Getting a work visa - spouse allowed to work?

OU812 · 06-07-2016 9:34am #1

My friend is possibly moving to Chicago for his company. They will sponsor him, but he has a family & is unsure of what their status would be. He's assuming they would be covered by his visa so all able to live there & get SSN attend school etc, but his wife would like to be able to work part time while kids are at school.

Would this be possible or is she just allowed to live there & not work?

silja · 06-07-2016 10:07am

It depends on what sort of visa he will go over with? There are different work visas, and some allow the spouse to work whereas others do not.

OU812 · 06-07-2016 2:38pm

Interesting. I get the impression she wouldn't be happy to do nothing & may scupper the job

ProudDUB · 06-07-2016 4:48pm

OU812 wrote: »

Interesting. I get the impression she wouldn't be happy to do nothing & may scupper the job

Has he not asked the company itself, what kind of work visa it is & if it allows his spouse to work in the US? You would expect a company who is recruiting workers from overseas, to be able to answer questions like that. It's hardly a minor detail.

OU812 · 06-07-2016 10:04pm

It's just been suggested at the moment. Nothing has been decided on. He wants to see what the total package on offer is before he starts quizzing them

DM addict · 06-07-2016 10:14pm

OU812 wrote: »

It's just been suggested at the moment. Nothing has been decided on. He wants to see what the total package on offer is before he starts quizzing them

You need to know what visa it would be to establish whether or not the spouse would be able to work. The company should be able to provide that information relatively easily.

ProudDUB · 07-07-2016 1:48am

OU812 wrote: »

It's just been suggested at the moment. Nothing has been decided on. He wants to see what the total package on offer is before he starts quizzing them

Fair enough, but if it were me, the visa work status of my partner would be right up there in the Top 3 questions to be answered, along with Job Description and Salary. It's not like he he is asking about relatively trivial matters, such as getting a company car, or having Christmas Eve off. These are the important questions he needs to be asking now, before they get bogged down in the nitty gritty details. If the company is at all professional and/or serious about recruiting overseas workers, it shouldn't take them long to provide an answer.

knockoutned · 08-07-2016 2:14am

If he is moving within his Company and his Company are sponsoring him, there is a good chance he will be moving on a L1 visa. If he is able to, it would be a good idea to push for this visa, as it allows for progression to a green card (though there is no guarantee that he will get it). If he can get this visa, his wife will be on a L2 visa, which will allow her to work. Unlike your friend, she will not be restricted where she can work and will be able to move between companies.

Once your friend gets stateside, his wife can apply for her Employment Authorization Card (EAD). This is suppose to take three months from when you apply, but anecdotally i've heard it normally takes closer to six, with some people waiting up to nine months.

Speedwell · 08-07-2016 2:55am

They will expect the employee for whom they are arranging the visa to ask about their spouse's status and will wonder why they didn't ask. Tell your friend to ask away.

OU812 · 08-07-2016 1:17pm

What other questions are there?

Relocation expenses
Health insurance
?

ProudDUB · 08-07-2016 8:47pm

401(k) deets
Annual leave

silja · 09-07-2016 1:48pm

Annual leave is super important, as there are fewer bank holidays and many US workers only get a week or two a year. If you plan on returning home for Christmas etc, you may even want to be more detailed, ask if taking vacation around the holidays is allowed, and if taking 2 weeks at once is allowed.

Since you will be uprooting your family, you may also want to sound them out about how long they think the assignment will be, and if you like it, will they help you get a greencard and stay.

InTheTrees · 09-07-2016 5:43pm

silja wrote: »

Annual leave is super important, as there are fewer bank holidays and many US workers only get a week or two a year. .

Good point. Americans are awful about vacations. Not unusual at all to only get ten days a year.

My last job I negotiated an extra two weeks a year.

DM addict · 09-07-2016 6:52pm

knockoutned wrote: »

If he is moving within his Company and his Company are sponsoring him, there is a good chance he will be moving on a L1 visa. If he is able to, it would be a good idea to push for this visa, as it allows for progression to a green card (though there is no guarantee that he will get it). If he can get this visa, his wife will be on a L2 visa, which will allow her to work. Unlike your friend, she will not be restricted where she can work and will be able to move between companies.

Once your friend gets stateside, his wife can apply for her Employment Authorization Card (EAD). This is suppose to take three months from when you apply, but anecdotally i've heard it normally takes closer to six, with some people waiting up to nine months.

Just to chip in, the EAD is simple to apply for but they do love taking their time about it.

I'm waiting on my renewal right now - which *should* take less than 90 days, as they don't need biometrics etc. However it's past the 90day timeframe for me and I've queried it and have been told to wait another 60 days.

Which means that I'm currently unable to work so sitting twiddling my thumbs at home. It's not always a super easy process for the spouse. But the L1 is better than the H1B.

ProudDUB · 09-07-2016 7:35pm

silja wrote: »

Annual leave is super important, as there are fewer bank holidays and many US workers only get a week or two a year. If you plan on returning home for Christmas etc, you may even want to be more detailed, ask if taking vacation around the holidays is allowed, and if taking 2 weeks at once is allowed.

Since you will be uprooting your family, you may also want to sound them out about how long they think the assignment will be, and if you like it, will they help you get a greencard and stay.

Agree. As others have said, 10 days annual leave is the norm. If the company is willing to go to the trouble and expense of hiring workers from overseas, they may offer more vacation days off, as an incentive. Especially so, if those workers are coming from counties where 20 plus days are the norm. But your friend shouldn't presume that they will.

He should get talking to them about Christmas too, if coming home for it matters to him. Very few US companies shut down for Xmas the way that we do. It's a half day on Xmas Eve, a day off for Xmas Day and then its straight back to business as usual on Stephens Day. It can come as quite a shock to the system for an emigrant Paddy, who is used to Ireland shutting down between Xmas and New Year.

Third_Echelon · 23-09-2016 11:38pm

knockoutned wrote: »

If he is moving within his Company and his Company are sponsoring him, there is a good chance he will be moving on a L1 visa. If he is able to, it would be a good idea to push for this visa, as it allows for progression to a green card (though there is no guarantee that he will get it). If he can get this visa, his wife will be on a L2 visa, which will allow her to work. Unlike your friend, she will not be restricted where she can work and will be able to move between companies.

Once your friend gets stateside, his wife can apply for her Employment Authorization Card (EAD). This is suppose to take three months from when you apply, but anecdotally i've heard it normally takes closer to six, with some people waiting up to nine months.

Yeah, bang on the money. You'll need to be on an L-1 so your wife can get the L-2. It took around 5 months for my wife to get the work permit EAD in California.

Getting a work visa - spouse allowed to work?

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