American Visas for Spouses of Students

[Ziz]

This question isn't actually for me, but for a friend who is getting married this summer. Her soon to be husband is a Canadian student on a study visa to the US. I saw that there are visas for spouses of students, but it doesn't specify whether the spouses can work or not. She is university educated so could probably get a regular work permit visa, but becuase they are tied to a particular job, she'd rather avoid that if possible. The reason being that he may not get a job in the same city he's currently studying in. So she would have to go through the whole process again in a year. She will do that if necessary, just wondering if there is a special visa for spouses of students that would let her work while he is still a student.

[fuzzylogician]

This question isn't actually for me, but for a friend who is getting married this summer. Her soon to be husband is a Canadian student on a study visa to the US. I saw that there are visas for spouses of students, but it doesn't specify whether the spouses can work or not. She is university educated so could probably get a regular work permit visa, but becuase they are tied to a particular job, she'd rather avoid that if possible. The reason being that he may not get a job in the same city he's currently studying in. So she would have to go through the whole process again in a year. She will do that if necessary, just wondering if there is a special visa for spouses of students that would let her work while he is still a student.

It depends. If he is on an F1 visa then she'll get F2 and won't be able to work. If he is on J1 then she'll get J2 and will be able to work. That's the way things usually work..-maybe the Americans are nicer to Canadians than to other foreign students, I don't know.

[liszt85]

It depends. If he is on an F1 visa then she'll get F2 and won't be able to work. If he is on J1 then she'll get J2 and will be able to work. That's the way things usually work..-maybe the Americans are nicer to Canadians than to other foreign students, I don't know.

I'm an Indian student here in the US. I recently got married. I'm on F1 and she's on F2 and will not be able to work. Not even without pay! She wanted to take part in research here in a lab and the professor agreed to let her be part of the lab (with no pay mind you) but the immigration consultant here told me that even that would not be possible unless the position was something that in normal circumstances would be truly voluntary in nature (that is, would be an unpaid position even if an American citizen with full work permit were to get the position).

[a fragrant plant]

I'm an Indian student here in the US. I recently got married. I'm on F1 and she's on F2 and will not be able to work. Not even without pay! She wanted to take part in research here in a lab and the professor agreed to let her be part of the lab (with no pay mind you) but the immigration consultant here told me that even that would not be possible unless the position was something that in normal circumstances would be truly voluntary in nature (that is, would be an unpaid position even if an American citizen with full work permit were to get the position).

I heard that the F2 can transfer to H1B if he/she finds a sponsor? Am I wrong?

[liszt85]

I heard that the F2 can transfer to H1B if he/she finds a sponsor? Am I wrong?

I think that's possible if you manage to find a job in a company that would do that for you. However for things that we're looking at, like working in a research lab here, they wouldn't deal with the visa stuff for us and I don't think they have the jurisdiction to do that (within the scheme of the university policies..). Also, its impossible to find a job in a company with a masters in Physics (that's her highest degree). A masters in electronics of computer science may give you better chances but with physics and no particular computer skills to talk of, its impossible to find a job.