Income Not Authorized For H1B Employees In USA

This is what an adsense pro has to say on his blog adsense blog.

What exactly is unauthorized income for H1B workers in USA. Is self-employment or making money on internet unauthorized income?

Are these considered as unauthorized income:

1)Lotto winnings

2)Sweepstakes winnings

3)Poker winnings

4)Stock/Commodity Investment Profits

5)Google Adsense Income

6)Affiliate Marketing Income

7)eBay Auction Income

8)Freelance Programmer Income

I don’t want to hamper my Green Card processing in any way. Is it true that I can’t file any 1099-MISC or W-2G form in my tax return. Even gambling win requires me to file one of those.

I didn’t have any income from any of these till now but came very close to claiming a Sweepstakes win. I was planning to invest in Silver. But I don’t want to create any problem so if its not allowed I will stay away from it and anything like that.

Answers/Response:

As a US resident ( which you are since you are living here and paying tax) you are allow to participate any Sweepstakes /lotto/lottery. So wining those is legal and you are subject to appropriate tax.

About eBay/Ad sense/Affiliate Marketing, they are considered as business. You are allowed to invest or start a business in USA. Again you have to follow appropriate laws and regulation. But you are not allow to work anyone (including you own business) but the company filed your H1b for. So you have to hire someone to work for your business or run eBay/ad sense.

I know some people running business (like gas station) but they are still in H1b visa even one has F1 visa. They are hiring other people to work for their business.

Well… running a business is also some types of work even you hire someone to work for you. I am not how those things work but pretty sure there is way to do legally.

If you are planning to do something like this I recommend you to consult a good immigration lawyer.