Working in the US while my wife goes to school?

Hello everyone,

Here is my situation: I am a Canadian citizen. Next fall, my wife will be attending graduate school in Boston. Naturally, I will be moving to Boston with her. I can live with her on a F2 visa, but this visa does not permit me to work. As I don't want to spend two years being unemployed, I need to figure out my options. I have a bachelors degree (in political science and psych), and a master's degree (in political science).

I think the best chance would be to try to get a TN visa. The occupations on the TN list that are most relevant to what I can do are Research Assistant and University/College Teacher (I have some experience in both). But is it even possible/permissible to enter on an F2, look for a job, then re-enter on a TN? Presumably I can't hold two types of visa at once, so will I need to apply for a change of status?

Are there options that might apply to my situation that I should be aware of?

Also, if I do unpaid work for, say, a non-for-profit organization, does this require some kind of authorization? And if so, what kind?

Any and all help you can provide would be appreciated.

If you enter the US on a non-immigrant status, no it is not legal to look for work while you're there. It may be prudent for you to secure a job before you go if at all possible.

And if you volunteer with a non-profit, you have to be sure that hte job you're doing would not otherwise be a paid position should an authorized LPR or American be doing it. If the job *could* be paid, then no, technically you cannot volunteer for it.

Any kind of work that would be paid requires work authorization. No you can't look for work as F-2 (although there is no enforcement mechanism) and no you can't hold two categories at once.

If you want to be a college teacher you're not limited to TN-1 (although it's the fastest to get) you can do H-1B pretty easily too as there is no quota for people working for academic institutions.

You can apply for AOS on I-539 from F-2 to TN-1 or H-1B but it's cheaper and quicker to go to the border usually to change to TN-1 as it only costs $50 (plus travel costs obviously).

I am in a similar situtation, I am canadian , my husband is going to Chiropractic school in California, Can I get a temporary working visa?

You need to have your own qualifications, otherwise, you will enter as his dependant, with no work permission.

I am in a similar situtation, I am canadian , my husband is going to Chiropractic school in California, Can I get a temporary working visa?

What if my husnband is American, do I get to apply for a special visa?

That is actually a tougher situation, as you would have to apply for a spousal visa, which, since it is more permanent, will take much more time and money to get. And if you don't intend to stay in US after his schooling, it will be wasted time/effort.

That's quite a 'minor detail' you left out.

for marriage based immigration information to the US see www.visajourney.com

Trouble is, they don't really seem to want to immigrate, just go to school for a while...

If, say, they were just going on vacation to US, there would be little problem allowing her entry on B2, since there would be overwhelming evidence that no immigration is intended. This would be anon-working holiday after all.

But, having the USC going to school for an extended period makes much more likely that the presumption of immigrant intent is there, even if the intention was to go back to canada afterwards. What 'ties' could the spouse point to to say that she is not wanting to stay in US (she even wants to work there).

So a non-immigrant work status like TN (if she were qualified) would likely be out of the question. To work, therefore, she would need to more formally 'immigrate' to US, that is have USC sponser her for GC, with all that entails. Hopefully the border officer would at least let her in the country, allowing her to file from there. Otherwise steps would already need to have been taken to get her into the US (that is where visajourney is your best source).

Then, if they did want to move back to canada, she might then be faced with the problem of deciing if hse should maintain this Grren Card which she didn't really want, or formally rescind it.