By law, a 'dependent' is a spouse (husband or wife) and unmarried children under the age of 21.
US immigration law does not recognize extended family members for purposes of dependent (accompanyng) visa status. A parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, aunt, uncle, or nice/nephew is not eligible for dependent visa status. Extended family members who wish to visit must obtain temporary visitor visa status, such as tourist visas or by entering under the visa waiver program (ESTA).
Children who are 22 years or older are not longer considered dependent. If you have a child over the age of 21 years who must accompany you as a dependent, please email intlscholars@purdue.edu.
Family members who are engaging in their own professional or student activities in the USA do not need to become dependents solely because another family member has become a primary visa holder. For example, if you are being sponsored by Purdue in H-1B status, but your spouse currently holds F-1 status and plans to continue their course of studies, then it likely is in their best interest to remain in F-1 status. Upon graduation, most F-1 students are eligible for post-completion optional practical training (OPT) that authorizes employment in the USA. In contrast, H-4 dependents, as noted above, are not authorized to work. Please email intlscholars@purdue.edu if there are questions.
Family members may not enter the USA before their 'primary visa holder". In other words, an H-4 spouse may not enter the USA before the H-1B employee arrives at Purdue to begin work; a J-2 spouse may not enter the USA before the J-1 scholar has arrived at Purdue to begin their appointment. Family may enter the USA at the same time, or after the primary visa holder -- but not before.
Similarly, a family member may not remain in the USA if the primary visa holder ends their authorized activities in the USA and departs. For example,
If the primary visa holder's relationship with Purdue continues but they have temporary travel abroad, the family member may remain in the USA. For example -
Dependent family members already in the USA may request changes or extensions to their status by filing a Form I-539 application with the USCIS.
If the primary visa holder is being sponsored by Purdue for a new visa status classification, then the family will need to change their status to match the primary's. The dependent family members cannot remain in their dependent visa status once the primary moves to a new visa status.
International Scholar Services does not assist with the Form I-539 application, as this is a request by a non-Purdue individual for their own personal visa status. We do have a discussion about the Form I-539 filing here.
Dependent family members (spouses and/or children) may attend school at any level, and which may include fulltime degree-programs. Note, though, that when attending college or university, the institution's internal rules for determining "residency" for tuition purposes will determine whether the individual pays "in-state," "out-of-state," or "international" tuition rates.
In the United States, traditional public schools are operated by school districts, free to attend, open to all students, and funded by taxpayers. While tuition is free, there are technolgy fees and sports and band fees if the student becomes involved in those activities.
In Tippecanoe County there are three different school corporations, West Lafayette School Corporation, Lafayette School Corporation, and Tippecanoe School Corporation. Students are assigned to schools based on their home address.
All schools in the United States will require the child's immunization records. Click here to see a list of the require immunizations.
West Lafayette has many day cares and preschool for children who are not old enough to go to public school. Purdue offeres a on-campus childcare.
Spouses sometimes are permitted to work. Dependent children generally are not permitted to work while holding visa status.
J-2 dependents are eligible to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) once they are in the USA and holding J-2 status. The EAD application must be approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) before the spouse is authorized to begin working.
By law, J-2 employment may be approved for up to the duration of the J-1 principal's authorized stay as indicated on Form I-94 and Form DS-2019, or a period of four years, whichever is shorter. In reality, the EAD is issued with only a 12-month validity period. If a spouse wants to continue to work, then a new application must be submitted each year following USCIS instructions. The new EAD must be issued and in hand before the spouse may continue to work past the expiration date of the prior EAD.
Once the first EAD is issued, the J-2 spouse must apply to the Social Security Administration for a Social Security Number (SSN).
Once employed, the J-2 spouse will be subject to federal and local income tax on any wages earned.
Beginning January 30, 2022, E-3 Spouses are authorized to work as a result of their visa status - no additional documentation is required. An unexpired Form I-94 record of admission showing that the spouse was admitted in "E-3S" status is evidence of employment authorization. If you are a Purdue E-3 spouse whose I-94 record does not reflect "E-3S' status, then please email intlscholars@purdue.edu.
H-4, O-3 and TD dependents are not normally eligible for work permission. The law provides one exception: H-4 dependents may apply for an Employment Authorization Document only if the H-1B spouse is the beneficiary of either
Dependents must be extremely careful if they decide to volunteer.
Volunteer activities generally encompass charity work, for non-profit organizations. Both these elements need to be present for the activity to be considered volunteering.
Even though Purdue University is a non-profit institution, the opportunities to volunteer for Purdue still are limited. Purdue's research or educational mission are not "charity". Purdue employs people to work in its research and educational spaces. The law does not allow for a volunteer and an employee to be engaged in the same tasks in the same space. As a result, dependent visa holders cannot "volunteer" for a research laboratory, or "volunteer" to work in a Purdue classroom or office. Purdue's policy on volunteering, and its HR Manual for volunteers, explain this further.
Services, tasks, labor or any other form of assistance that are provided to a 'commercial' business may never be considered to be "volunteering", by law. In other words, US law will not allow a person to "volunteer" to help a business. This is the case even if the business is not incorporated; if the activities are undertaken in order to generate a profit for services or products that are 'sold', then the activities that accompany those services or product can never be considered "volunteering". Basically, if a business is involved, then the participants are either working for pay, or working for free, but it is still considered work.
Activities that are labeled as volunteering, but do not involve both a non-profit organization AND a charitable activites, are not truly volunteering activities. Simply calling something a volunteer activities does not change how the law views it.
Examples-
| Non-Profit Ogranization | Non-Commercial Activity | Volunteering? | |
| Helping in your church's daycare. (The daycare charges no fees, and is only for church members) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Helping in your church's daycare (The church charges fees for its services, and the service is available to non-church members. The fees contribute to church activities.) | Yes | No | No |
| Donating Plasma for research or medical purposes. Donors receive $50 per donation. | Yes | No | No |
| Mowing the lawn for your elderly neighbor, who cannot mow themselves. The neighbor pays you $20 each time you mow. | No | No | No |
| Providing childcare services to your landlord in exchange for $100 less in rent each month | No | No | No |
| Handing water bottles out at a local fun run / marathon | Yes | Yes | Yes |