Jon

I dont know if anyone can help me with my problem...i have a girlfriend in the
U.S.and would dearly love to be with her...but there are a couple of
problems,stupidly i did not divorce my ex wife (although i have now started
proceedings which will take about 6 months) also i have no formal skill
qualifactions,though i have entered the greencard lottery...could anybody please tell
me is there anything else i could be doing to speed things up? thanks in advance jon.

L D Jones

jon wrote:
    > I dont know if anyone can help me with my problem...i have a girlfriend in the
    > U.S.and would dearly love to be with her...but there are a couple of
    > problems,stupidly i did not divorce my ex wife (although i have now started
    > proceedings which will take about 6 months) also i have no formal skill
    > qualifactions,though i have entered the greencard lottery...could anybody
    > please tell me is there anything else i could be doing to speed things up?
    > thanks in advance

I don't think there is anything else you can do. If you are British you are most
likely not eligible for the DV lottery unless you were born in NI or meet one of the
other conditions. Read: <http://travel.st-
ate.gov/DV2004.html>

The fastest method, if your girlfriend is a US citizen, would be to marry her and
file the proper forms. You must have your divorce papers to complete the process.

NC Penguin

------------------------------
On the basis of the info you have provided, these are my suggestions.

Before proceeding with the formalities about getting to the US, it would probably best to finalise your divorce so that you are back to being single again.

If you have no formal qualifications, it is not worthwhile pursuing an H1-B employment visa.

You say you've entered the green card lottery so I take it that you're not British. This is a long process from what I understand.

A faster process to enter the US legally and be with your girlfriend would be to apply for the K-1 visa. This is a fiance visa and if approved, you'll have 90 days from entering the US to marry your girlfriend. Offhand, I don't know how long this process takes but it's sure faster than the green card lottery.

Of course, before you start the K-1 application you must be free to marry, i.e be legally divorced. Think it through and do a search on the K-1 through this and the other two US visa newsgroups for relevant information.

BTW: I am not a lawyer

Steggy

NC Penguin wrote:
    > Originally posted by Jon:
    > > I dont know if anyone can help me with my problem...i have a girlfriend in the
    > > U.S.and would dearly love to be with her...but there are a couple of
    > > problems,stupidly i did not divorce my ex wife (although i have now started
    > > proceedings which will take about 6 months) also i have no formal skill
    > > qualifactions,though i have entered the greencard lottery...could anybody please
    > > tell me is there anything else i could be doing to speed things up? thanks in
    > > advance jon.
    > >
    > ------------------------------
    > On the basis of the info you have provided, these are my suggestions.
    > Before proceeding with the formalities about getting to the US, it would probably
    > best to finalise your divorce so that you are back to being single again.
    > If you have no formal qualifications, it is not worthwhile pursuing an H1-B
    > employment visa.
    > You say you've entered the green card lottery so I take it that you're not British.
    > This is a long process from what I understand.

Heard more people who entered the lottery (through some internet site) while being
British. There goes your money.
    > A faster process to enter the US legally and be with your girlfriend would be to
    > apply for the K-1 visa. This is a fiance visa and if approved, you'll have 90 days
    > from entering the US to marry your girlfriend. Offhand, I don't know how long this
    > process takes but it's sure faster than the green card lottery.

Took me 3 months in the Netherlands.
    > Of course, before you start the K-1 application you must be free to marry, i.e be
    > legally divorced. Think it through and do a search on the K-1 through this and the
    > other two US visa newsgroups for relevant information.
    > BTW: I am not a lawyer
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com


--
steg

http://members.lycos.nl/henkweer-
man/

Alex

Hi everyone.

I was recently laid off, H-1B, family, rent, no insurance etc
I was wondering if there are more people like myself and what are their
plnas. What are possible things to do to stay in US?
Any ideas would be appreciated...

Alex

Hi everyone.

I was recently laid off, H-1B, family, rent, no insurance etc
I was wondering if there are more people like myself and what are their
plnas. What are possible things to do to stay in US?
Any ideas would be appreciated...

Alex

Hi everyone.

I was recently laid off, H-1B, family, rent, no insurance etc
I was wondering if there are more people like myself and what are their
plnas. What are possible things to do to stay in US?
Any ideas would be appreciated...

Stuart Brook

Alex wrote:
    > Hi everyone.
    > I was recently laid off, H-1B, family, rent, no insurance etc
    > I was wondering if there are more people like myself and what are their
    > plnas. What are possible things to do to stay in US?
    > Any ideas would be appreciated...

You are *supposed to leave*. In accepting entry on a non-immigrant visa
you effectively said "I'm going to leave when my job is done".

Since "recently laid off" does not mean "today" or "yesterday", there's
no way to file a timely petition to change your status to B2 for example
without having to leave and return ... but you won't be let back in as a
visitor without establishing residence.

