Confusion regarding self-employed fiancee and work permits

[Redro 4,611]

2 hours ago, ra0010 said:

Indeed they are.

 

So if they are two different things, the fact that an F1 is a non resident alien category shouldn’t matter for tax purposes. Thus, I believe that, say you’re an F1 student who meets the substantial test, and you have income from rent in your country, then you should report it with taxes.

 

Suppose you arrive in January 2020  and you receive your gc in July 2021 . By the time you file your taxes in 2022, you should report all income between January 2020 and July 2022.

We might want to ask the question: would the US be happy with a B1/B2 visa holder doing this work while on a 6 month vacation? 

 

I know when I'm in the States on my B1/B2, the monthly salary I'm getting from my company is probably OK because I'm in the States on vacation and I'm not doing any work whilst I'm relaxing. I don't know if the States would be as happy if I'm living in Colorado and working remotely for my Korean company (because COVID)

Just because I'm self -employed shouldn't change the way we view work when it comes to US laws. 

 

This is not an official source, but a guide for F1s on what work they can and can't do while they're in the States. 

https://www.americanlifestyle.net/income-without-work-permit/

 

I assume if you're in the States and you told the US government you could support yourself/ someone could support you, while you wait for work authorization. You should not engage in activity that generates income (even if you're being paid in a non-US bank account). 

 

As was stated in the link I posted in the thread, the keyword is "self-employed" your partner is planning on working in the USA without work authorisation. It doesn't matter if she is employed by a company or self-employed. If she shouldn't be doing the work on a B1/B2 or ESTA she probably shouldn't be doing the activity on a K1 while waiting on work authorization. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by Kor2USA

[Rocio0010 5,579]

14 minutes ago, Kor2USA said:

We might want to ask the question: would the US be happy with a B1/B2 visa holder doing this work while on a 6 month vacation? 

 

I know when I'm in the States on my B1/B2, the monthly salary I'm getting from my company is probably OK because I'm in the States on vacation and I'm not doing any work whilst I'm relaxing. I don't know if the States would be as happy if I'm living in Colorado and working remotely for my Korean company (because COVID)

Just because I'm self -employed shouldn't change the way we view work when it comes to US laws. 

 

This is not an official source, but a guide for F1s on what work they can and can't do while they're in the States. 

https://www.americanlifestyle.net/income-without-work-permit/

 

I assume if you're in the States and you told the US government you could support yourself/ someone could support you, while you wait for work authorization. You should not engage in activity that generates income (even if you're being paid in a non-US bank account). 

 

As was stated in the link I posted in the thread, the keyword is "self-employed" your partner is planning on working in the USA without work authorisation. It doesn't matter if she is employed by a company or self-employed. If she shouldn't be doing the work on a B1/B2 or ESTA she probably shouldn't be doing the activity on a K1 while waiting on work authorization. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exactly. And your post is a clear description of how outdated the definition of “work” is in terms of immigration . And it also lets you see how the IRS and USCIS perceive income in different ways, so it adds to the confusion. 
I myself have never been in that situation, but recently (and even after the pandemic) more and more people engage in telework. The policy  “no working while waiting on the EAD”  was drafted wayyyyyy before telework was even a possibility. What I’m saying is, USCIS or DHS or whoever is in charge of that should really update their policy to rule what “work” is based on the technology today. The fact that people can’t work even remotely while waiting on their work authorization (which by the way is taking close to a year) seems non sense to me. Almost unrealistic.

[Redro 4,611]

19 minutes ago, Kor2USA said:

We might want to ask the question: would the US be happy with a B1/B2 visa holder doing this work while on a 6 month vacation? 

 

I know when I'm in the States on my B1/B2, the monthly salary I'm getting from my company is probably OK because I'm in the States on vacation and I'm not doing any work whilst I'm relaxing. I don't know if the States would be as happy if I'm living in Colorado and working remotely for my Korean company (because COVID)

Just because I'm self -employed shouldn't change the way we view work when it comes to US laws. 

 

This is not an official source, but a guide for F1s on what work they can and can't do while they're in the States. 

https://www.americanlifestyle.net/income-without-work-permit/

 

I assume if you're in the States and you told the US government you could support yourself/ someone could support you, while you wait for work authorization. You should not engage in activity that generates income (even if you're being paid in a non-US bank account). 

 

As was stated in the link I posted in the thread, the keyword is "self-employed" your partner is planning on working in the USA without work authorisation. It doesn't matter if she is employed by a company or self-employed. If she shouldn't be doing the work on a B1/B2 or ESTA she probably shouldn't be doing the activity on a K1 while waiting on work authorization. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just want to add... 

