. Wrong answers from uninformed persons do not change the law. She cannot start work upon applying for the AOS, she needs the EAD in hand.