Hi Peter ! Thanks for doing this, I do have a couple of short questions.
I'm an employee of a large US Corporate and got a O1 Visa which I'm currently employed under. I understand that my spouse will be able to move here as a O-dependant, but won't be able to work which is a huge issue for us and will probably prevent us from moving out to the US unless we find a permanent solution.
I do wonder, what are my options of getting her a work permit besides her finding a job that would endorse her and going through the entire process?
From what I've read seems like the two options I have are:
- H1B so she could get a H4. I understand that last year Obama approved some H4 recipients can work, but I'm not sure what the criteria is. I know that it's only able to be filed by 1st of April, but I also understand that there is a premium fee that could be paid to rush things up. Would love your input on this from your experience.
- L1 so she could get a L2. Best solution it seems but getting a L1 is a lengthy process and needs a 1-year employment period which I might not have by the time we want to move.
Thanks for reading this, I would really appreciate your professional opinion on this !
Looks like you missed the window where Peter was answering questions, and I'm not a lawyer (so please talk to one!), but:
I think you could look into doing an EB1 green-card in the extraordinary ability category - the requirements are similar to the O-1 (just reviewed a bit more thoroughly), and it'd give your wife a work permit if you file the paperwork together. In theory that process can be done in ~3 months (for the EAD card, which would allow her to work) when you file the I-140 with premium processing.
I'm an employee of a large US Corporate and got a O1 Visa which I'm currently employed under. I understand that my spouse will be able to move here as a O-dependant, but won't be able to work which is a huge issue for us and will probably prevent us from moving out to the US unless we find a permanent solution.
I do wonder, what are my options of getting her a work permit besides her finding a job that would endorse her and going through the entire process?
From what I've read seems like the two options I have are:
- H1B so she could get a H4. I understand that last year Obama approved some H4 recipients can work, but I'm not sure what the criteria is. I know that it's only able to be filed by 1st of April, but I also understand that there is a premium fee that could be paid to rush things up. Would love your input on this from your experience.
- L1 so she could get a L2. Best solution it seems but getting a L1 is a lengthy process and needs a 1-year employment period which I might not have by the time we want to move.
Thanks for reading this, I would really appreciate your professional opinion on this !
Shai.