Legal Question in Immigration Law in New York

Re: Other income with H1B

If all you are doing is negotiating a publishing agreement or some sort of a license for the rights to your manuscript, it is unlikely that you would need a separate visa category to cover this activity while you are lawfully in the U.S. on H1-B visa.

However, whatever contract you may hopefully obtain would need to be scrutinized carefully to determine whether any of your obligations rise to the level of "employment" or other activities that require a proper immigration status. Some negotiation may be required to achieve the desired result for you as the author. Some publishing agreements do call for the provision of personal services rather than a simple assignment of copyright in exchange for royalties, so beware.

Another, unrelated but important issue is your current employment agreement as far as IP rights, non-compete and other employer protection rights are concerned. You may think that you are free to write and publish your own works but your employer might have a different view based on your contract, if any, and/or employment policies, "work for hire" doctrine, etc.

I have represented clients both in publishing and immigration matters, so if you need advice for your specific situation, give me a call or email me.

Please note that the above response is in the nature of general information, is not legal advice and should not be relied upon as such.