You could stay illegally, find a new job and hope you can transfer the
H1B, but that's a max of 60 days for the new employer to file the
transfer, and then because it's not timely filed you'll have to depart
and return before you can start work, and may have to get a visa stamp
depending on where your home country is.

The rule of thumb to depart the US is 10 days ... there is no legal
basis for that timing, and each case is judged on its own merits, but in
general under 10 days to depart, no problem. Over 10 days, and people
start having problems.

Alex

Hi everyone.

I was recently laid off, H-1B, family, rent, no insurance etc
I was wondering if there are more people like myself and what are their
plnas. What are possible things to do to stay in US?
Any ideas would be appreciated...

Joachim Feise

Alex wrote:
    > Hi everyone.
    > I was recently laid off, H-1B, family, rent, no insurance etc
    > I was wondering if there are more people like myself and what are their
    > plnas. What are possible things to do to stay in US?
    > Any ideas would be appreciated...

Even a layoff is no excuse for posting the same question at least 3 times.

If you are layed off, you have to leave. You are out of status from the
moment your employment ended. Your employer has to pay your return ticket.
If you want to stay a bit longer, you have to change your status, e.g.,
to B2.

Kamal R. Prasad

it looks like these guys expect H1-B employees to hang around by the
airport lounge with a rucksack full of refugee survival equipment.
nevertheless to answer your queries:-

    > If you are layed off, you have to leave. You are out of status from the
    > moment your employment ended.
INS processes transfer of visa even a couple of months after a layoff.
assuming you don't find another job that sponsors ur H1-B, you may not
have a problem with over-staying but possibly with travelling in and
out of the country in case of emergencies. so, as these guys have
suggested-buy a 1 way ticket and sell/handover your belongings before
you leave the US.

    >Your employer has to pay your return ticket.
    >If you want to stay a bit longer, you have to change your status, e.g.,
    >to B2.
if the employer terminates the H1-B (rarely done) then employer is
required to provide return ticket. otherwise, it leaves the laid off
employee with the option to transfer or to leave on his own.
if the co. that laid-off went bankrupt, then no return ticket will be
provided ie they won't have the money to buy u a ticket.
regards
-kamal

Stuart Brook

"Kamal R. Prasad" wrote:

    > INS processes transfer of visa even a couple of months after a layoff.

An application for transfer of an H1B must occur within 60 days of the
end of the previous H1B employment. At one time, one could start a job
hunt and find a new job and get the application in within the 60 days
and the INS would approve it. Recently, their policy has changed. If
you spend more than just a few days "out of status" before acquiring new
H1B employment, they will approve the employment, but not approve your
change of status, meaning that you have to depart the US, get a new visa
and return. This started happening in the last 6 months. All part of
the crackdown on individuals out of status since Sept. 11.

Changes to B2 status must similarly be filed promptly on the day of
layoff or the day after or else the change will not be approved, for the
same reasoning ... no out of status people in the US.

Although there's been no changes to the law since Sep 11, there
certainly has been a general tightening of policies which previously
allowed some discretionary "wiggle room".

Joachim Feise

Kamal R. Prasad wrote:
    >>Your employer has to pay your return ticket.
    >>If you want to stay a bit longer, you have to change your status, e.g.,
    >>to B2.
    > if the employer terminates the H1-B (rarely done) then employer is
    > required to provide return ticket. otherwise, it leaves the laid off
    > employee with the option to transfer or to leave on his own.
    > if the co. that laid-off went bankrupt, then no return ticket will be
    > provided ie they won't have the money to buy u a ticket.

If the employee is laid off before the expiration date of the H1, the
employer *has* to pay the return ticket. This is the law. No buts or ifs.

Kamal R. Prasad

    > If the employee is laid off before the expiration date of the H1, the
    > employer *has* to pay the return ticket. This is the law. No buts or ifs.
I can assure you that has not happened/does not happen to many individuals.
check out the facts, not the requirement.
-kamal

Kamal R. Prasad

    > Recently, their policy has changed. If
    > you spend more than just a few days "out of status" before acquiring new
    > H1B employment, they will approve the employment, but not approve your
    > change of status, meaning that you have to depart the US, get a new visa
    > and return. This started happening in the last 6 months. All part of
    > the crackdown on individuals out of status since Sept. 11.
define the term "Recently" in terms of the dates plz.
INS uses discretion in granting I-94 when approving transfer of H1-B
visa.
if they approve the H1-B petition without issuing an I-94, then the
applicant must leave the country to get an I-94.

    > Changes to B2 status must similarly be filed promptly on the day of
    > layoff or the day after or else the change will not be approved, for the
    > same reasoning ... no out of status people in the US.
Im not sure about what it takes to change status to B-1/B-2. but the
H1-B visa is a highly portable visa vis-a-vis other visas.

    > Although there's been no changes to the law since Sep 11, there
    > certainly has been a general tightening of policies which previously
    > allowed some discretionary "wiggle room".

there is/was plenty of wiggle room even after sept. 11.
you are describing [proposed?]rules and not the implementation.
-kamal