michele557

Hi,

I hope you can help. We are a family of 5 looking to emigrate from the USA from the UK. My husband has a Masters degree in Chemistry and has been working for the past 2 years as a Industrial Chemist. I have a bachelors degree in Psychology and Sociology and have been an Operations Manager for the past 2 years. Do people think there is any chance of us getting a visa to work in the US with these qualifications and do we look for jobs first or apply for a Visa first. Thank you for reading and any help is gratefully received

scrubbedexpat099

Obviously a chance.

Does either of you have a job offer from an Employer willing to sponsor you?

Obvious first choice would be a transfer with one of your current employer, especially if you both want to/need to work.

michele557

Thank you for answering. We have only just started looking so have not applied for any jobs as yet. Our employers are not international companies unfortunately. We was not sure if we should apply for jobs first or a visa. It is not essential that we both work but one of us would need to

md95065

There is a chance, but it will probably be very difficult.

If you are trying to get a new job and an employment based visa then you need to understand that you, yourself, cannot apply for the visa - only your employer can do that. This means that you first need to get a job offer from an employer who is both willing and able to sponsor you for an employment based visa. The employer then has to start the visa application process and you have to succeed in actually getting a visa. Depending on when you apply it could take as long as 18 months for you to be able to start work in the US (or you might not get the visa at all).

If either of your current employers have offices in the US then a transfer on an L1 visa might be possible. If you qualify for that type of visa then the process can be fairly easy, and much faster.

scrubbedexpat099

Personally I would look for a new Employer with US operations who would transfer you.

But if you are looking to a visa through a US Employer than you need that US Employer first to sponsor you.

Rete

And if it is an H visa, then the trailing spouse cannot work. They will need a work visa of their own.

TheKingOfHearts

Do either of you have a background in education? It seems both of your degrees might be suitable for working in a University, they may be able to sponsor you on an H1-B, which could be cap exempt, giving you a stronger chance.

Pulaski

Unless your skills are highly sought after, it is likely that any attempts to apply for jobs in the US will be entirely ignored when they see that (i) you need a visa and (ii) you are outside the US. For example I found that (ii) was a huge hurdle even though I didn't need sponsorship for a visa - I got almost no traction at all until I was actually in the US despite significant experience and multiple qualifications in the areas I was qualified to work.

If you add the need for visa sponsorship this will make your quest for a job very much harder. And the cost to an employer of the visa is around $8,000-$10,000 including legal fees, so you have to be pretty special to justify that fee when compared to a local hire in the US that doesn't necessitate those fees. Those fees must be paid for by the employer.

michele557

We do not have a education background yet, but it only takes a year at uni to give us both qualified teacher status. We have wondered if this is the way to go

Pulaski

"Teacher", no, that is not what was being suggested, there is almost no chance of finding employment in the US as a teacher. ..... KOH meant a university lecturer and/or researcher, as they are "cap exempt" for H-1B visas. Work at certain types of R&D companies owned by universities can also be cap-exempt.

As advised above the trailing spouse of a H-1B visas holder cannot work without their own working visa.

An O-1 visa is another possibility, for someone of outstanding ability - typically someone who has published articles or research papers, spoken at conferences, and/or filed patents, etc., and this certainly isn't as onerous as it sounds. The trailing spouse of a O-1 visa holder also cannot work without their own working visa.

michele557

Thanks for clarifying. That makes sense. My husband is currently involved in R&D as part of his job in the U.K and looking on Indeed US there seems to be a lot of opportunities for this in universities so would definitely be a route we would look at.

civilservant

How old are your children?

michele557

17,13 and 12. The 17 year old may choose to stay in the UK though as he will be off to uni next year

civilservant

That may be the best thing - but be aware that if they reach 21 that they cannot get a visa based on yours. The only way you could sponsor them is if you became US Citizens eventually.

Pulaski

There may be an argument to put them on the visa petition even if they are going to uni in the UK, and then if there is a green card possibility they could be included on that (the green card application would have to be before their 21st birthday), and that would give them the option to join their family in the UK after graduation.

The visa/ green card situation could be "strung along" until they finish full time education, but would lapse soon thereafter (probably within 6-12 months) if they took a job and put down roots in the UK.