H-1B in the U.S Receiving Pay in Another Country of Permanent Residence/Citizenship

[Rijo02]

Hello All,

Please I would like to know if it is against the U.S law for a foreigner on H-1B status to keep receiving income in his/her country of origin. In fact, given the remote nature of work at the moment, can someone work full-time on H-1B in the U.S and at the same time earn income for a couple of months (finishing a few things for the previous company)?

In addition, can the H4 spouse work remotely from the US for a job in her country of origin?

These jobs are such that there are no conflict of interests.

Any official suggestion will help as I want to be sure getting an income outside the U.S while on H-1B/H4 wouldn't impact future USCIS applications such as greencard,etc.

 

[shenanigans]

As far as I know, Visa Status only applies if you are working and "resident" in the country. So H1B, H4 etc makes sense within the borders. If you are working remotely without maintaining a household here, you will run into the resident tax clause which probably kicks in if you are 6 months or more outside the boundary of the United States. Which means in this case you will have to pay dual taxation and file taxes in both countries but after that your company payroll wont be able to support your "work" as its bona fide employee and will have to terminate that work contract (or change it). H1B worki s tied to a worksite location within the USA so not complying with it will put you and your employer in a grey area ( https://www.path2usa.com/blog/can-an-h1-b-holder-work-from-out-side-usa-rules-exceptions-to-working-remotely-from-india). So everything you do here will be totally grey.

On H1-B you can work two jobs if both jobs are on active separate H1-Bs. You cannot work for two companies on the same H1-B simultaneously, you will break laws here. H4 Spouse can work for an Indian company but should not receive any income in a US bank account. All of the work and everything else has to be totally in the origin country with no US overlap whatsoever.

So US source of income on one H1-B near/or on worksite location = Totally legal. Temporary trips outside the border and working for the US employer within a timeframe, also okay.Recieving dual income in a US bank account for two separate jobs, with one of them not H1-B employer, totally illegal. You can only generate passive income ( House flipping, stocks etc).

 

[Rijo02]

As far as I know, Visa Status only applies if you are working and "resident" in the country. So H1B, H4 etc makes sense within the borders. If you are working remotely without maintaining a household here, you will run into the resident tax clause which probably kicks in if you are 6 months or more outside the boundary of the United States. Which means in this case you will have to pay dual taxation and file taxes in both countries but after that your company payroll wont be able to support your "work" as its bona fide employee and will have to terminate that work contract (or change it). H1B worki s tied to a worksite location within the USA so not complying with it will put you and your employer in a grey area ( https://www.path2usa.com/blog/can-an-h1-b-holder-work-from-out-side-usa-rules-exceptions-to-working-remotely-from-india). So everything you do here will be totally grey.

On H1-B you can work two jobs if both jobs are on active separate H1-Bs. You cannot work for two companies on the same H1-B simultaneously, you will break laws here. H4 Spouse can work for an Indian company but should not receive any income in a US bank account. All of the work and everything else has to be totally in the origin country with no US overlap whatsoever.

So US source of income on one H1-B near/or on worksite location = Totally legal. Temporary trips outside the border and working for the US employer within a timeframe, also okay.Recieving dual income in a US bank account for two separate jobs, with one of them not H1-B employer, totally illegal. You can only generate passive income ( House flipping, stocks etc).

Thank you so much for your feedback @shenanigans.

Having read your view, I think it's either I didn't explain myself very well or I didn't read to understand what you wrote.

Let me further explain: If someone enters the U.S on H-1B, working full-time and at the company location. At the same time, receives 4-5 months of income from the previous employer in his/her home country as the person is finishing up a couple of projects for the previous employer. Of course, taxes will be paid in both countries. Does that break the H-1B law? Also for the H4 status, living in the U.S with the spouse and working remotely in the country of origin.

Maybe I just repeated what I had said earlier but I just want to be sure you understood my question.

In essence, my question is if H-1B law prevents the holder physically working in the U.S to make an income while physically present in the U.S and working for another company in his/her home country?

Thanks for your time again!

 

[shenanigans]

Okay so disclaimer is that I am not an immigration attorney. So take this with a pinch of salt. BUT
if you have status in the US, lets say H1B you are barred from earning "active income" anywhere else in the world other than your current employer. Which means if you actively work for an Indian employer at the same time finishing something while within the US borders on an H1-B visa, this is problematic. Same goes for H4 spouse. She can work on a "voluntary" basis but cannot receive active job income from anywhere.

And yes sometimes discovering this income is hard and usually doesn't come up, but it can very easily too. For e.g. IRS Audit request.

USICS and IRS dont talk to each other usually. UNLESS there is an audit, where the IRS could ask you."Hmm Mr A, you moved to the US in August, so show us the tax return for the time prior to that for January - July", in this case you would have to show your foreign tax return, not for money that IRS could get, but only for establishing timelines. Then the IRS will notice that you were working in India during your transition. This they wont communicate to the USICS maybe, but we dont know what kind of information is "available" to share in case of a USICS audit later in your life, maybe at the time of filing your Green card or Citizenship. Maybe they would demand to ask your tax returns from the foreign location just to see if you have violated H1-B conditions.

So.. What I have learned in my time abroad is to keep a clean slate. I have had Audits here but maybe a lot of folks havent. I have also moved internationally and filed two country taxes while typically Indians coming to the US may not be filing those correctly or at all. That doesnt mean you wont have a USICS audit or an IRS audit some day.

 

[Rijo02]

Okay so disclaimer is that I am not an immigration attorney. So take this with a pinch of salt. BUT
if you have status in the US, lets say H1B you are barred from earning "active income" anywhere else in the world other than your current employer. Which means if you actively work for an Indian employer at the same time finishing something while within the US borders on an H1-B visa, this is problematic. Same goes for H4 spouse. She can work on a "voluntary" basis but cannot receive active job income from anywhere.

And yes sometimes discovering this income is hard and usually doesn't come up, but it can very easily too. For e.g. IRS Audit request.

USICS and IRS dont talk to each other usually. UNLESS there is an audit, where the IRS could ask you."Hmm Mr A, you moved to the US in August, so show us the tax return for the time prior to that for January - July", in this case you would have to show your foreign tax return, not for money that IRS could get, but only for establishing timelines. Then the IRS will notice that you were working in India during your transition. This they wont communicate to the USICS maybe, but we dont know what kind of information is "available" to share in case of a USICS audit later in your life, maybe at the time of filing your Green card or Citizenship. Maybe they would demand to ask your tax returns from the foreign location just to see if you have violated H1-B conditions.

So.. What I have learned in my time abroad is to keep a clean slate. I have had Audits here but maybe a lot of folks havent. I have also moved internationally and filed two country taxes while typically Indians coming to the US may not be filing those correctly or at all. That doesnt mean you wont have a USICS audit or an IRS audit some day.

Great reply. Thank you so much @shenanigans for taking out time to give this detailed explanation.

Can you please share the USCIS website where it was stated that making income in another country while living in the US is barred? I would really want to nail this issue correctly so it doesn't come back to impact future applications. As for finishing up with my current company, that is definitely what will happen (either paid or unpaid). Of course, I would want the pay. But not to the extent that the law is violated.