# Can my Wife work on my visa



## tonytime

I am in the process of undergoing a visa application, which hopefully will enable me to work, as a sponsored individual in a specialist field. I will be taking my wife, our 11 year old son, and also my 18 year old daughter would like to tag along. Initially I will be the sole breadwinner, however after a year or so, my wife, and possibly my daughter would like to work, how do we stand on this. Any help would be much appreciated.


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## EnGarde

"The H1B Visa Program is the primary USA work visa / work permit.
H1B visas are for skilled International Professionals and International Students, from all over the World, or already in the USA, who want to live and work in America on a long term basis."


Whether You currently live in another Country, or you’re already in the USA,
the process to obtain an H1B visa is the same for everyone:

1) you must 1st find an H1B job with a company who will 'sponsor' an H1B visa for you
2 ) your new H1B employer (sponsor company) then files your H1B application
3) your H1B visa application is approved by the US Immigration Bureau
4) you can start work for your new employer (H1B sponsor company) in the USA



"The H1B entitles your spouse (husband/wife) and children (under 21) to accompany you and live in the USA on an H4 visa. However, the H4 dependent visa does not allow your spouse/children to work."


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## Bevdeforges

As you can see, if you're going over on an H1B visa, your wife and children will not be allowed to work. (It's fairly standard for non-immigrant work visas in most countries.)

For an inter-company transfer (i.e. an L category visa), the accompanying spouse is allowed to work - in part because you can turn an L visa into a green card application fairly easily.
Cheers,
Bev


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## emohit

What visa are you going on? If it is any of the H visas, unfortunately, your dependents (on H4) cannot work in the USA legally. If however, you are on the L visa, your dependents will be on the L2 visa and can apply for an yearly work permit (renewed every year). This will enable them to work legally.

Other options may be to have someone sponsor your dependents also for the H1B visa. This can be done even after you are here. There visa will then be converted from H4 to H1B.

All the best,
Cheers.


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