I'm currently a contractor for a company in the US and I work remotely from Europe. This company is sponsoring me for H-1B.
This year I would like to travel very often to the US under WT status to see my girlfriend. I won't work while in the US, but I'll be using my Paid Time Off. It is my understanding that under WT status I cannot receive any money from a US company while I'm in the US, even if I'm not working. If I get past the lottery, when my H-1B petition is processed or during the interview, is it possible that the officer could notice that I received money while I was in the US? In other words, what kind of investigation do they perform while checking my petition?
Now suppose that I want to spend February in the US and I'll be back in March. Something that I could do is to ask my company to hold the payments for February and then give me a double wage in March. According to my understanding, this would be legally permitted, because I would receive money only while in Europe, but one might say that this is like cheating. Is it possible that an officer can interpret this as a cheat?
How to get paid while being in the US and while waiting for H-1B?
in Tourist Visas
Posted
I'm currently a contractor for a company in the US and I work remotely from Europe. This company is sponsoring me for H-1B.
This year I would like to travel very often to the US under WT status to see my girlfriend. I won't work while in the US, but I'll be using my Paid Time Off. It is my understanding that under WT status I cannot receive any money from a US company while I'm in the US, even if I'm not working. If I get past the lottery, when my H-1B petition is processed or during the interview, is it possible that the officer could notice that I received money while I was in the US? In other words, what kind of investigation do they perform while checking my petition?
Now suppose that I want to spend February in the US and I'll be back in March. Something that I could do is to ask my company to hold the payments for February and then give me a double wage in March. According to my understanding, this would be legally permitted, because I would receive money only while in Europe, but one might say that this is like cheating. Is it possible that an officer can interpret this as a cheat?