is h1b with GC EAD allowed to work on a secondary source of income

Jun 2, 2020 6 Comments

I'm on h1b and in the process of getting a GC, i already received a GC EAD, can i work on an additional source of income like youtube channel ads income, some small freelance gigs,... ? or do i have to wait for GC.

curious if anybody has done something similar ? #workvisa #h1b #GC

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TOP 6 Comments
  • Dematic
    michael25

    Go to company page Dematic

    michael25
    No you can’t. If you were to gave a secondary job, they have to apply for another h1b for you which will be secondary visa. This requires main company to approve. The other job has to be of same specialization.

    YouTube won’t fall under this category as it’s not a company. If you want to own a company you have to hire someone else to run the day to day and you have no involvement in the company at all. You just get the profits or take the losses. Basically reducing it to a investment.

    You cannot work or earn money other than your employer.

    The only way to make money on h1b besides job is real estate, investments, buying and selling things on eBay or Craigslist or other sites with cash but not like a business as in Amazon FBA.

    These laws are unfair yes but you can’t do anything about it. I was suggested by an attorney that if I badly wanted to make a YouTube channel- then I can start it in my home country and link that to a family members bank account (not mine) in home country and then make sure the videos doesn’t have my face in it. Can have voice maybe like podcasts. This is still very risky because if someone reports you, then it’s tax evasion. You are getting work done in USA but paying taxes in India.

    In short - you have to wait for GC
    Jun 2, 2020 0
  • New / Project
    scatech2

    New Project

    PRE
    TechnipFMC, MBL Energy
    BIO
    Mechanical engineer with 4+ YOE in managing manufacturing and construction projects in the energy industry. Looking for better opportunities in SF Bay Area
    scatech2
    Check with an immigration attorney
    Jun 2, 2020 0
  • You can, your status will change to parolee and not H1b. Be careful: Your dependents may not be able to be on H4. Check with attorney.
    Jun 3, 2020 1
  • You definitely can. However, some immigration lawyers believe that it voids your H-1B status.
    Jun 2, 2020 0
  • I would check with immigration attorney.
    Theoretically you can because you are transitioning from H1B status to GC status.
    Check also with your employer, some employers are not ok with freelancing especially if it’s with a competitor or uses IP that belongs to them.
    Jun 2, 2020 0