Applying for H1B while green card is in progress

rainbowbryt

New Member
Hi,

I am happy to have found your website and I hope you can help me verify my question.

I am currently on H4 visa here in the US with my husband on H1B visa. I really would like to work and I believe I am very qualified to work and can get a company to sponsor an H1 visa for myself. However, my husband's employer just started for the green card application and since I am a dependent of my husband, I was also included in the green card application. However, based on the timeline that I know, it takes a while for the green card to be completed, and so I am thinking why not get an H1 visa for myself then so that I can start to work. However, I don't want to jeopardize our green card process if the government will find out that I also have an H1 application. Would it be a conflict to get an H1 visa while the green card is in progress?

Thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Rainbow
 
No problem. You can apply for H1-B.
However, as you don't apply for Green card, you are allowed to work with H1-B for only 6 years. If your husband can file I-485 which is the final process of green card, prior to expiration of your 6th year, you can work with EAD while I-485 is pending. If not, you must go back to H-4.
Your husband, of course, can extend H1-B beyond 6th year if Labor (or I-140 in some cases) was filed 1 year before expiration of 6th year of H1-B or I-140 was approved before extention of H1-B.
 
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