Can a F1-visa student have income from renting his or her apartment?
<p>I know the international students (F1-visa) are limited when it comes to work (max 20 hours/week on campus job).</p>

<p>However, are they allowed to have other sources of income in US? Is renting his/her apartment a legal way to earn income?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>To my understanding, foreigners can own real properties in the United States. Therefore, they can legally rent out for a profit as income (notice <em>legally</em>). When those foreigners (aliens) study in the United States on F-1 Visa, I believe, they can still rent out their real properties pursuant to applicable laws. And it's not considered as employment as far as USCIS is concerned, because based on <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-11261/0-0-0-28757/0-0-0-28770.html#0-0-0-18289" rel="nofollow noreferrer">USCIS Definition of employment</a>, </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The term employment means any service or labor performed by an
  employee for an employer within the United States, including service
  or labor performed on a vessel or aircraft that has arrived in the
  United States and has been inspected, or otherwise included within the
  provisions of the Anti-Reflagging Act codified at 46 U.S.C. 8704, but
  not including duties performed by nonimmigrant crewmen defined in
  sections 101(a)(10) and (a)(15)(D) of the Act. However, employment
  does not include casual employment by individuals who provide domestic
  service in a private home that is sporadic, irregular or intermittent;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Similarly, subletting should be acceptable as long as it's legal pursuant to applicable laws. For example, subletting usually needs the approval of the property owner. Otherwise, subletting illegally will negatively impact the good standing F-1 status.</p>

<p><sub><em>P.S. I am NOT attorney. This post is NOT legal advice.</em></sub></p>

pennsylvania tax-law f1-visa