Dependents of H1B, J1 & F2 Visas

Can a Dependants of H1b Visa do a Residency / Fellowship or any other paid work / job ?

A. Yes they can , but NOT on their dependent visa status (e.g. H4) - the residency program / employer will have to sponsor the H1B visa for the dependant !

Q. Can Dependants of J1 Visa (J2 visa holders) do a Residency / Fellowhship or any other paid work / job?

A. Yes, they can and they could do so on their J2 Status itself with an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) Card , which can be obtained by applying to the INS provided that they can demonstrate that their earnings are not needed to support the J-1 visa holder.
Note: J-2 visa holders DO NOT need a job offer in hand in order to apply for the Employment Authorization Document. Since, they are required to be on J2 BECAUSE the J1-spouse can afford to supposed to them, it seems it is wise to apply for a J2 EAD work permit 90 days after getting the J2


Can Dependants of F1 visa work or do a residency / fellowship ?

Yes they can - BUT Not on their Dependant F2 Status - they need to get their own H1b / J1 visa sponsored by Residency or Employer or switch to F1 and get their own OPT visas for the first year of residency.




Previous Reader Comments:

Anonymous said ... (10:32 AM) :

Can a J2 dependent who is presently in the US and getting ready for the following year,get their visa status converted to H1b the following year if they r fortunate to find a program willing to sponsor a H1B?

Or is that once u convert to J2,u can do a residency under J category only and forget about H1B?

Digitaldoc, MD said ... (11:47 AM) :

Hi - No, a J2 spouse of a ECFMG-J1 cannot convert directly to H1b, the same 2-year home requirement applies - unless you land a waiver job or other conditions that I discussed in the waiver section on this blog. So let's rather call the J1-waiver jobs as 'J-Waiver' jobs

Anonymous said ... (11:04 PM) :

Thank u so much for ur response.A big help indeed.

Is it true that Fellowships(Thinking long term that is) r easier to come by on a J1 than a H1b?
If on a H1b during residency,how long before u can apply for a green card?

On ur 'Green Card Process' page of ur blog u ve said people on J1 waiver need to be on h1b for at least 3 years b4 u can apply for a GC.Does this min of 3 years hold true for people on an H1b during reisdency or is it more?

Apologise for the barrage of Q's.
Thank u so much for ur time.

rupa said ... (1:36 PM) :

can i convert my visa during residency from J2 to H1 if my husband who is on J1 finds a waiver job in the US??
Thanks a lot in advance...

Shalini said ... (8:06 AM) :

hi...can H4 visa holders only be allowed into residency programs on an H1B visa? u haven't mentioned anything about them being eligible for J1 visas. And is applying for EAD a better option than accepting a J1, or is it not an option at all?

Anonymous said ... (6:19 PM) :

hi doc,
i am on a H4 visa.can you please tell me,the residency programs will offer which visa to me,other than H1B.do they offer J1.also plz tell me how to change from H4 to J1.Is it advisable to do that.thanks

Anu said ... (2:15 PM) :

Can a H1B dependent do Observerships?

Digitaldoc, MD said ... (2:27 PM) :

Yes they can do anything voluntary and unpaid on that status :-) including voluntary research