Working While Waiting for AOS

[aaron2020 11,651]

Ok my apology. Truth is that's what people do all the time, even legal USC/PR do that (talking about working under the table). I won't say it here, somebody else will tell them. You need money to pay bills. What else are you gonna do? Living on the streets, selling your organs?

Just because something is illegal doesn't mean it's wrong.

Just because something is legal doesn't mean it's right.

Don't mean to offend anyone. I'm sure some people will disagree. Oh well...

About working unpaid and some people say it's illegal. I have a question. I have seen company offer unpaid internships all the time. It's considered legal so I assume her employer can just make her an intern. Just saying. Correct me if this is also "illegal" and why.

When a US citizen or LPR volunteer, it is not a problem.

When you throw immigration into the mix, volunteering becomes a problem.

As long as a person is here legally and authorized to work legally, that person can volunteer for anything because he is legal to do the work. The person who is legally here can pursue many options.

When a person without work authorization "volunteer", then an opportunity is lost to a person who can legally work.

That's the difference. Different legal status means different rules. The rules are not the same for everyone. US citizens and LPR can volunteer for anything. Foreigners without work authorization are limited in their ability to volunteer.

Welcome to the US. Please leave Vietnamese ways in Vietnam. Hoi lo and the crooked ways in Vietnam ends when a Vietnamese person immigrates to the US. What works in Vietnam can be very stupid here in the US; especially when it comes to seeking an immigration benefit. (I am Vietnamese American, so I can say that.)

Edited August 22, 2012 by aaron2020

[kennym 275]

Seeing as you don't know my exact situation you are wrong. We got married 3 weeks ago.

You and Teddy B are rather frightful!!!

Teddy,

If you bothered to read and take in my posts you would see that I have no intention of breaking "your" laws or any US Laws. I am just looking for peoples experiences on this web site. Also I stated that a Friend of mine received his EAD 7-10 days after his AOS application was accepted, which in turn was 6-7 weeks before his GC. i.e. Every case is different!!! Bear that in mind before you decide to Opine on other peoples situations!! As it's rather Borish!!!

you know the internet can be a wealth of information..

Google, Yahoo, and many internet forums all contain wealth of information..

But the issue is, you put down a search criteria and 90% of the results is garbage.. just like some of these replies.. there are so many wonderful people here on VJ.. many have a lot of extremely helpful information..

Those that put comments like, "you were given help information, just because you don't like it, bla bla bla.. those people actually beleive thier posts were helpful.. I know it's dificult to beleive, but they really thought what they put down was some useful and credible stuff.. But, the truth is, they have really nothing better to do, than to reply to forums with useless posts in attempt to make their lives feel somewhat important..

Don't want to take away from the real help you can get here.. there are many examples of people getting through this dificult process with only the help of this website.. but as with anything I suppose, you have to tolerate some of the garbage..

I appologize that you've experienced some of the more useless stuff from VJ'rs.. dont let it get to you.. those people will continue to beleive they serve a purpose, and maybe sometimes they actually do, but it usually not worth the time to try to affect change since they will continue to beleive they're useful.

[IreMex 2]

you know the internet can be a wealth of information..

Google, Yahoo, and many internet forums all contain wealth of information..

But the issue is, you put down a search criteria and 90% of the results is garbage.. just like some of these replies.. there are so many wonderful people here on VJ.. many have a lot of extremely helpful information..

Those that put comments like, "you were given help information, just because you don't like it, bla bla bla.. those people actually beleive thier posts were helpful.. I know it's dificult to beleive, but they really thought what they put down was some useful and credible stuff.. But, the truth is, they have really nothing better to do, than to reply to forums with useless posts in attempt to make their lives feel somewhat important..

Don't want to take away from the real help you can get here.. there are many examples of people getting through this dificult process with only the help of this website.. but as with anything I suppose, you have to tolerate some of the garbage..

I appologize that you've experienced some of the more useless stuff from VJ'rs.. dont let it get to you.. those people will continue to beleive they serve a purpose, and maybe sometimes they actually do, but it usually not worth the time to try to affect change since they will continue to beleive they're useful.

Kenny,

No need for apoligizes

As I said I'm just looking to see what people have experienced in our situation. We actually had accepted that my Wife would not be able to work during her pending AOS Status but then she received an email asking her to come in for an interview and I was wondering if any body had gone thru the same situation.

