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"So, what do you do?"
For Imran Ismail (some names have been changed upon request), this typical conversation-starter is one of the main reasons why he doesn't like meeting new people, "It's hard to tell them that I don't do anything," he tells me.
Ismail is not permitted to work. He holds an H-4 spouse visa.
Unlike the United Kingdom, where the spouse of an immigrant worker can work without a separate permit, the United States issues the spouses and dependent children of H-1 visa holders a somewhat restrictive H-4 visa, which does not allow the holder to work. Or to do business. Or to get a social security number. An H-4 visa holder can, however, go to school, get a driver's license, and hold a bank account.
The visa is fairly easy to get. Ismail and his wife Reema originally came here to study on F-l student visas. Reema got a job after graduation, but Ismail wasn't as lucky. Finally, Ismail adjusted his status to H-4 just as his one year of post-graduate optional practical training came to an end. Today he has been in H-4 status for three years.
"At that time I didn't think that it would take me as long as it has to find a job," he explains. "But then there was a hiring freeze because of the dot-com burst and the Sept. 11 attacks."
This initial optimism is a common thread among most H-4 spouses. Namita Iyer who gave up her job as a technical writer in India to join her husband on an H-4 talks about the early days. "I had always looked forward to setting up my home. I didn't really worry too much about the visa because I expected to find a job in the Bay Area without too much difficulty."
Then frustration sets in. "It's very strange to wake up and not have to go anywhere," says Ismail. He still continues to send out resumes. "On a good day, I apply to five to six jobs. The most distressing thing is that nothing really happens, I feel like I am sending resumes into a black hole."
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