Pavel Loginov

Hi,

I think I'm going round and round looking for possible ways of solving
my dilemma but I'm hoping that Usenet can come to the rescue.

I'm a 34yo British citizen, my father is a Canadian citizen but my
mother is British. I'm a very experienced and skilled computer
consultant with skills in networking, web development, software
development and business analysis. All-round computer nerd, basically.

However, my girlfriend is American, from Santa Monica, California and
our relationship is impossible without me being able to stay. K1 is
just way too pressurising as we would simply like to have the
opportunity to get to know each other. We've known each other for a
year and we see each other every two months or so but that's usually
by me taking her on vacation. I'm now starting to annoy her employer
but we can't get a relationship going because we always know that
after 90 days I have to leave. We also know that every time I enter
the US, there's a risk of being sent back. I also can't keep visiting
and not working.

Therefore, how do I do this? Is there a way? I don't want to stay
illegally as that means I can't work as a computer consultant and earn
the money that I'm capable of. We both enjoy scuba diving, which isn't
the cheapest hobby and I want to provide a normal environment for our
"getting-to-know-each-other" phase. We get on together perfectly on
vacation but it isn't a "real" environment because it's not
sustainable, which is what I want.

Therefore, do I just give up pursuing a romantic dream or are there
other options? I did apply for an E2 in October 2003 but haven't heard
anything yet. However, I'm worried that this is going to take a while
to process and meanwhile I may lose out and lose my g/f to a local.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

L D Jones

Pavel Loginov wrote:
    >
    > Hi,
    >
    > I think I'm going round and round looking for possible ways of solving
    > my dilemma but I'm hoping that Usenet can come to the rescue.
    >
    > I'm a 34yo British citizen, my father is a Canadian citizen but my
    > mother is British. I'm a very experienced and skilled computer
    > consultant with skills in networking, web development, software
    > development and business analysis. All-round computer nerd, basically.
    >
    > However, my girlfriend is American, from Santa Monica, California and
    > our relationship is impossible without me being able to stay. K1 is
    > just way too pressurising as we would simply like to have the

[snip]

you options seem to be:

- Continue to travel on the visa waiver
- Find an employer who will sponsor H-1B (easier said than done, of
course)
- Get engaged and do the K-1

Vladimir Menkov

    >Pavel Loginov wrote:
...
    >> I'm a 34yo British citizen, my father is a Canadian citizen but my
    >> mother is British. I'm a very experienced and skilled computer
    >> consultant with skills in networking, web development, software
    >> development and business analysis. All-round computer nerd, basically.
    >>
    >> However, my girlfriend is American, from Santa Monica, California and
    >> our relationship is impossible without me being able to stay. K1 is
    >> just way too pressurising ...
[snip]


Although the original poster has identified himself only as a British
citizen, if Pavel's father was a Canadian citizen at the time of
Pavel's birth, it is likely that Pavel is either already a Canadian
citizen by birth or entitled to apply for Canadian citzenship
immediately. (This depends on a number of things; see
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizen/bornout-info.html ). He can
obtain a Certificate of Canadian Citizenship from the Citizenship
office in Sydney, NS, and then a Canadian passport via the Canadian
High Commission in London, UK. There are several advantages Canadian
citizenship gives him in his situation:

(1) Vancouver and Victoria, BC, are wonderful cities, with climate not
unlike that of Britain, but rather more interesting landscape. If he
chooses to live there, travelling to (or from :-) California may
become somewhat easier.

(2) Canadian citizens are normally admitted to the USA as visitors for
up to 6 months, as opposed to the 90 days granted to UK citizens on
visa waiver. Of course, one still needs to be able to prove having an
unabandoned residence abroad (does not matter whether in Canada or UK).

(3) If he finds an US employer sponsoring him for an H or L visa, he
won't need to apply for the actual passport visa at a US consulate if
he's a Canadian citizen. Instead, once BCIS approval is granted, he
can simply present the approved petition at the border to be admitted
in the H or L status.

(4) Due to NAFTA, Canadian citizens employed by US employers in
certain professional occupations, such as Computer System Analyst or
Management Consultant, can be admitted to the USA in the TN-1
status. This is much easier than H-1(b) or L-1 from the employer's
point of view, since "sponsorship" is limited to writing a letter;
there are no petitions to file or fees to pay. The same applies to US
citizens who wish to be employed in Canada in similar occupations.
(Reference: http://www.grasmick.com/nafta.htm )


------------------------------------- La ley es tela de araña
    | Vladimir Meñkov, in Penticton, BC | --En mi inorancia lo esplico--.
    | [email protected] | No la tema el hombre rico;
    | http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~vmenkov | Nunca la tema el que mande
    | | Pues la ruempe el bicho grande
    | http://aplab.rutgers.edu/ant | Y sólo enrieda a los chicos.
------------------------------------- (Jose Hernandez, L.V.M.F.)

meauxna

She could move to the UK.

The scuba's not as nice, though...

Pavel Loginov

meauxna <member1851@british_expats.com> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > She could move to the UK.
    >
    > The scuba's not as nice, though...

This is one way I'm attacking the problem. I'm hoping that she'll come
over here, enjoy London sufficiently to forget about the weather and
tolerate it as a short term solution. We'd then have more time
together and hopefully get to the stage of committing to each other
and then a K-1.

     *crosses fingers*

Pavel Loginov

[email protected] (Vladimir Menkov) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > Although the original poster has identified himself only as a British
    > citizen, if Pavel's father was a Canadian citizen at the time of
    > Pavel's birth, it is likely that Pavel is either already a Canadian
    > citizen by birth or entitled to apply for Canadian citzenship
    > immediately. (This depends on a number of things; see
    > http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizen/bornout-info.html ).

Many thanks for the detailed information.

My father wasn't Canadian at the time of my birth and has only just
got his citizenship, even though he's lived there for 20 years. I have
researched Vancouver extensively as a place to live and settle into
for the reasons pointed out; similar weather, proximity to California
but also it ranks highly on the world order of good places to live in.

I have gone through the immigration assessment and I do just scrape
through with the extra 10 points my Canadian father gives me. However,
it seems that it would take 3 years of being a permanent resident
before I could become a citizen. I don't think I can expect my girl to
wait for that sort of time.

I have had the US Embassy processing an E2 application since October
but I'm also now trying to get companies interested in H1B sponsorship
of me. I was originally going to move to Panama last March, she was
the reason I didn't get there but its frustrating for both of us that
we're still no closer after nearly a whole year.