Hello all,

I am curious about this, since I have a friend who did this and subsequently had to leave the U.S. My friend had an H-1B visa, but his job decided not to renew or extend it...he subsequently had about 2 weeks in which to leave the U.S. He had build a home in the U.S. He worked for the company for 6 (six) years. He married a non-U.S. citizen who has permanent residencey. My question is...if you are on a work visa, is it legal to build in the U.S. I understand that he had to leave the U.S. for atleast 1 (one) year. He lived in the U.S. for a total of 12 years (went to university there and got an MBA) hence received a very high paying job. He is now in his native country, and trying to get back to the U.S. He hopes to apply for residencey through his wife and mother who both have permanent residencey in the U.S.

Any advice on this? It seems kind of strange to me.

No gov't restrictions on anyone buying property or building a home IF you can pay for it or get a mortgage. But living in it is another matter. Having a home here doesn't give you rights to immigrate, legalize or naturalize, though it does help you maintain your GC if you work overseas.