J-2 Visa for Spouse: Employment prospects?

[Conmel]

Hi there,

 

I'm applying for a few different PHD programs with a view to starting in September 2014. I have read everything on the forums regarding the (somewhat complex) J-1/J-2 visa application process to get my wife permission to reside with me and work while I study in the States.

 

My question relates to my wife's employment prospects on a J-2 visa - basically, how will this status affect potential employers view her applications? She currently has a great job here in Ireland, and while she has no problem with the idea of relocating with me to the States if she can find work at her level and in her area (she does immigration work for an international organization), we are concerned that employers may be put off by the conditional/dependent nature of the J-2 visa, i.e. it being linked to my own temporary J-1 visa.

 

Has anyone here any experience of this whole process?

[TakeruK]

Hi there,

 

We were in a very similar situation, except we're from Canada and my wife did not have as much of a "professional" job as yours did. The whole process was a lot of paperwork and required a good amount of time but everything worked out pretty well! I assume you guys got the J-1/J-2 thing worked out and I'll tell you about our experience getting EAD (Employment Authorization...Document?) for my wife!

 

We both arrived in the US in Sept 2012. When I checked in at my school's international office, I asked about the process for applying for EAD for my wife. They gave us a large checklist of things to include and forms to fill out. You will need things like your marriage certificate (even though you probably had to provide that to get her J-2 status in the first place!) as well as copies of your DS-2019, Passports, etc. You will also have to write a letter to US Immigration explaining why your wife needs employment. Here is a slightly tricky part: You have to include a budget breakdown that shows that your stipend alone is enough to meet all your necessary expenses (rent, food, health care) but not enough for extra stuff (car, recreation, etc.) This is super strange because you need to be making the right amount -- if your PhD stipend is too low or too high, your wife can't work. In practice, it's not really a big deal because if your stipend was not enough to meet your expenses, then you would not have been approved for J-1 status in the first place. This is also why your wife can't work if your own stipend isn't high enough (they don't want J-1 students being supported by J-2 work). There's usually a form letter that your school will provide for you and you will just fill in the blanks. You also have to pay $380.

 

We got all this together and submitted the application for EAD in October 2012. The school checked over our package before we sent it. It takes about 3 months for them to process it and we had to provide extra info because my school forgot to tell us about the marriage certificate ahead of time. So, we had to submit that during December 2012. My wife was approved for the EAD in January 2013 and she got her EAD card a few weeks after. The school had told us that it's up to US Immigration's discretion to decide how long the EAD is approved for. Some people are approved for only 1 year but my wife's EAD is valid until 2017, or my J-1 status ends, whatever comes first. She can renew it if I end up staying here longer -- she would just resubmit all the above again about 3-6 months before EAD expires.

 

After you get a EAD, you can apply for a Social Security Number (SSN). At this point, the J-2 person has way more employment rights than the J-1 person. J-1s are only allowed to work on campus and our SSN will reflect that. The J-2 with EAD will get a SSN that allows them to work anywhere, with pretty much no more limitations than a regular American (except that the EAD will eventually expire). It took about 3 months for my wife to find a job, but I think that was mostly due to the lack of opportunities in the place we're living, not because she was a non-American.

 

I don't think companies will be reluctant to hire someone who is on J-2 EAD because of the "temporary" nature. Americans move around all the time anyways -- for example spouses of American grad students are just as temporary as a spouse of a foreign grad student. Also, your PhD program will probably be something like 5+ years. In this day and age, staying in one place for more than 5 years is pretty much permanent! 

 

Finally, there are laws against employment discrimination based "source of employment eligibility". They can't choose to not hire someone because they got permission to work as a J-2 status instead of e.g. being American. Of course, shady employers can find ways around this, but it's just the way it is, I guess? It's not like you can really hide the fact that you're from somewhere else because your resume would show all your experiences being in another country! In reality, I think most employers don't even know all the details of whether or not you're allowed to work -- my wife didn't go into the details of what her J-2 status / EAD means in her applications. When she started work, she had to provide her SSN of course, and also show the employer her valid EAD card along with it. She would file taxes as a Non-Resident Alien, but other than that, I think she is in her employer's system as any other employee, since they really only care about the SSN.

[Conmel]

Thanks for your very valuable response. The second half is particularly encouraging. Just need to get through the process/paperwork, and hopefully once we're through to the other side, we can look forward to settling down. I'll be sure to report back with my own experiences once the dust settles next year.

[TakeruK]

Good luck!! I forgot to mention that during this process we asked the school's International Student Program office and they said that getting J-2 EAD is a routine process so like you said, just have to jump through all the hoops in terms of paperwork and it should all work out!

 

It turns out the only major roadblock I encountered was with the University of Arizona -- for some reason, even after spending a few days talking to everyone from department administration level to graduate school admin level, the University would not admit graduate students on J-1 status. I did not end up going to that school and maybe there would have been a way for it to work out had I chosen to enroll there, but even if you meet the minimum US Immigration requirements for J-1 status (i.e. a fully funded program), the school still has to be willing to issue you a DS-2019 (i.e. sponsor you on J-1 status). Most of the people I talked to there did not even know PhD students could be on J-1 (they thought it was for post-docs only). Afterwards, I found that looking at the school's International Students Office/Program website will generally tell you how much they might know about immigration procedures -- some schools even have sample EAD application packages online with step-by-step instructions!

[Conmel]

Ah OK, thanks for the heads up! I'm pretty sure I'll be back to you at some point next year with a few more questions, thanks again.

[louis1988]

Hi everyone, my wife recently got a Fullbright Scholarship to do her graduate course in the US in 2015. She will be obtaining J1 visa and J2 for me. We will apply for Jvisa at the same time. is there any possible reason that the US embassy might refuse to give me the J2 visa? has there been any case where they refuse a spouse a J2 visa?

thanks

[TakeruK]

Hi everyone, my wife recently got a Fullbright Scholarship to do her graduate course in the US in 2015. She will be obtaining J1 visa and J2 for me. We will apply for Jvisa at the same time. is there any possible reason that the US embassy might refuse to give me the J2 visa? has there been any case where they refuse a spouse a J2 visa?

thanks

 

I would not worry about being denied a J2 visa as long as you meet the requirements for J2 status. As far as I know, it is a routine thing.

[geo86]

Hello guys and I am really really glad finding this post cause I've been searching for months the solution to my problem and my mind is going to blow from moment to moment! My name is George, I am a Geological & Geophysical Engineer and I have been accepted into OLE MISS's Geological Engineering MSc program. My prospective advisor proposed me for a TA award since I had the qualifications as well as the Department was in need for new TAs. And here is where my problem starts. I would like to apply for the j1 visa in order for my wife to accompany me during my stay in the United States, and of course because she needs to work during our stay there (that's why F1 visa is not a choice) since the income from my TA award won't be enough (tough times nowdays ) in order for us to live there. After an unlimited research I did for the j1 & j2 visa issuance I found that I have to demonstrate financial adequacy for myself (which I profoundly have due to the TA award), as well as for my wife. The huge problem is that, if for example my stipend is $1,200/month (I don't know the exact amount yet) and I have to show an extra $600/month amount for my wife, we don't have these extra $600 to deposit ( and which I assume that they want the total amount predeposited, something which makes approximatelly $7,000/year) as financial support for the j2 visa. That's after all why we need her to be able to work during our stay there else we would't care. Is there a way ( a trick, a law or anything) to overcome this difficulty and to take my wife with me? Please, if someone knows anything or has experienced something like this and solved it successfully, please let me know!!!Your opinions/experiences are highly appreciated! :)