One should investigate if "passive income from ads from old videos" is treated differently to "passive income from new videos"  by the IRS to answer the question... 

Talking to a tax accountant is definitely the way to go... 

[dmeister3 92]

On 11/8/2021 at 3:06 PM, Lemonslice said:

 

"Short answer "shouldn't not have any income until u have the EAD permit""

 

That is simply incorrect. No one has to sell existing real estate, investments, or businesses; just make sure not to engage in active work.

Income =/= work

 

Immigration rules are also different than IRS ones.

Hi! I'm OP of the other thread. I liked this comment specifically.  Say if it was more "traditional" means of income such as owning rental real estate and you are still a legal resident of THAT country and file taxes in THAT country until you get set up with EAD in the USA.  I feel like both situations are totally grey areas that have not been clearly defined by the government. Otherwise, interest earned in foreign accounts could be considered as income/work.  This entire thing is mind-blowingly confusing and had we known we probably would have went CR1 instead of K1.  Our YouTube channel we outsource the entire editing and uploading content to someone who is in a third completely non-related country and they invoice us monthly, so really we aren't even doing any work in regards to YouTube content, we pay someone to do it for us. Ugh.

[dmeister3 92]

On 11/9/2021 at 4:19 AM, Kor2USA said:

We might want to ask the question: would the US be happy with a B1/B2 visa holder doing this work while on a 6 month vacation? 

 

I know when I'm in the States on my B1/B2, the monthly salary I'm getting from my company is probably OK because I'm in the States on vacation and I'm not doing any work whilst I'm relaxing. I don't know if the States would be as happy if I'm living in Colorado and working remotely for my Korean company (because COVID)

Just because I'm self -employed shouldn't change the way we view work when it comes to US laws. 

 

This is not an official source, but a guide for F1s on what work they can and can't do while they're in the States. 

https://www.americanlifestyle.net/income-without-work-permit/

 

I assume if you're in the States and you told the US government you could support yourself/ someone could support you, while you wait for work authorization. You should not engage in activity that generates income (even if you're being paid in a non-US bank account). 

 

As was stated in the link I posted in the thread, the keyword is "self-employed" your partner is planning on working in the USA without work authorisation. It doesn't matter if she is employed by a company or self-employed. If she shouldn't be doing the work on a B1/B2 or ESTA she probably shouldn't be doing the activity on a K1 while waiting on work authorization. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Content creators totally film, edit, and upload content all the time while on ESTA/B visas. Heck I know many students on J and F visas that do it as well. Think about all the Tik Tok people that make content in the USA on vacations and earn income off of it!  

[RedditMusic 3]

3 minutes ago, dmeister3 said:

Hi! I'm OP of the other thread. I liked this comment specifically.  Say if it was more "traditional" means of income such as owning rental real estate and you are still a legal resident of THAT country and file taxes in THAT country until you get set up with EAD in the USA.  I feel like both situations are totally grey areas that have not been clearly defined by the government. Otherwise, interest earned in foreign accounts could be considered as income/work.  This entire thing is mind-blowingly confusing and had we known we probably would have went CR1 instead of K1.  Our YouTube channel we outsource the entire editing and uploading content to someone who is in a third completely non-related country and they invoice us monthly, so really we aren't even doing any work in regards to YouTube content, we pay someone to do it for us. Ugh.

Well hey, YouTube buddy! Cool to see you catch the bat signal on this issue. Did you talk to any tax or immigration attorneys about this by chance? Or are you still up in the air like us? We're going to meet with one sometime in November if possible and see what we can find out. If it wouldn't be illegal for me to run the Etsy store for her and collect her adrev, that'd be ideal. We probably would have done the CR-1 as well if the various border closure dramas didn't preclude us from doing so.

 

Knowing what we do now, it's obviously the slower, but much less headache-inducing option!

 

EDIT: Changed "precluded us" to "didn't preclude us"

Edited November 11, 2021 by RedditMusic

[dmeister3 92]

Just now, RedditMusic said:

Well hey, YouTube buddy! Cool to see you catch the bat signal on this issue. Did you talk to any tax or immigration attorneys about this by chance? Or are you still up in the air like us? We're going to meet with one sometime in November if possible and see what we can find out. If it wouldn't be illegal for me to run the Etsy store for her and collect her adrev, that'd be ideal. We probably would have done the CR-1 as well if the various border closure dramas precluded us from doing so.

