an F2 Visa holders apply and get approved for Green Card directly if he/she has a decent job offer or sponsor? If yes what is the chance of getting and how to go?? Pls advise..

They sure can. Current visa category doesn't have anything to do with future employment. The process is same for everyone. As long as all requirements are met and F2 visa holder has not been out of status in the past, it is pretty straight forward case. F1 spouse and all F2 children can get their green card approved as derivatives. Email me if you need more information.

if you have a job offer and sponsorship lined up, why not? once you get the EAD, you can start working for the company.

Hi,
Can you please explain me about the F2 Visa holder in USA. How can they work and go for green card process. What is EAD? Please advise me in this regard.

bisa20,
people on F2 visa can not really work (one reason: they're not allowed social security numbers now). EAD is employment authorization document (which you get after applying). in the case of green card, there has to be an employer who is willing to give you a job & sponsor a green card for you. after you have the employer, you apply for the card and EAD. hope that answers your question.

Hi,
Midwestdude,
Thanks for your answers .

F2 visa is "Dependent" Visa for spouse and children of F1 Student. This dependent visa makes them really dependent on the student. They are not allowed to apply for a Social Security Number (SSN) and hence have herculian task of getting driver's license in the first place.

F2 visa holders are not eligible to work. In case some F2 people got their SSN in the past, it used to be stamped as "NOT VALID FOR WORK". The only job they get is through illegal means and working as baby sitter or work in restaurants and gas station without paying tax and no formal paystub (take cash for work).

Some F2 (I am talking about spouse at this point) are well qualified and want to go to school. Can they? NO. F2 visa holders are not allowed to go to college for formal education. The only thing they can do is to attend non-credit, non-degree seeking short courses with full tuition paid. They can't accept any financial support if it requires them to work a couple of hours in return. You will have to change from F2 to F1 to accept any financial assistantship requiring work in return.

How about children on F2? They can attend school up to 12th grade. Once your kids graudate from their high school, you need to change their status from F2 to F1 before attending a college. There are few cases when they have been returned from college because they came to attend classes without changing status from F2 to F1.

If any of the above things are violated, that F2 is out of status and not eligible to change status later (that is to apply for green card) without problem.


Then how do the F2 apply for green card then?
It's a long process and applying for green card through employment is same process for all. As long as you have maintained valid non-imigrant status in the past, either F2 or F1 can apply for green card under employment based categories. However, it's very unlikely that F2 will be offered a job unless he/she is a nurse or physical therapist.

The employment based green card application in a nutshell.
1. Obtain a job offer (the job must have been advertised on least three media for two weeks, must have formal interview done and the candidate be selected over US citizens or Green card holders, if anybody applied, based on merit)

2. Employer files for Labor Certification or PERM (intermediate process are Labor Condition Attestation and Minimum Wage Determination)

3. Labor Department approves PERM

4. Employer files I-140 or Petition for Alien Worker to USCIS (PERM approval notice must be attached)

5. Applicant files I-485 or Application for Adjustment of Status. (required papers are medical clearance through civil surgeon, immunization completion, birth certificate, marriage certificate, copies of I-20 and passports, tax papers for the last 2-3 years etc. etc.). Some papers are submitted with the application and some others have to make ready in case you get request for evidence later.

These days I-140 and I-485 can be filed concurrantly without waiting for I-140 approval before filing I-485 as was the practice before.

6. You file I-765 or Application for Work Authorization when you file I-485. Once I-765 is approved, you get EAD card which authorizes you to work while your I-485 is pending with the USCIS. EAD is valid for one year and renewable for indefinite period as long as your I-485 or green card application is pending.

7. Once your I-485 is approved, you will get an approval letter, make an appointment for biometrics and stamping in your passport, wait few weeks and you get your green card in your mailbox.

Looks easy on paper..... but takes 2-4 years to complete. Nurses and Physical Therapists are hot commodities here for green card. They can get green card in less than a year if properly filed. But there is a catch....
(1) Licensure by examination application process takes between 6 months to 1 year depending upon the state requirement (some have to take CGFNS certificate test before actual RN test)
(2) They have to go through the VisaScreen Certification process from CGFNS

My two cents.

Harri, I think you have good knoweldge about immgiration. Do you know about backlog for EB3 category for Nepal? I have friend that her i-140 was approve on august and she is waiting for i-485 approval. Her laywer says that she has to wait till there will be immigrant visa number available.
peace

It depends the volume of files they have in line. Currently, they have been processing applications filed before 01 APR 01. That means, if no actions are taken by congress (they are rather being conservative by eliminating the much rumored 90,000 additional quota). If she is an EB3 (Shedule A Nurse, then it is current and doen't have to wait). However, once I-485 has been filed, she can renew her EAD for indefinite times. To go back home, she needs to apply Advance Parole.

You can see the current status of backloging on the following site:
- http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html

Thanks Harris for detailed info.............Is getting birth certificate complicated? And since F2 holder would have never worked before legally, definitely there will be no Tax papers ...Ummmmm sounds complicated............anyone have any idea on loop holes?

