Working online

[Helen Quail 28]

Hi

I wish to clarify. I have an existing website and see clients online. Can I continue with this while awaiting EAD? That is nothing in the physical but continuing with services offered virtually?

Thanks

[Britinstl 47]

You're physically present in the USA, therefore you can't work (online or at a physical location) until you have your EAD or GC authorising you to legally work. It doesn't matter where the clients are based either (UK, China, etc), what matters is where you're PHYSICALLY present whilst conducting the work.

[Helen Quail 28]

On 22/04/2018 at 7:01 PM, Britinstl said:

You're physically present in the USA, therefore you can't work (online or at a physical location) until you have your EAD or GC authorising you to legally work. It doesn't matter where the clients are based either (UK, China, etc), what matters is where you're PHYSICALLY present whilst conducting the work.

That -although bad news - is really clear and helpful. Thank you!

[Villanelle 4,122]

There are many threads on VJ about this. Its a grey area. There is nothing in the law that allows it and there is nothing that prevents it. To err on the side of caution do not do the work. However if you absolutely need to nothing bad will happen.

search for working remotely on here

 

[Ontarkie 14,378]

~~Moved to Working and Traveling, from AOS Family~~

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

3 hours ago, Damara said:

There are many threads on VJ about this. Its a grey area. There is nothing in the law that allows it and there is nothing that prevents it. To err on the side of caution do not do the work. However if you absolutely need to nothing bad will happen.

search for working remotely on here

 

I have a friend who would disagree with the “nothing bad will happen” bit, having been told that by doing exactly that she had violated her status and it caused problems with her AOS. She overcame it, but it added a lot of stress and expense to the process.

Edited April 24, 2018 by SusieQQQ

[Villanelle 4,122]

19 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

I have a friend who would disagree with the “nothing bad will happen” bit, having been told that by doing exactly that she had violated her status and it caused problems with her AOS. She overcame it, but it added a lot of stress and expense to the process.

Im sorry to hear they had trouble. Could you explain what happened? I originally was 100% against working remotely but after debating with others on here and doing research Ive taken a more neutral approach. Id be interested in hearing what happened in more detail to your friend. Were they a K visa? 

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

3 hours ago, Damara said:

Im sorry to hear they had trouble. Could you explain what happened? I originally was 100% against working remotely but after debating with others on here and doing research Ive taken a more neutral approach. Id be interested in hearing what happened in more detail to your friend. Were they a K visa? 

H4.

[Loki_Go 126]

Hi Damara, I successfully worked online throughout my K1 immigration process. I'm from Canada and my Canadian company kept me as an employee, and when I moved to the US in Sept 2015 I just kept working remotely. I missed just one day of work for the actual move.

 

It is a grey area, and it did come up in my AOS interview, but the officer didn't care and I suspect there wasn't really anything he could do anyway. And when he brought it up it was more about if my husband knew what I did for a living as opposed to doing anything wrong. It seemed like he was aware I was still working, it was never a question of IF I'm working but what I do, so I wouldn't be surprised if he already knew of my situation. We were upfront about everything and never lied.

 

In fact, I still work remotely for my Canadian company. It worked out so well... I avoided having to wait the 6+ months to earn income. That was a lifesaver.

 

I would be cautious of people who say they have a "friend" that says this and that and doesn't have any first hand knowledge.

 

Note: Taxes are a pain, you'll need to find a qualified accountant to sort your situation out. I need to file in both the US and Canada and I'm taxed in both countries. It was still totally worth it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[NikLR 13,231]

It's easy to avoid the inability to work... get a CR1 visa.  

 

However if what's done is done, generally speaking unauthorized work is forgiven.  

Edited May 2, 2018 by NikLR

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

On 5/2/2018 at 4:32 AM, Loki_Go said:

 

 

I would be cautious of people who say they have a "friend" that says this and that and doesn't have any first hand knowledge.

 

 

I do hope that wasn't aimed at me. I am very close to my friend and was ac tually kind of involved in the process to sort it out, and certainly was being apprised of everything happening as it went on. Maybe it’s less of an issue for a K visa because USCIS seem to turn a blind eye to a lot of things when it’s a spouse or immediate family member of a citizen involved (such as forgiving overstays). When you’re adjusting from H or another non-family status, it’s a different ballgame entirely. 

Edited May 8, 2018 by SusieQQQ

[Ryan H 3,819]

***Post violating the TOS (condoning illegal activity) removed; Administrative Action taken.***

[Teemo 252]

On 5/7/2018 at 8:12 PM, SusieQQQ said:

I do hope that wasn't aimed at me. I am very close to my friend and was ac tually kind of involved in the process to sort it out, and certainly was being apprised of everything happening as it went on. Maybe it’s less of an issue for a K visa because USCIS seem to turn a blind eye to a lot of things when it’s a spouse or immediate family member of a citizen involved (such as forgiving overstays). When you’re adjusting from H or another non-family status, it’s a different ballgame entirely. 

That was because it was employment based not family-based

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

2 hours ago, Teemo said:

That was because it was employment based not family-based

Yes. That’s exactly what I said in the post you quoted.

 

There are actually people who AOS from non-family based status, and it’s misleading as a result to make a general statement that it gets overlooked or ignored during the process.  H, O, student dependents etc coming here for advice could be badly misled by statements like that. 

Edited May 24, 2018 by SusieQQQ