Before we filed our papers we went to an immigration Lawyer and asked her to look over what we had prepared for the petition package. We had a very good meeting with her. She complimented us on our paperwork and said that looking at what we had we were in great condition. She just said on leaving that if we came across a problem call her and we can go from there. We asked about the work situation and her answer was Not Legally but.......

Anyways thank you for your input. It is smoothing

Ire(land)Mex(ico) I tell you it's a great partnership

[Mike B. 231]

Hey IreMex, Some folks here simply feel they're important by saying obvious things and to show how smart they are.. I think you're on the right track.. dont let the ridiculous "obvious" comments upset you.. That's the downside of the internet.. it's dificult to keep those kinds of people from posting..

It sounds like you and your wife are inteligent and hopefully the interview will have positive outcome, let us know how it goes.. Your EAD shouldn't take to long..

What in the world you thinking.. this is a classic, +50 for being one of the stupidest comments ever posted.. You can also rob banks and sell babies if you want to go that route..

Unbelievable..

Stupidest thing ever except for the fact that it is demonstrably correct and even you would never argue to the contrary, which is why you whimped out and refused to do so.

[Ban Hammer 13,408]

Just because something is illegal doesn't mean it's wrong.

Just because something is legal doesn't mean it's right.

but advising someone to break the law is against the terms of service on this site:

Condone or instruct, either directly or indirectly, others on how to commit fraudulent or illegal immigration activities in any way, shape, manner or method.

advising someone like this in the future will result in administrative action against your account.

[akihon 129]

OPT doesn't change your wife's visa status. She is still on F-1 status on OPT. Frankly, I'm surprised that the company that your wife works for didn't petition for her to get an H-1B (this is assuming that she is in a specialty STEM field?). I was on OPT when I was hired by my employer and am now on H-1B waiting for my AOS. I am also of the understanding that OPT has a one time extension for up to 17 months or something? I don't remember, but you may want to look into this. Otherwise, nope she can't work without her EAD.

Edited August 22, 2012 by mebbe

[Teddy B 17,252]

Seeing as you don't know my exact situation you are wrong. We got married 3 weeks ago.

You and Teddy B are rather frightful!!!

Teddy,

If you bothered to read and take in my posts you would see that I have no intention of breaking "your" laws or any US Laws. I am just looking for peoples experiences on this web site. Also I stated that a Friend of mine received his EAD 7-10 days after his AOS application was accepted, which in turn was 6-7 weeks before his GC. i.e. Every case is different!!! Bear that in mind before you decide to Opine on other peoples situations!! As it's rather Borish!!!

Good luck IreMex!

[kennym 275]

Stupidest thing ever except for the fact that it is demonstrably correct and even you would never argue to the contrary, which is why you whimped out and refused to do so.

Not sure if I understand what you're refering to.. Wimping out on the internet? Why would we do that? I'm safe behing my PC.. so what are you talking about?

[IreMex 2]

OPT doesn't change your wife's visa status. She is still on F-1 status on OPT. Frankly, I'm surprised that the company that your wife works for didn't petition for her to get an H-1B (this is assuming that she is in a specialty STEM field?). I was on OPT when I was hired by my employer and am now on H-1B waiting for my AOS. I am also of the understanding that OPT has a one time extension for up to 17 months or something? I don't remember, but you may want to look into this. Otherwise, nope she can't work without her EAD.

Mebe,

Only certain fields are allowed the OPT extension.

My Wife is NOT working at the moment. Nor have ever said she was working full time. My Original post says ,She worked volunteer Jobs until recently and now there is a chance she will be offered a Job soon.

Mebe not meant specifically for you but I wish people would READ the Posts and then answer.

Good luck IreMex!

Couldn't do it without YEA!!

[del-2-5-2014 1,339]

So you cannot even volunteer until EAD?

[aaron2020 11,651]

So you cannot even volunteer until EAD?

She can volunteer. However there are limitations because she is not authorize to work.

She can not volunteer for work that is normally paid work or a position where she receives a benefit or anticipate a benefit. The prospect of future employment once the person is authorized to work is an anticipated benefit.

For example, she can be a hospital volunteer if she does not get a benefit. If she anticipate a job from the hospital after she is work authorized, then she cannot volunteer for the hospital.

She cannot volunteer for a future employer because her current status does not allow her to do that. If she was a US citizen, LPR, or on a visa authorizing her to work, she could volunteer for an unpaid position with a future employer. Essentially, different volunteering rules for different legal status.

