What is considered working, while on K1 Visa

[kris&me 572]

anything you do to earn money is working even baby sitting / all has to be delcared on your husband's income taxes

earning such as doing nails at home for money means quarterly you file and pay estimated taxes / since you are not yet able to work, don't.

online work is the easiest to track, forget it

I know this time is boring but look to getting driving license and learning your way around

Stay safe

Things will work out

and welcome to US

[Loki_Go 126]

Hi! Working in the manor you're describing is a grey area. I believe most of the people responding NO for sure have your best intentions in mind. If you don't need to risk it, don't. But I arrived in the US in October and continued working for my Canadian company online from home. I only missed two working days in the move... so yes, I'm working from home. I consulted 2 immigration lawyers and my company's lawyers before ultimately deciding to take this risk. I asked after my K1 interview about it. It's a grey area. I have certain circumstances that help though- I still have my Canadian physical address and all my bank accounts, etc. My payroll goes into my Canadian account, in Canadian dollars. Nothing changed as far as my personal info goes in Canada. My company is global but has NO presence in the US. There's more, but I think you get it. In a nutshell, I have not taken any job away from a USC. Yes, it's a loophole. Yes, others have done it. And most importantly, yes, I filled out my paperwork honestly and am prepared to tell the truth when questioned.

There is also some forgiveness if you admit to working illegally- I've linked it before and I think it was Boiler that mentioned it... if you look through my post history you can find it. Still... it's a risk.

I've mentioned all this before and have promised to update in the future what happens.

[Unidentified 2,930]

anything you do to earn money is working even baby sitting / all has to be delcared on your husband's income taxes

earning such as doing nails at home for money means quarterly you file and pay estimated taxes / since you are not yet able to work, don't.

online work is the easiest to track, forget it

I know this time is boring but look to getting driving license and learning your way around

Stay safe

Things will work out

and welcome to US

She has no legal status in the US and can't get a driver's license. She has not filed for AOS.

[Boiler 43,619]

Hi! Working in the manor you're describing is a grey area. I believe most of the people responding NO for sure have your best intentions in mind. If you don't need to risk it, don't. But I arrived in the US in October and continued working for my Canadian company online from home. I only missed two working days in the move... so yes, I'm working from home. I consulted 2 immigration lawyers and my company's lawyers before ultimately deciding to take this risk. I asked after my K1 interview about it. It's a grey area. I have certain circumstances that help though- I still have my Canadian physical address and all my bank accounts, etc. My payroll goes into my Canadian account, in Canadian dollars. Nothing changed as far as my personal info goes in Canada. My company is global but has NO presence in the US. There's more, but I think you get it. In a nutshell, I have not taken any job away from a USC. Yes, it's a loophole. Yes, others have done it. And most importantly, yes, I filled out my paperwork honestly and am prepared to tell the truth when questioned.

There is also some forgiveness if you admit to working illegally- I've linked it before and I think it was Boiler that mentioned it... if you look through my post history you can find it. Still... it's a risk.

I've mentioned all this before and have promised to update in the future what happens.

Yours is a very different situation, No I9 being the biggie.

[Loki_Go 126]

She has no legal status in the US and can't get a driver's license. She has not filed for AOS.

I think it varies from state to state, but here in Ohio I'm able to get a driver's license. I need to take the written and practical but I've passed the eye tests. I only have my SSN and am filing my OAS on Monday.

Yours is a very different situation, No I9 being the biggie.

No I9? What's that?

[Boiler 43,619]

Illegals in CO can get DL's, but there are only a few places that process them and they are heavily backlogged. Scam on Craigslist selling bookings. which is quite funny if you think about it.

[Boiler 43,619]

I9 is a form new employees complete.

[Unidentified 2,930]

I think it varies from state to state, but here in Ohio I'm able to get a driver's license. I need to take the written and practical but I've passed the eye tests. I only have my SSN and am filing my OAS on Monday.

No I9? What's that?

Most states require you to have legal status in the US.

[Darnell 8,478]

Has not been above freezing for more than a month where I am.

It's ok - that's what hotboxes are designed to do. Grow stuff in winter time when it's super cold !

But I digress -

Doesn't it seem a bit loose-y goose-y that the adjustment of status plus ead/ap hasn't been filed yet? I wonder what the encumbrance is, really !

[Boiler 43,619]

14F outside and blowing like hell, what heat would you suggest?

Agree on the filing, you would have thought that would be a matter of focus.

[Unidentified 2,930]

Yeah that is very strange. Can't be lack of money because then they wouldn't even have made it passed K1 stage... Unless they're above affidavit of support for K1 but not AOS? Or one of those silly reasons where the USC doesn't want to commit to AOS until they see the relationship will work out? Well knowing they are keeping the non usc out of status during that time...

[Dashinka 23,313]

Most states require you to have legal status in the US.

Michigan only required a SSN and I94 for a DL along with proof of Michigan residency, so the I94 acted as the legal status. The kicker is that the DL was only valid until the I94 expired. We had to go back once she got her GC (we could have used her EAD, but the GC came two months after the EAD, so we waited for that).

[Boiler 43,619]

​ I94 shows legal status.

[Ash.1101 1,755]

Yeah that is very strange. Can't be lack of money because then they wouldn't even have made it passed K1 stage... Unless they're above affidavit of support for K1 but not AOS? Or one of those silly reasons where the USC doesn't want to commit to AOS until they see the relationship will work out? Well knowing they are keeping the non usc out of status during that time...

Most K1 interviews look at the 125% anyways, but there are a weird number of people here who meet the I-134 and I-864 requirements but simply have no actual money. One of the fun things about it, it looks at annual income, not net income, so someone could make say 30k a year, only need to make 19k, but blow 90% of that money. There was one person here who had a fiance that had like 18 court creditor records, and the CO asked them if they still wanted to marry the USC because she didn't know about his finances, she said yes and she was approved. While he had all these court cases with creditors chasing him, he met the yearly requirement. Who knows how much money he actually had on hand.

At no point though do they make sure you actually have the money on hand to AOS, they're just going to assume the people don't suck with money.

There's been a couple of people here recently who went through the K1 process then said they couldn't afford the AOS fee, weirdly enough they're people who have been on VJ long enough to know to save while waiting for the K1 process or before you start the process, but there are a lot of people who blow their money when they come into the country, their SO spends more money on them when they come in, spend more money on the wedding than planned, then are up a creek when they realize that they blew all their money and can't afford to save 1090$ish for AOSing.

Could also be a case of them having a cosponsor for K1, but not having the same cosponsor for AOS or something causing them to change their mind.

An unexpected job loss.

Unexpected financial hit.

Poor money management.

If the issue isn't money based, I'd say it's a red flag. There's been a few people here, who essentially had a USC spouse refuse to let them work and AOS just to keep them at home and dependent. =[