I would greatly appreciate any insight into our problem which we have recently become aware of.
I am an H1-B visa holder and my wife has an H4 visa. Both of us have entered the country as students back in 1998 and both of us have social security cards marked "Valid with work authorization only". I am currently in the process of going through the labor certification (stuck in the regular processing queue since August 2001 in CA).
My wife is a wonderful photographer and in Februrary 2005 she decided to open her own business. We have checked with my immigration attorney if it was legal for her to open the business and were told that it was perfectly legal. So, she went ahead and registered a sole proprietorship in February. Since that time she had 2 clients and was looking forward to growing her small business.
Now, i have become aware through some casual conversations with friends and have confirmed it with a different lawer that in fact it WAS illegal for her to open a business and become self-employed.
We have these quesitons.
1. Confirmation that it was indeed illegal for her to open a business.
2. Any suggestions on how to best handle this situation. If we have violated the law (without intending to do so) we would like to find a way to rectify the situation. We are in great need of a good strategic suggestion.
3. If there is no way of legaly keeping her business what is the right way of closing it to make sure that her violation can be waved.
4. What are the penalties for unauthorized (self-)employment and how can it affect us in our green card application?
Thanks a lot in advance for any responses!
aoganesi.
I am an H1-B visa holder and my wife has an H4 visa. Both of us have entered the country as students back in 1998 and both of us have social security cards marked "Valid with work authorization only". I am currently in the process of going through the labor certification (stuck in the regular processing queue since August 2001 in CA).
My wife is a wonderful photographer and in Februrary 2005 she decided to open her own business. We have checked with my immigration attorney if it was legal for her to open the business and were told that it was perfectly legal. So, she went ahead and registered a sole proprietorship in February. Since that time she had 2 clients and was looking forward to growing her small business.
Now, i have become aware through some casual conversations with friends and have confirmed it with a different lawer that in fact it WAS illegal for her to open a business and become self-employed.
We have these quesitons.
1. Confirmation that it was indeed illegal for her to open a business.
2. Any suggestions on how to best handle this situation. If we have violated the law (without intending to do so) we would like to find a way to rectify the situation. We are in great need of a good strategic suggestion.
3. If there is no way of legaly keeping her business what is the right way of closing it to make sure that her violation can be waved.
4. What are the penalties for unauthorized (self-)employment and how can it affect us in our green card application?
Thanks a lot in advance for any responses!
aoganesi.