I am currently living in the United States with F-2 status. I am well aware that I am not permitted to work in the United States. However, I have an interest in freelance writing. There is no law that would keep me from freelancing for American magazines from Canada, as far as I know, so am I right in assuming I can do the same from the US with my F-2 status?

You are wrong. Freelance writing for a U.S. company while you are physically in the U.S. is considered local employment. Unless you fall under one of the limited work exceptions for F-1 students (see our F-1 article), you cannot engage in such activity. You can do anything you want while you are in Canada. However, as soon as you enter the U.S., you are subject to that country's immigration laws.

I entered U.S. as an F-1 student in 1996. I received my Masters Degree in Computer Science this year. I currently have a job as a programmer and my status is H1B.  I am planning to apply for Green Card, but I just found my hepatitis B lab test was positive. I am worried about whether I can pass the medical examination for the Green Card application. Will Hepatitis B prevent me from getting my green card?

Probably not. According to INA §212(a)(1)(A)(i), an alien who is determined to have a communicable disease of public health significance (including HIV) is excludable. The regulations of the Department of Health and Human Services at 42 CFR §34.2(b) list the diseases which may fall within INA §212(a)(1)(A)(i) as follows:

1. Chancroid;
2. Gonorrhea;
3. Granuloma inguinale;
4. Hansen's disease (leprosy);
5. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection;
6. Lymphogranuloma venereum;
7. Syphillis, infectious stage; and
8. Tuberculosis, infectious.

The list does not include hepatitis B.

According to INA §212(a)(4), an individual who "by reason of poverty, insanity, disease, or disability would become a charge upon the public" is excludable. While it is possible to argue that you may become a public charge because of your disease, as long as you are healthy enough to maintain your employment, you should avoid the public charge exclusion ground.

According to INA §212(a)(1)(A)(ii), intending immigrants are excludable unless they can document having received vaccinations against vaccine-preventable diseases, including hepatitis B. However, this does not specifically exclude a person who already has hepatitis B. If you get the vaccination for hepatitis B, you are not excludable under this provision. If a vaccination is medically inappropriate because you already have the disease, the panel physician can recommend a medical waiver of the vaccination requirement.

In summary, I do not believe that your current illness will prevent you from obtaining permanent resident status.

My wife is a citizen of Pakistan and Canadian Landed immigirant.  I filed a petition for her in the U.S.  My attorney had told me that she would be able to visit me in U.S. for short trips. She hasn't tried that yet.  If she tries to come to U.S., can she be refused entry because of the immigrant petition?  If yes, if I take the petition back will she still have a problem if she tries to visit me in the U.S.?

Your attorney was wrong. Admittedly, your wife might be admitted as a B-2 visitor if the INS are sloppy and don't ask the right questions (it happens more often with visa exempt Canadian citizens and Canadian landed immigrants who cross the Canada-U.S. border). However, if the immigrant petition comes to the knowledge of the INS, it will be almost impossible for her to enter as a visitor.

Withdrawing the immigrant petition is not necessarily going to eliminate the problem, since B-2 visitors are presumed to be intending immigrants unless they can establish a temporary intent, to the satisfaction of the INS. However, it is much easier to argue the absence of immigrant intent if there is no immigrant petition pending.

You did not say what status you had in the United States (LPR or U.S. citizen). If you are a U.S. citizen, withdrawing the petition may no be a good idea. The processing time is fairly brief so you might as well wait it out. However, if you are only a U.S. permanent resident, your wife will have several years to wait, during which time she will be unable to visit you. In that case, it might be wise to withdraw the petition, wait until you get your citizenship, and then file for your wife as an immediate relative.

I received the Canadian Citizenship this summer and have a Canadian passport, and French passport with a Canadian border crossing card valid until 2004. I have a post-secondary diploma in computer that I received in Montreal in 1996, and a Master Degree in Business Law that I received in France in 1987. Before studying in Law, I received a "French Baccalauréat" in Mechanical construction in 1981. I have been a software developer (Analyst programmer) for 2 years and 3 months in Montreal, where I am presently working full time. In 1989, I obtained my first of two J-1 visas. The first one was as an exchange student in St-Cloud State University, MN, and the second one was to teach French in the same university. I have a girl friend in Minnesota who has applied for a fiancé visa (K-1). Last week, I wanted to visit my fiancé and the officer at the border told me that I could not enter the U.S. as long as I had a pending case for the K-1 visa. My fiancée and I would prefer to be closer for a while before getting married. That is why I would prefer to get first a TN or H1 visa to be in Minnesota, and later, ask for a fiancée visa or whatever visa it takes to get married. What can I do?

You may or may not be subject to a two-year home country residence requirement because of your previous J-1 status. I don't know enough about your case to comment. However, if your country of last residence was Canada before you began the J-1 programs, you may have satisfied the requirement after 2 years of working here (which have already done).

Getting an H-1B or TN would be difficult for you since you don't have a bachelor degree in the field or enough experience to qualify under the NAFTA. There are no exceptions to the three year work experience requirement for TN systems analysts. It might be possible to get a credential evaluation to show you have the equivalent of a bachelor degree in computers (for H-1B purposes only), but it is not promising. The INS requires at three years of relevant work experience for every year that you lack towards a four year bachelor degree in the field.

If you are unwilling to get married now, you might as well continue with your fiance visa processing. However, you must marry within 90 days of entry. It sounded like you were planning on a much longer engagement than this, so I wanted to clarify this point.

If you are unwilling to marry within 90 days of entry, then withdraw your fiance petition, and enter as a visitor until you have enough work experience to qualify for TN status. You can seek TN status and work in the U.S. until you are ready to marry your fiancée.