Hello,

I am a foreign student on an F-1 Visa going to graduate school. I have
a website with a lot of traffic from which I would like to make a
profit by running ads on it and by having a subscription service via
paypal. I would be getting payments from companies such as Google
Adsense and from the subscribers to my website via paypal.

Now, the question is whether this is legal or not under my current
visa status. Is having a website considered work? I don't put much
time into it. I don't sell anything (physical at least) on the
website, although I think I am selling my traffic as a publisher and a
service to my subscribers.


What I already know:

- F-1 visa holder can only work on campus for 20 hours per week
- F-1 visa holder can apply for OPT after graduation (1 year of work
visa in a job related to studies)
- F-1 cannot work outsite campus
- F-1 can apply for economic hardship after 9 months in the US and be
allowed to work off campus


Thank you,

webmaster_guy