Edited August 22, 2012 by aaron2020

[25rldm 0]

Hi,

She can't work on this status. You have to wait until her i-765 approve from USCIS, it will take mostly 60 days from filing date.

Hi,

My Wife and I filed the I-130, I-485, I-131, I-864, and I-765 last week just before her OPT Visa Status had run out.

We have not received any notification from the USCIS. All we know is that the package was delievered and signed for last Thursday 08.16.12.

She had been working a cpl of Voluteer positions until recently. Now there is a chance that she will be offered a full time position in the next few weeks. Her OPT Status runs out this Friday 08.24.12.

She entered the US on a F1 Visa, Changed that to an OPT Visa on completion of her studies which allowed her to work here legally in her field.

My question is what is her legal status for employment when the OPT ends this week and the AOS petition is in process?

Thank you in advance for your help

[littlechewy 0]

She can volunteer. However there are limitations because she is not authorize to work.

She can not volunteer for work that is normally paid work or a position where she receives a benefit or anticipate a benefit. The prospect of future employment once the person is authorized to work is an anticipated benefit.

For example, she can be a hospital volunteer if she does not get a benefit. If she anticipate a job from the hospital after she is work authorized, then she cannot volunteer for the hospital.

She cannot volunteer for a future employer because her current status does not allow her to do that. If she was a US citizen, LPR, or on a visa authorizing her to work, she could volunteer for an unpaid position with a future employer. Essentially, different volunteering rules for different legal status.

Here is a scenario: What if her employer truly is looking for volunteer/(unpaid) intern only and they have no intention of offering her a job to begin with. She feels okay with that plus she's probably bored, so she might as well do something useful with her time. So she volunteers for 2 months. Then after it is over, she's back to doing nothing and waiting. Then her EAD arrives. A month or two later the company has an opening and it's paid. She feels she is qualified for the job so she applies for the position and she got the job.

I'm just saying all this could be a total coincidence. She and her company did not plan this. How does USCIS look at this? They'll have no proof that proves that they company carefully planned this out and that the company already had the intention of giving her the paid position after she gets her EAD.

Are you saying that USCIS doesn't care and it's simply do not volunteer if you plan to work (a paid job) for a company, or if you already volunteered for a company then you can't apply for a paid position for that same company??? If this is true, just sounds unreasonable to me. Then again, rules are stupid sometimes.

[akihon 129]

Mebe,

Only certain fields are allowed the OPT extension.

My Wife is NOT working at the moment. Nor have ever said she was working full time. My Original post says ,She worked volunteer Jobs until recently and now there is a chance she will be offered a Job soon.

Well you said:

She had been working a cpl of Voluteer positions until recently. Now there is a chance that she will be offered a full time position in the next few weeks.

I took that at first glance and went with it, as well as the title of your thread. Sorry.

Looks like she's SOL until her EAD comes in.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Here is a scenario: What if her employer truly is looking for volunteer/(unpaid) intern only and they have no intention of offering her a job to begin with. She feels okay with that plus she's probably bored, so she might as well do something useful with her time. So she volunteers for 2 months. Then after it is over, she's back to doing nothing and waiting. Then her EAD arrives. A month or two later the company has an opening and it's paid. She feels she is qualified for the job so she applies for the position and she got the job.

I'm just saying all this could be a total coincidence. She and her company did not plan this. How does USCIS look at this? They'll have no proof that proves that they company carefully planned this out and that the company already had the intention of giving her the paid position after she gets her EAD.

Are you saying that USCIS doesn't care and it's simply do not volunteer if you plan to work (a paid job) for a company, or if you already volunteered for a company then you can't apply for a paid position for that same company??? If this is true, just sounds unreasonable to me. Then again, rules are stupid sometimes.

How would you ever tell if future employment was the anticipated benefit? How would you tell a legitimate case as you described versus an agreement for free work until the EAD arrives for a guarantee job? If you want USCIS to investigate to determine which case it is, how much of our tax money or petition fees would you like to use to determine this? Or should we blindly believe everyone?

This is why a bright line rule like no volunteering for a future employer when you are not authorize to work is not an unreasonable rule in light of the potential for abuse. While that person is "volunteering" and awaiting for his/her EAD authorization, that is another job that could have been done by someone who is legal to work being done by someone who is not legal to work.