 

Knowing what we do now, it's obviously the slower, but much less headache-inducing option!

Hey hey! So what I can tell you that I know for sure is that I emailed our partner contact for the primary platform we use about the legality of keeping tax information in Europe until AOS was finalized and they pretty much told me its a non issue on their end, but totally up to the government as how they classify it. So...no help at all. We don't have an attorney yet as we've been trying to do it all ourselves, but may consult with one on this issue.

[RedditMusic 3]

Just now, dmeister3 said:

Hey hey! So what I can tell you that I know for sure is that I emailed our partner contact for the primary platform we use about the legality of keeping tax information in Europe until AOS was finalized and they pretty much told me its a non issue on their end, but totally up to the government as how they classify it. So...no help at all. We don't have an attorney yet as we've been trying to do it all ourselves, but may consult with one on this issue.

That's helpful! 🙄

 

I'll keep you in the loop and this thread updated with anything we find or hear. I feel like the letter of the law is so preposterous that determining the spirit of it is the important thing. I can't believe every single couple with a K-1 visa operated as a single-income household for 1.5-11 months!

[dmeister3 92]

10 minutes ago, RedditMusic said:

That's helpful! 🙄

 

I'll keep you in the loop and this thread updated with anything we find or hear. I feel like the letter of the law is so preposterous that determining the spirit of it is the important thing. I can't believe every single couple with a K-1 visa operated as a single-income household for 1.5-11 months!

Right! You'd think with the way our government works that they'd want to get them working asap so uncle sam can start cashing in on their income tax!

[Boiler 45,541]

11 minutes ago, RedditMusic said:

That's helpful! 🙄

 

I'll keep you in the loop and this thread updated with anything we find or hear. I feel like the letter of the law is so preposterous that determining the spirit of it is the important thing. I can't believe every single couple with a K-1 visa operated as a single-income household for 1.5-11 months!

Obviously this comes up a lot on here and when people are asked why they chose the K1 and the usual response is speed (questionable) and the financial aspect is not an issue.

 

Now there are some very specific and unusual circumstances where the K1 s the logical choice.

 

[Redro 4,611]

24 minutes ago, dmeister3 said:

Content creators totally film, edit, and upload content all the time while on ESTA/B visas. Heck I know many students on J and F visas that do it as well. Think about all the Tik Tok people that make content in the USA on vacations and earn income off of it!  

Just because they do it, doesn't make it legal. 

Lot's of people engage in work that isn't authorized and do not get caught or have their work is forgiven after they adjust status through a marriage visa. 

 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Kor2USA

[dmeister3 92]

12 minutes ago, Kor2USA said:

Just because they do it, doesn't make it legal. 

Lot's of people engage in work that isn't authorized and do not get caught or have their work is forgiven after they adjust status through a marriage visa. 

 

Oh 1000% agree!

[Redro 4,611]

29 minutes ago, RedditMusic said:

That's helpful! 🙄

 

I'll keep you in the loop and this thread updated with anything we find or hear. I feel like the letter of the law is so preposterous that determining the spirit of it is the important thing. I can't believe every single couple with a K-1 visa operated as a single-income household for 1.5-11 months!

If AOS only took 2-3 months, I think a couple could make being a single-income household work. But, it takes forever! 

They should definitely change the rules and give K1's work authorization when they enter as processing times in country get longer and longer. . . 

 

[SalishSea 17,839]

1 minute ago, Kor2USA said:

If AOS only took 2-3 months, I think a couple could make being a single-income household work. But, it takes forever! 

They should definitely change the rules and give K1's work authorization when they enter as processing times in country get longer and longer. . . 

 

It's not that they can't.  In fact, in theory they could marry the day after POE, in some jurisdictions get a certified copy of a marriage certificate immediately, and send off their AOS/EAD/AP packet the same day.  The ever-lengthening time period for processing the actual GC application is why the EAD option is even given.

 

Unfortunately that option is now taking 8 months, much longer than it used to....but yet most inquiring on K-1 vs CR-1 here on VJ are hyper focused on the perceived "time apart," rather than the very real delay in work authorization with a K-1.

[Boiler 45,541]

10 minutes ago, Kor2USA said:

If AOS only took 2-3 months, I think a couple could make being a single-income household work. But, it takes forever! 

They should definitely change the rules and give K1's work authorization when they enter as processing times in country get longer and longer. . . 

 

K1 is work authorised subject to status for the 90 days