helph4volunteer Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 Hello, Is there a legal document or procedure for a H4 visa holder to volunteer (unpaid, obviously) at a company within the field of their education/expertise? Are there any restrictions on such a position? If the company wants to hire the volunteer by sponsoring a H-1B visa at a later date when the quota becomes available, will there be any complications? Thanks! Link to comment
jairichi Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 Hello, Is there a legal document or procedure for a H4 visa holder to volunteer (unpaid, obviously) at a company within the field of their education/expertise? Are there any restrictions on such a position? If the company wants to hire the volunteer by sponsoring a H-1B visa at a later date when the quota becomes available, will there be any complications? Thanks! The criteria is not just unpaid work. Your volunteering work or position should not be a substitute or replacement of a prospective paid position. Also, you can not absolutely volunteer for a company that is going to file a H1B for you. Consult an attorney before you volunteer for any organization. Link to comment
JoeF Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 Hello, Is there a legal document or procedure for a H4 visa holder to volunteer (unpaid, obviously) at a company within the field of their education/expertise? Are there any restrictions on such a position? If the company wants to hire the volunteer by sponsoring a H-1B visa at a later date when the quota becomes available, will there be any complications? Thanks! Somebody on H4 can NOT volunteer for a for-profit company. Period. It would be taking away a paid job, and that's not allowed. Volunteering would only be possible at a non-profit organization where everybody else in similar positions volunteers. A classic example would be volunteering for a church. Link to comment
helph4volunteer Posted August 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 Thank you for your replies. Do you think an H4 can join a for-profit company as a trainee to learn a software and other business aspects? Of course, this will be unpaid. Link to comment
jairichi Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 Thank you for your replies. Do you think an H4 can join a for-profit company as a trainee to learn a software and other business aspects? Of course, this will be unpaid. I believe not at all. Link to comment
nineballs Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 I believe not at all. I think that's an interesting question. Education is allowed on H4, so should be training. I see no problems with any training. Link to comment
rahul412 Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 Thank you for your replies. Do you think an H4 can join a for-profit company as a trainee to learn a software and other business aspects? Of course, this will be unpaid. Obviously, you can learn on H4. But why did you mentioned that it is "unpaid" when you are not working?? Link to comment
JoeF Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 Thank you for your replies. Do you think an H4 can join a for-profit company as a trainee to learn a software and other business aspects? Of course, this will be unpaid. No. All that would be work. Not allowed on H4. And it doesn't matter if it is unpaid. It still is work, and a person on H4 is not allowed to work. Period. Link to comment
jairichi Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 I think that's an interesting question. Education is allowed on H4, so should be training. I see no problems with any training. I agree. But you can get training in a non-profit organization like university but not in a for profit organization Link to comment
nineballs Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 No. All that would be work. Not allowed on H4. And it doesn't matter if it is unpaid. It still is work, and a person on H4 is not allowed to work. Period. Why do you think that is is work? Can it not be a training where OP learns and thats it? Link to comment
jairichi Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 Why do you think that is is work? Can it not be a training where OP learns and thats it? If that is the way then everyone on H4 would apply for so called "training" in profit organizations and replace available jobs. Knowing this kind of situation laws were formulated to prevent abuse. Link to comment
JoeF Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 Why do you think that is is work? Can it not be a training where OP learns and thats it? Not in a for-profit organization. Everything in a for-profit organization is work, by definition. And somebody on H4 can not work. Link to comment
rahul412 Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 If that is the way then everyone on H4 would apply for so called "training" in profit organizations and replace available jobs. Knowing this kind of situation laws were formulated to prevent abuse. Well in this case, that's work. Learning is different from training. Correct me if I am wrong. Learning is like, learning programming lang, music etc Training means, you are getting trained to do some job that means you are hired as employee(as a trainee). Link to comment
omshiv Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 to OP...you can take the risk if you want..but remember its not only you who's going to suffer if caught..your H1b holder would also be in big trouble and you both might get deported too. Link to comment
jairichi Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Well in this case, that's work. Learning is different from training. Correct me if I am wrong. Learning is like, learning programming lang, music etc Training means, you are getting trained to do some job that means you are hired as employee(as a trainee). Rahu412, I agree with your statement. That is the reason why they have OPT and CPT for F1 students. Link to comment
jairichi Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 to OP...you can take the risk if you want..but remember its not only you who's going to suffer if caught..your H1b holder would also be in big trouble and you both might get deported too. Omshiv, true. It is OP's decision, whether she is ready to take a risk. Link to comment
helph4volunteer Posted August 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Thanks everyone for your comments. I was just curious because an H4 can go to school for learning and we all know of H4's learning software from consultancies across the country, so why not get trained at a company for free if the company is willing. It will be a good use of time and just being productive. It is sad that a fully qualified person with great credentials should sit at home because the system doesn't care. Link to comment
jairichi Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Thanks everyone for your comments. I was just curious because an H4 can go to school for learning and we all know of H4's learning software from consultancies across the country, so why not get trained at a company for free if the company is willing. It will be a good use of time and just being productive. It is sad that a fully qualified person with great credentials should sit at home because the system doesn't care. Well, indeed it is sad. That is what is being discussed for a long time in various immigration forums. Link to comment
JoeF Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Thanks everyone for your comments. I was just curious because an H4 can go to school for learning and we all know of H4's learning software from consultancies across the country, so why not get trained at a company for free if the company is willing. It will be a good use of time and just being productive. It is sad that a fully qualified person with great credentials should sit at home because the system doesn't care. A person on H4 doesn't have to sit at home and watch crappy day-time TV... A person with CS experience could do open source stuff, for example. That keeps the skills sharp, and may even lead to employment with a real company (not some shady consulting company.) Lots and lots of open source projects would be happy for participation of good people. And this is not even just for coding anymore. There is the whole maker movement, people designing physical parts and open-sourcing the blueprints. People doing quilts and sharing the designs with everybody, even people helping transcribing legal documents (ever heard of a website called Groklaw?) You just need to look around, and you'll find lots of such open source things that are perfectly ok to participate in for somebody on H4. Link to comment
helph4volunteer Posted September 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 What about someone who is a qualified Chartered Accountant from India and a Certified Public Accountant from the U.S trying to train at an accounting or CPA firm to keep up with the tax regulations and audit laws. Link to comment
JoeF Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 What about someone who is a qualified Chartered Accountant from India and a Certified Public Accountant from the U.S trying to train at an accounting or CPA firm to keep up with the tax regulations and audit laws. As has been said before, it is NOT possible for somebody on H4 to work (or "train") with a for-profit company. It may be possible to participate in things like the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRS_Volunteer_Income_Tax_Assistance_Program Check with them. Link to comment
man.san Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 I am on H4 visa and have been volunteering at a university, now I was on non-paid volunteer position and all I did was attend a class and sit with other RAs and sometimes help them in understanding projects. It was all done part time, like maybe 2hrs a week and sometimes even 2hrs a month Is this going to be a problem. There were other RAs who were being paid and one other American volunteer who only wanted to understand the research. Can I show this on my resume for H1b petition Link to comment
mini01 Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 Hi, Does anyone know whether a h4 visa holder can apply for an unpaid internship position? Link to comment
JoeF Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Hi, Does anyone know whether a h4 visa holder can apply for an unpaid internship position? That is not allowed. Link to comment
jairichi Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Hi, Does anyone know whether a h4 visa holder can apply for an unpaid internship position? No. Link to comment
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