Question on H4 Visa

[la_guy]

Can H4 dependents take up unpaid Interships?

Thanks in advance...

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Contributed $100 so far...

[a_yaja]

Originally Posted by la_guy

Can H4 dependents take up unpaid Interships?

Thanks in advance...

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Contributed $100 so far...

If the internship is otherwise eligible for pay, then the H4 dependent cannot take up the unpaid intership. In other words, if an US citizen or a LPR can take up the internship and get paid for it, then the internship cannot be taken up by the H4 dependent (because it is not truely "unpaid").

[la_guy]

If the internship is advertised as unpaid, then the H4-dependent, can take it up.. right?

[a_yaja]

Originally Posted by la_guy

If the internship is advertised as unpaid, then the H4-dependent, can take it up.. right?

Depends on a lot of things. It is better to talk to a lawyer. If there are several interships of the same/ similar nature and this is the only one that is unpaid - then it could be proved that the internship in question was made unpaid specifically to benifit the H4 dependent. Or, if the internship was paid in prior years, and all of a sudden if it were made unpaid, that could cause problems too. Then again, nothing can happen either. No one might look deeper into this matter.

If everything is above board - then there should be no issues. For example, if the H4 dependent was selected from a pool of candidates and the internship is usually unpaid and if the qualification of the H4 dependent matches the requirement of the internship, there should not be any issue.

This is only my opinion. Like I said earlier, please consult an immigration lawyer before taking up any internship. If you are planning on applying for GC later on, and if USCIS claims that the unpaid internship was actually unauthorized employment, the GC can be denied.

[la_guy]

thanks for enlightening me... looks like you have lots of knowledge on this subject...

[a_yaja]

Originally Posted by la_guy

thanks for enlightening me... looks like you have lots of knowledge on this subject...

My spouse was in a similar situation - there was an unpaid job that a library was willing to offer. I talked to an immigration lawyer to be on safe-side, and what I have posted is what the lawyer said. Basically the lawyer said that although the job was not tailored for my spouse, it could be construed that the job was specifically created for the H4 dependent as there were other people in the same job who were being paid. Needless to say, my spouse did not take the unpaid job.

[karthiknv143]

Does one qualify for the H1B Masters quota if they study Masters on H4 visa ?

[IN2US]

Originally Posted by karthiknv143

Does one qualify for the H1B Masters quota if they study Masters on H4 visa ?

-- definitely Yes!