Hopefully Labor Condition Attestation and Minimum Wage Determination should not be much complicated.

hi , can we change the tourist visa to student visa in usa after entering ?

You can change from Tourist visa to Student visa after entering. However, you should be very very careful because:
(1) You must not try to change visa status within 60 days (90 days to be safe) of entering US. That will trigger a case for Visa Fraud, because it shows that you didn't reveal your intention when you applied for tourist visa.
(2) You would be safe if you asked the officer at the port of entry to stamp as a prospective student (I don't know whether you have to do it when you apply at consular office). If the PoE office stamps your papers with Prospective student, then you can find good college, get admission and change from tourist to student status without problem.
(3) If you don't have Prospectivs student stamp, the safest thing is to go back home, reapply for F1 and come back. I guess that the chances of denial are very less in this way.

I have heard some cases in which Tourist Visa holders have either changed in to F1 or H2B. It may be better if you communicate with univeristy and get your application approved before you r arrival here as application process takes months.

Thanks to Euta Nepali for posting such a good topic on discussion and thanks for Harris for your detail info.

Does anyone have any idea on Tax things discussed above................? Actually this lato needs some feed back for one of his freinds case.

Thanks guys.

Tax Papers:

F2 visa holders can't work and don't have any tax to pay. If USCIS sends RFE (request for evidence) asking for tax documents, you must reply to them with either of the following options.

If previously F2 is the principal applicant who no personal income to report to IRS:

Option 1: If F2 has been listed as tax payer (if you filed as "Married Filing Jointly") along with the F1, then submit all the copies of previously filed tax papers. You must have obtained either SSN or TPIN before filing tax.

option 2: If F1 filed independently and F2 was not listed as tax payer, ask your attorney to write an explanation on your behalf why he/she doesn't have any tax papers to submit. Better, if F1 has been filing tax PROPERLY every year, submit the copies of all tax papers along with the explanation to make your case strong.

It is VERY VERY important to respond to USCIS RFE within the time frame given in the letter. If you don't have copies of your previous tax papers, you can write to IRS with appropriate fee to send copies from their record.

I hope it helps your friend.

Disclaimer from Harris:

I learned about USCIS processes and visa issues from my independent studies for about a year now. I try to give you the best information (excerpts from various government and attorney websites with necessary links to the original sources when required). I am not a professional lawyer and my views should not be taken as expert views.

Hey man, I appreciate your effort and knowledge. Your views are not less than of a professional lawyer. In fact, some lawyers take advantage of people's lack of knowledge adding fee for every tiny paper works that comes on the way. From the things you have mentioned, many can get prepared well in advance. Nepalese are said to be having habit of leg pulling. But, i came to know it is not true.

Here are the links to the websites I frequently visit to read latest information about visa bulletins, immigration statistics and visa processes.

- http://www.uscis.gov

This is the official website of US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Here you will find "How do I ....?" kind of information along with all necessary forms, instructions and guidelines, appropriate fees, filing processes, required documents etc. etc. Just be patience and read all information.

- http://www.travel.state.us
- http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.html

This website is official website of us government. This is more general in nature with information for US citizens and visa applicants. You should look at Visa section in the main page (the second link above). Current visa bulletin is there with explanation for different immigrant visa categories.

- http://www.shusterman.com

This website is maintained by one of the best lawyers in California, Mr. Carl Shusterman. He has very user-friendly website, full of information. I won't hesitate to recommend anybody to retain him as your attorney. I have remained his client and I have very good experience with him. His fee seems a bit higher in the beginning as compared to some attorneys whom you pick from a corner of nowhere city after you listen to his great promise to handle the case very efficiently. Then when your case is pending you will have to find the information from Shusterman's website or do a google-search and tell your attorney what to do next.

- http://www.murthy.com

This website is maintained by another best lawyer in Maryland. I don't have information about her fee structure. However, she has many satisfied Indian clients. She has a weekly live chat session every Monday and a slightly moderated forum for discussion.

- http://www.immigrationportal.com

Attorney Rajesh Khanna is not seen anywhere in the webpage. However, this site is a very good source of information through discussion board. Mr. Khanna seems a lawyer of good intention. However, when he replies to some threads in his own web-forum, few gruntled visitors try to keep him off his own website.

- http://www.usabal.com

This is another law firm with two offices in California and Virginia. I haven't visited their website for a long time. However, I used to visit their website before I came to contact with Mr. Shusterman. They give step by step guide for different procedures. A good site to visit.

Well, Harris is also here to quickly pick up things for you. A little bit of exploration might be extremely helpful to you later.

Attorney Sheela Murthy maintains the website
- http://www.murthy.com

When I say best lawyer, I refer to the peer-ratings for those attorneys. Shusterman and Murthy both have been constantly rated "A", the highest professional stardard by thousands of attorneys across the nation.

In some universities F2 holder changed to F1.