Work when I get to the States

[davidm1982 0]

Hi folks, apologies if this has come up before. It is a bit of a way out for me as we have only just filed the I-129F, but I am wondering about work options when I move to the States. My understanding (and I may be wrong here!) is that I can work during the 90 days fiance visa, but then need to apply for a temporary work permit when applying for AOS. Is this correct? Is so, then presumably most employers (apart from casual labour) will not be interested in me during the fiance visa stage, as I will not be able to work shortly afterwards? Is there a normal length of time for the temporary work permit to come through (ie the length of time before I could start work). And once armed with that temporary work permit are most employers OK with it, or are they sniffy because the permanent residency is yet to be sorted? So many questions! All advice and experiences would be really appreciated

David

[SMASHROX 0]

Hi folks, apologies if this has come up before. It is a bit of a way out for me as we have only just filed the I-129F, but I am wondering about work options when I move to the States. My understanding (and I may be wrong here!) is that I can work during the 90 days fiance visa, but then need to apply for a temporary work permit when applying for AOS. Is this correct? Is so, then presumably most employers (apart from casual labour) will not be interested in me during the fiance visa stage, as I will not be able to work shortly afterwards? Is there a normal length of time for the temporary work permit to come through (ie the length of time before I could start work). And once armed with that temporary work permit are most employers OK with it, or are they sniffy because the permanent residency is yet to be sorted? So many questions! All advice and experiences would be really appreciated

David

In order to work on the fiance visa you need to receive authorization at the POE. From my experience reading other posts, this generally is not common (although maybe JFK still does it?). Otherwise, you will have to wait and file EAD when you file your AOS papers. I believe that would be received approximately 90 days after filing. Some other VJers probably could shed more insight on this (or correct me if I'm wrong).

[Jasman0717 8]

You need to apply for an EAD when filing for AOS

[Liebi 0]

You are right David. The K1 is a work authorized visa - meaning, you can obtain a temp work permit that will be valid 90 days (until your I-94 expires). JFK issues it, from what I have heard, most other POE's don't, so you would have to apply for this temp work permit with USCIS which is pretty much pointless, cause it takes them almost those full 90 days to approve it. By then your I-94 is expired and you wasted your money.

If you can't enter through JFK you can't work until you get married and file for employment authorization (EAD) along with AOS. This EAD is valid 1 year and will usually be issued within 2 or 3 months after filing with AOS.

So if you get married fast upon your arrival in the US and file your paperwork, you won't have to wait to long until you will be able to accept a job. I haven't heard of an employer who had a problem to hire a person with a 1 year work permit. In case your AOS won't be approved during that year, you can file for extension of the EAD (which will be good for another year then).

Edited January 31, 2008 by Liebi

[davidm1982 0]

You are right David. The K1 is a work authorized visa - meaning, you can obtain a temp work permit that will be valid 90 days (until your I-94 expires). JFK issues it, from what I have heard, most other POE's don't, so you would have to apply for this temp work permit with USCIS which is pretty much pointless, cause it takes them almost those full 90 days to approve it. By then your I-94 is expired and you wasted your money.

If you can't enter through JFK you can't work until you get married and file for employment authorization (EAD) along with AOS. This EAD is valid 1 year and will usually be issued within 2 or 3 months after filing with AOS.

So if you get married fast upon your arrival in the US and file your paperwork, you won't have to wait to long until you will be able to accept a job. I haven't heard of an employer who had a problem to hire a person with a 1 year work permit. In case your AOS won't be approved during that year, you can file for extension of the EAD (which will be good for another year then).

That is brilliant, thankyou. I will save up the pennies/cents for the jobless months ahead!

[Arnt 0]

here is my story:

I came to the US through JFK, got the stamp and found work. I did not get married right away, it was about 5 weeks after I arrived. I then filed for AOS and EAD, and of course the USCIS was not able to process my application in time before the I-94 expired. My employer knew that this might happen but hired me anyway and I was on an unpaid leave of absence after the I-94 expired. With the EAD in hand I could go back to work.

At the local office I was told that some employers accept the receipt notice for the EAD application to let you work although that is not really legal. You would have to be lucky to find an employer willing to do that because they could get in serious trouble. So it is better to be prepared for some period of time without an income.

[britty 1]

Hi David,

My POE was Washington DC and they DO NOT issue temporary work permits. I got married straight away and filed for AOS and EAD. Frankly filing for EAD was a waste of time and money as I was lucky enough to receive my green card within a couple of months of filing for AOS. Whilst temporary work permits are generally perfectly acceptable to employers, I think it depends on the role. Certainly a friend of mine entered through JFK some time ago and got the temp stamp, but the nature of her work meant some employers were not willing to invest time and money into her without assurances that she would be there for a longer period of time.

[kim&james 0]

Hi David,

My POE was Washington DC and they DO NOT issue temporary work permits. I got married straight away and filed for AOS and EAD. Frankly filing for EAD was a waste of time and money as I was lucky enough to receive my green card within a couple of months of filing for AOS. Whilst temporary work permits are generally perfectly acceptable to employers, I think it depends on the role. Certainly a friend of mine entered through JFK some time ago and got the temp stamp, but the nature of her work meant some employers were not willing to invest time and money into her without assurances that she would be there for a longer period of time.

Never tell anyone that filing for a EAD and AP is a waste of time and money.

It no longer costs money as it is part of the AOS fees and who knows what can happen with a persons case. Too many people will look at people saying dont bother with .... and then find out later when their case does not complete in a short amount of time that they have lost many months to be able to work.

[britty 1]

Hi David,

My POE was Washington DC and they DO NOT issue temporary work permits. I got married straight away and filed for AOS and EAD. Frankly filing for EAD was a waste of time and money as I was lucky enough to receive my green card within a couple of months of filing for AOS. Whilst temporary work permits are generally perfectly acceptable to employers, I think it depends on the role. Certainly a friend of mine entered through JFK some time ago and got the temp stamp, but the nature of her work meant some employers were not willing to invest time and money into her without assurances that she would be there for a longer period of time.

Never tell anyone that filing for a EAD and AP is a waste of time and money.

It no longer costs money as it is part of the AOS fees and who knows what can happen with a persons case. Too many people will look at people saying dont bother with .... and then find out later when their case does not complete in a short amount of time that they have lost many months to be able to work.

In my case it was a waste of time and money. I did not tell the OP that he shouldn't apply for EAD, just gave my experience. We are all adults and able to make our own minds up about what we will or won't do, without instruction.

[BigCityDave 0]

Hi David,

My POE was Washington DC and they DO NOT issue temporary work permits. I got married straight away and filed for AOS and EAD. Frankly filing for EAD was a waste of time and money as I was lucky enough to receive my green card within a couple of months of filing for AOS. Whilst temporary work permits are generally perfectly acceptable to employers, I think it depends on the role. Certainly a friend of mine entered through JFK some time ago and got the temp stamp, but the nature of her work meant some employers were not willing to invest time and money into her without assurances that she would be there for a longer period of time.

Never tell anyone that filing for a EAD and AP is a waste of time and money.

It no longer costs money as it is part of the AOS fees and who knows what can happen with a persons case. Too many people will look at people saying dont bother with .... and then find out later when their case does not complete in a short amount of time that they have lost many months to be able to work.

In my case it was a waste of time and money. I did not tell the OP that he shouldn't apply for EAD, just gave my experience. We are all adults and able to make our own minds up about what we will or won't do, without instruction.

I know that the EAD will be a great need in my situation.