Getting My H1B Wife a Green Card

[CanadianGolfMan 0]

Hello,

I am currently trying to get my wife a green card while she is already an H1-B visa holder.

Her visa expires in September, 2013 and we just filed 130 and 485 two weeks ago. We have got the 797C back for both applications.

Would I need to see if she is able to continue working in the United States or is just assumed that she is allowed?

Please advise.

Thanks!

[kzielu 1,149]

Unless you applied for EAD, when her H-1B expires she definitely will not be allowed to work until she gets either EAD or GC.

By the way - are you permanent resident or US citizen ? That actually makes quite difference - if you are a resident, your wife will have to stay in status until her priority date will be current (~2 years), otherwise she will be denied GC for overstay.

Edited October 6, 2012 by kzielu

[CanadianGolfMan 0]

Unless you applied for EAD, when her H-1B expires she definitely will not be allowed to work until she gets either EAD or GC.

By the way - are you permanent resident or US citizen ? That actually makes quite difference - if you are a resident, your wife will have to stay in status until her priority date will be current (~2 years), otherwise she will be denied GC for overstay.

I am a US citizen. We are doing everything on our own, so I don't want to miss anything when we have the opportunity to make this happen. We were told that applying for the EAD (which would cost us another $400 or so) would void her H1B visa which I have found sufficient research to support.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[kzielu 1,149]

EAD is free if filed for with I-130/I-485. It will void H-1B visa when used for first time, so don't quite understand why that was a problem since visa expires soon anyway ?

Bottom line - you're looking for a couple of months wait for an interview - between visa expiration and time your wife gets GC, she will not be able to work legally.

[CanadianGolfMan 0]

EAD is free if filed for with I-130/I-485. It will void H-1B visa when used for first time, so don't quite understand why that was a problem since visa expires soon anyway ?

Bottom line - you're looking for a couple of months wait for an interview - between visa expiration and time your wife gets GC, she will not be able to work legally.

Okay. Sorry. I misunderstood a little bit.

I am filling out the I-765 right now, actually. I read somewhere that you can send in additional paperwork with an attached letter asking them to file the documents parallel with previously filed paperwork. Is that correct? I wish I could have just afforded an immigration attorney for her, but that's just not the case. I wasn't prepared to fork out the money for it. I am glad this resource is available to me.

Would she still be able to work legally while the EAD is coming to her or would she have to leave her job for 2 months while this card shows up? She is a special education teacher and unfortunately does not have that luxury at the moment.

[Anh map 2,098]

*Moved from Bringing Family Members of Permanent Residents forum to Bringing Family Members of US Citizens forum*

[CanadianGolfMan 0]

Glad this got put in the right spot. I am just playing the waiting game now, I suppose.

Is there anything else that I should be considering here?

I've submitted by I-130, I-485 (I-693 and I-864) and I-765.

Pretty sure that I've got everything that I need....I don't want to make any mistakes here.....

Will my wife legally be able to continue working while she is waiting for a EAD card?

[kzielu 1,149]

Glad this got put in the right spot. I am just playing the waiting game now, I suppose.

Is there anything else that I should be considering here?

I've submitted by I-130, I-485 (I-693 and I-864) and I-765.

Pretty sure that I've got everything that I need....I don't want to make any mistakes here.....

Will my wife legally be able to continue working while she is waiting for a EAD card?

Unfortunately no. She can try to expedite though based on (for example - not sure if that's the case) chances of loosing job.

[CanadianGolfMan 0]

Unfortunately no. She can try to expedite though based on (for example - not sure if that's the case) chances of loosing job.

Yeah, she would definitely lose her job as they would replace her and we would go without her pay which we absolutely need to live. Wow... I don't know what we're going to do then....

[CanadianGolfMan 0]

Unfortunately no. She can try to expedite though based on (for example - not sure if that's the case) chances of loosing job.

I spoke with four different immigration attorneys today because I didn't agree with what you were saying here.

They all told me the same thing: She can continue working since her H1B has not expired. I knew that we were correct and you had me second guessing myself.

I appreciate your help and information, however. Thanks.

[kzielu 1,149]

I spoke with four different immigration attorneys today because I didn't agree with what you were saying here.

They all told me the same thing: She can continue working since her H1B has not expired. I knew that we were correct and you had me second guessing myself.

I appreciate your help and information, however. Thanks.

Of course she can. What I said is once her H-1B is expired and she does not have EAD or GC, she will not be allowed to work. Sorry, I misread H-1B expiration date apparently - thought it will expire sometime soon.

Edited October 7, 2012 by kzielu