emma.c.winter

Hi All,

My boyfriend and I are planning on getting married and I will move to the US, I saw that you can apply for a non immigration visa whilst the application is pending so that I can work. Does anyone know if this is a likely option and how long it takes? I currently have an ESTA so I would do an Adjustment of Status.

Emma

Noorah101

If you are thinking of the K-3 visa, that is obsolete and no longer brings you to the USA any sooner than the immigrant visa.

If you are getting married in the USA (as per your other thread), you won't be doing an adjustment of status. You will be doing a CR-1 Immigrant Visa. You can visit while the visa process is going on, but you can't work in the USA during that time.

Rene

SanDiegogirl

If you are meaning a work visa (non immigrant) its the employer that applies for that for you. There is no temporary work visa.

The common route for marrying a US citizen is getting married in the US (easier than marrying in the UK), the Brit then returns to the UK and the US citizen sponsors their petition for the visa/green card Takes approx 12 months.

You don't enter on an ESTA with the intention of staying (AOS) - that's fraud.

RICH

I just saw this after replying to your other thread, and will add that working in USA is allowed only after the CR1 is granted. You cannot work in USA whist visiting in the meantime on ESTA
I am surprised that your USA spouse to be has not a clue about these things. Maybe time for a rethink? i

porkedpie

Yes I, for one, picked my spouse based on their knowledge of the US immigration system

Pulaski

My general experience over the 22 years I have lived in the US, is that Americans invariably know nothing about US visas and the immigration process, though in fairness there is very rarely any need for them to know anything about it.

On occasions that it has come up in conversation, they are invariably surprised at the time it takes and/or the cost, and sometimes that obtaining a visa is a significant restriction at all, that you can't just mail in your passport and get a visa.

When discussing illegal immigration, sometimes someone has said something like "they need to go back home/to Mexico and get a visa", not realizing that there is likely no visa for their situation, and even if there technically is an applicable visa, their employer wouldn't sponsor them anyway, because of the cost.

emma.c.winter

Hi Rich, my partner and I did know very little about the immigration process,
we are trying to understand it now and that is why I'm asking questions in this forum.

christmasoompa

Totally understandable. Most Americans have no clue about the immigration process for their own country, same as most of us - I certainly know next to nothing about how people would immigrate to the UK!

Good luck to you.

ivanidea

I think many Americans read about the illegal immigration, then see 'foreign' workers and assume they are here illegally and working for cash.

I'm sure some companies do go under the radar and pay immigrants low wages in cash, but all the companies I've worked for, I have had to provide my SSN which is electronically checked. I also had to show my Greencard or US passport, but that may have been part of the background check.

RICH

Fair enough I suppose. My ex spouse to be was also as clueless as me 20 years ago, which is why I joined this forum, I guess I thought general knowledge on the subject would have advanced by now, since the rules/laws have barely changed since.

Pulaski

That doesnt actually happen as you describe, and employers are actually prohibited from learning if the SSN that an employee supplies is genuine or bogus. You'd think it would, and it absolutely should, IMO, and it certainly could (the Federal Governor has the data, but unfortunately it isn't happening.

RICH

As Bank employee I had to go to the local Police station and have fingerprints taken, which went into a (I think) FBI back ground check which my immigration file presumably reconciled. If I commit a crime I am presumably dead to rights!

RICH

That sounds sarcastic. what is your criteria?

tht

that is not my experience, when I do e-verify to onboard [work] employees it verifies both the SSN and the document used to establish the right to work, e.g. USPP, GC or visa and when it has a expiry date like a visa it will then alert me when they are no longer work authorized. You have to go though training to use it and it’s a hassle. When I was hiring domestic staff I had to set up an EIN in my name for SS and to get WC, but in that case I just did a paper I9 and sighted the original SS card and US passport and as you say had no way to verify the SSC other than the name matching the US passport.

Pulaski

I am familiar with that, and I may be wrong, but I don't think e-verify is doing what you think it's doing.