# US expat coming to India - would my wife be allowed to work?



## dipteshc (Apr 24, 2013)

Hi,

I am a US citizen (not of Indian origin) and I am coming to India for work. My wife does not have a job yet in India and she wants to find a job there. Initially she would be accompanying me on a dependent visa. Would she be able to obtain work permit in India despite being on dependent visa? Would she need an employer to sponsor it like the H-1B visa in the US ? Can someone please clarify?


----------



## tyson22 (Sep 3, 2013)

Yes she will be needing a work visa. I don't think a sponsor is needed for this purpose.


----------



## bhraman (May 19, 2013)

Your wife will need to enter visa on what's called an X visa. This can be converted to an employment visa (mostly feasible if your work visa is based on an internal company transfer, else they sometimes refuse a spouse's work visa) if she qualifies for it. That means minimum $25k p.a. and a company that can justify hiring a foreigner in place of an Indian. India only issues sponsored work visas so there is no such thing as a work permit (however, it's different for foreign spouses of Indian citizens). Finding a job as a foreigner is not that easy to be honest.


----------

