USA green card visas etc

[GirlWithTheMouseyHair]

so DH is applying in the New Year for companies like Google etc, looking to potentially move to San Francisco/NYC/Seattle. We'll only go if he gets offered a job.

The issue is me, I'm assuming I wouldn't automatically get a green card just because he'd be 'sponsored' by the company who employ him, but would I just be on a visitors' visa and therefore have to leave the country for 5 days every 3 months??

We're just working out stuff like this before he seriously starts applying...

What visa are you looking at for him H1B? you would be able to go with but not work iirc

er, I don't know....but have heard that if he is offered a permanent job then I get a via which gives me a right to work for 3 years, if he's just offered a contract I can't work

Is this right?

I really don't know. Does the US embassy have any helpful information on their site?

I'm sure you don't feel like wading through it. I remember just organising tourist visas to the US, there was so much info online, it was totally off-putting. I don't think you'd have to leave the country every three months though if your dh has a job

My DH was seconded to the US by a major company and the general rule was that spouses couldn't work, but neither did they have to return to Blighty all the time. (Luckily for me I work for a US company and have a PhD so they were able to get me my own work visa)

secondment is different though - usually an L1 visa

If he goes on an H1B visa, you would get a spousal derivative (H4?). You wouldn't be able to work on this visa, but you could try to apply for a H1B in your own right.

You would not be allowed to live there on the visa waiver program, and they would soon cotton on if you were. You could be deported for having immigrant intent. There is no need to risk this because the H1B has a dependent derivative.

If he goes on a H1B visa, it would be temporary - for 3 years initially, extendable to 7 years. His employer could sponsor him for an I-140 immigrant visa (green card), and you could get one too as a dependent.