H-1B visa dependents
Spouses and single youngsters beneath 21 can get an H-4 visa to enter the US with an H-1B visa holder. The H-4 visa holder can keep within the US so long as the H-1B is in impact. A person with an H-4 visa can attend college, get a driver’s license, and open a checking account. As of Might 26, 2015, sure H-4 visa holders can turn out to be “lawful everlasting residents” (LPR) and turn out to be eligible to work.
In August 2020, the Trump administration handed an government order that revoked H-4 visa alternatives, stripping away work authorization from spouses of H-1B visa holders. The transfer left households, who had been typically dwelling in excessive value of dwelling areas equivalent to Silicon Valley, depending on a single earnings. Nonetheless, President Biden overturned the order on his first day in workplace, permitting dependents of H-1B visa holders to proceed working within the US. Biden’s proposed immigration reform additionally included measures to make sure that these already holding H-1B visas will acquire everlasting work authorization for dependents and that their youngsters won’t be aged out of the system. With Trump again in workplace, he has not moved to strip away H-4 visa alternatives, however immigration specialists warn it may very well be on the horizon.
H-1B visa holder taxation
H-1B visa holders should receive an Particular person Taxpayer Identification Quantity and pay US taxes, Social Safety, and Medicare. Nonetheless, the foundations can get very difficult relying on whether or not the H-1B visa holder is categorized as a resident alien or a non-resident alien. At a abstract stage, the IRS makes use of the “substantial presence take a look at” to categorise every H-1B holder.
Substantial presence is a operate of the variety of days a person has spent within the US in the course of the present tax yr together with the prior three tax years. People who fall above the edge are deemed resident aliens and are taxed on all earnings, together with non-US earnings. People who fall beneath the edge are thought of non-resident aliens and are solely taxed on US earnings. There are numerous guidelines and exemptions, so it’s really useful that H-1B visa holders seek the advice of a tax specialist.
