Life as H1B holder vs. GC or Citizen – USA vs. India
If you are working as a H1B holder in US, you have lot of limitations in terms of your freedom to work or do any business. You do not get many benefits as the Green card holders or US Citizens. It might be frustrating at times to be on H1B. Let me share my very brief thoughts on this. This article is part of the series: Life in US vs. India, Settle in US or India ?
Life as a H1B holder vs. Green Card or Citizen.
If you are on H1B visa, legally you are supposed to work full time only to the company that sponsors you visa. You can do stock trading on H1B visa , but it cannot be like a full time job like day trader, you cannot really work in 3 or 4 jobs like some Americans do. On H1B visa, you cannot claim unemployment if you lose your job…for instance, if you get laid-off, you would have to leave the country unless you find another employer to transfer your visa. You cannot apply for federal loans for education. If you are a Green card holder or Citizen, you can do most of the stuff as I just mentioned. The reality is, it takes a long time to get Green Card. You can apply for Citizenship after you get GC…it take some more time…some of you may want to work for NASA….to work there you have to be a US Citizen…I am just giving a overview of some of the stuff here.
Lets look at life in India….I do not think we are bound by any visa, you can work wherever you want because you are Indian Citizen…You can work for ISRO, as you are already citizen. You can have a day job and have a business too. You are free to do many things in India…
Decision to Stay in India or Come to US as per life?
The reality is, life on H1B visa can be tricky at times and very frustrating if you do not have job security at your work. The most frustrating part for most of the H1B visa holders is the wait time for getting Green Card or EAD. It can be few years and you need to have patience….and it is based on how the processing speeds up with USCIS for Green Card. Anyways, the point I am trying to make is, your life changes drastically after you get Green Card, but you need to have patience to get there…Some of you might want to have the freedom to do many things during the first few years of your career and also have control of it…it could be tough if you are on H1B as you cannot do stuff they way you want….sometimes it can be a long time and very frustrating…there is nothing like right or wrong decision here…it is up to you to decide if you are ok to wait and work until you get GC or Citizenship. Honestly, this article is just a very brief overview of life on H1B vs. GC…it is just an aspect to consider if you plan to stay here in US…
What do you think ? Would you wait that long for Green Card ? Have you been waiting for GC ?
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Related posts:
- Series: Settle in US or India? Life in USA vs. India? Move back?
- Can H1B holder Study? H1B Visa holder study MBA, MS – Full time or Part time ?
- Personal Life, Comfort, Enjoyment in America Vs. India
- Social Life – Meeting New people diff cultures, races in America vs. India
- Can H1B visa holder do Stock Trading in US? Tax, Day time trading ?
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi,
I have come to US in H1B for working in a company. Can i do online part time jobs?? is that legal for H1B visa holders?
Thanks in advance.
Sathish,
You can only do jobs which are covered in your I-129 filing and for the employer who holds the H-1. You cannot do any other jobs.
Hi Saurabh
I have a couple of questions:
1.Is it true that once Green card application is filed, one is not allowed to leave the country?
2.If the applicant has filed for a green-card and then gets married before the petition is approved, what happens to the applicant’s green card status. How does it change for the Spouse? can the spouse apply immediately or has to wait?
Thanks
Rohit,
1. While the PERM is under process. They can leave US before or after that process
2. The dependents are added during I-485 stage. So if the person gets married prior to I-485 filing, then the dependent can be added at the time of I-485. However, if 485 has already been filed before marriage, then I don’t know the way out.
hi saurabh,
How long I can stay out of US on H1B? i need to go to india for around 6 months..will it be ok?
Vicky,
It will be ok. However, when returning back do carry a recent employment letter from employer stating that your employment is still valid and they would like you to join the firm in US.
saurabh,
thanks for the reply.i will be working in india in same compmay on us payroll..can i do this for 6 months…
another q is that my wife is on h4 ..can she go and stay in india for 1 year and come back here..will h4 will be valid then?
Vicky,
Yes, you can work that way. Do check what the tax implications will be.
She can do that. She can return on H-4 visa as long as her H-4 visa stamp is valid and unexpired, and you are employed in US on valid 797. If her H-4 visa stamp has expired, then she will have to go for H-4 visa stamping (which requires your valid 797)
Working on H1 is good for ppl like us who are finally inclined in going to india back……..these days companies are retaining H1B holders by promising their GC processing…well both have its pros and cons……
Hi eveyone,
I lost my Indian passport last year with F1 visa. I applied for new one and I got new passport as well as I 94 Card too. Could you please help me about the visa stamping? Should I got to Canada or?
Please Help me I am really worried.
Stamping is required only when you plan to travel outside of US. As long as you are in US, you don’t require the stamping. So if you don’t need to travel until your India visit, then you can get it stamped in India.
Hey saurabh thanks for the info. Can you shed some more light on the matter ?
Like suppose I’m working for a company after completion of my MS, they will apply for my Green card. What if I want it early ? Is it possible to apply for a GC if I do not have a real employer- Scenario1: I’m working part time at the university itself during my completion of MS. Scenario2: I’m doing Ph.D. Now thats addition of a few more years to MS.! Wont have a outside job I guess. Would be doing research work.
Is it possible to get a GC in that case ?
And yeah, how much are the quotas for us Indians ? Do they discriminate ?
GC is for future employment. So it is not necessary to be employed w/ the employer at the time of filing GC. However, most companies do not file GCs for their employees until completion of at least 1 year of job. So legally, an employer can do that for you; practically it may be quite difficult to do so.
India, China, Philippines and Mexico are highly oversubscribed countries when it comes to GC filing. GC process has per country limit in different GC categories. Once that limit is reached no more GCs are issued to that country in that category, unless there are still open quota numbers in other countries that have may not be fulfilled in the on-going fiscal year.
It is up to the employer to decide whether to file for a GC or not. Employers can file GC for any person working on H1. There is no quota on how many GCs can be applied, but there is a quota on how many GCs are approved each year in each category for each country.
can any one please tell me green card can available to all H1B holder or is there any limit for it. I have not seen anyone H1B holder returned back to India due to not getting of green card after 6 year staying with H1B visa. Please comment on it.