jambey2510

Hey guys!

I have a pretty different situation and trawling the internet returns and yields no answers to my situation. Thought I'd sign up here, get involved and gather information I need here.

I'm from the UK, my fiance is from the US. She's studying at grad school for her PhD. I'm undertaking my teaching course (PGCE) in September for one year. We are engaged and are planning to get married in 2018, to allow us time to plan, prepare and save up for said wedding. We met a while back and have been together a while, I've visited her a lot over in the USA and she's been to the UK to visit me too.

Here is the situation!

After completion of my teaching course and obtaining my Teaching certification here, I want to apply for teaching jobs in elementary in the USA. From various contacts with the state department of education and a bunch of private schools in the area, they would happily accept my application due to the state having a teacher shortage. The department of education for the state I want to work in have said they'd accept my transcripts and certificate to teach if I get my transcripts transferred to American equivalents by one of a couple recommended agencies that they work with.

What VISA would this require for me to work as a teacher? How does the sponsorship side of the VISA work? I would move in with my fiance obviously, so that side of things are not an issue.

My main question is this - If I get a teaching job on a VISA in the USA, how do I go about marrying my fiance? I know there is a fiance VISA, but can I marry her on my work VISA or is that seen by the USA as me obtaining a VISA with the intention of marrying her? Do I have to get the fiance VISA?

Difficult situation to figure out I know, and hence my asking you all so I can get a clearer picture of what needs to be done!

Thank you in advance for any help you guys can offer.

P.S. I worked at a summer camp in Utah in 2012 on a J1 VISA, leaving the country etc in time. Does this help anything? I also have a SSN from then, is this still valid for application for VISA's etc?

Noorah101

It would be FAR easier to get one of the marriage based visas, then sort out work once you're inside the USA.

Not the other way around as you describe.

Rene

jambey2510

Thanks for the response.

I was thinking that may be the case, but just wondered if there was a way to go about it the other way, but I guess that puts us both in a very difficult situation which would most likely require lawyers etc to help out!

Jerseygirl

Welcome to BE.

Sorry to say the chances of an experienced teacher getting a US visa is very slim. State schools do not have the money to spend on immigration issues. If you had experience you may be in with a chance of securing a position with a private school. Even then you would have to be certified.

Marriage is by far the easiest and quickest route. I suggest you take a look at our Marriage Based Visas forum.

Marriage Based Visas - British Expats

Pulaski

You can get married in the US any time you like, with or without a visa (I myself married in the US while on a VWP visit), you don't even need to be in the country legally.

It is easy for a school district to say they will consider hiring someone who needs a visa, but a different matter when they see the cost of $5k-$10k of visa and legal fees. In any case, if they (any employer, not just a school) wants to hire someone who needs a visa, it is up to the employer in consultation with their lawyers to decide which visa to apply for for the planned new recruit, it is not something you can do for yourself.

And remember school districts are supervised by directly elected officials, and imaging how it would look in the UK if a local education authority started paying thousands of pounds of visa and legal fees to hire teachers from America - hiring foreigners is a tough sell for any elected official spending public money!

In short, plan for a marriage visa, and be very pleasantly surprised if you get anywhere with your search for a work visa.

BTW "VISA" is a trademark of the Visa Corporation, you will need a visa!

jambey2510

Thanks for the reply guys. I guess doing it the way we said would be the most difficult way!

@Jerseygirl, I'm guessing my best chance of being able to teach in the USA is to marry my fiance first, move here with her then apply?

@pulaski, my problem with that is we have met numerous times and I worry the USA would see it as being done with the intention to marry and ban/deport me, so I would like us to do it through the proper channels as such, so we can live together ASAP. That was one thing I did wonder, the fees! I guess that would be too much for a school to pay, especially when this state has been hiring unqualified teachers on cheaper pays!

Jerseygirl

Correct. Our members in the Marriage Visas forum will help you through the visa process. Also take a look in the BE Wiki...

Category:USA : British Expat Wiki

Pulaski

You worry too much! You are allowed to visit a USC in America with a view to marriage - and I did so a number of times myself.

So long as you leave at the end of each visit, and "spend more time out than in", you are unlikely to have any issues whatsoever.

In short, visit as often as you like, apply for a fiancé visa and get married, or get married and apply for a CR-1, it's your call, and neither will cause any sort of ripples and you can visit before or during the application for either type of visa and the length and frequency of visits will have absolutely no bearing on the visa process, none whatsoever!

BTW another thought: if you get a fiancé visa you will effectively be unable to work for about five months after you arrive (if you can find a job you can work between arriving and getting married, but after getting married you need to apply for and EAD, which takes another couple of months). If you were to have a quick courthouse wedding the next time you visit your fiancée (then have the fancy wedding and celebration in 2018), you could apply for a CR-1, which will take about 10 months and then when you arrive in the US you would be able to work legally in the US the moment you have cleared immigration when you arrive - literally start working right there in the airport if you had a job to go to!

mikelincs

I doubt there would be much of a problem if you visited the US, got married while you were there on the VWP and then you returned to the UK while she applied for the CR1 visa, that's always legal, when you arrive at immigration just say you are visiting friends, not a lie, and then do a courthouse wedding, you can have the bells and whistles bits later. She then applies for your visa, and after a wait of a few months you go back, with the visa, and can get a job straight away.

Guindalf

In your situation, it really is not even worth trying to get a school to sponsor you. State schools won't do it, so the only possibility would be a private educational establishment, but as stated, that is highly unlikely, although not impossible. My wife works at a college and not long ago, they went through this with a professor from the Bahamas.

Many of us are in the country because we married a USC, myself included. You are unlikely to be banned/deported for this reason alone. It would only happen if it's blatantly obvious it's being done with a view to entering the US only!

jambey2510

@Jerseygirl, thank you for the information and pointers.

@Pulaski, yeah, I'm a natural born worrier! Me and my fiance have spent a lot of time together this past year due to a gap year in our education (I've visited her for 5 weeks in February and currently here with her right now, on an 8 week visit!), so I guess there'd be no doubt about how legit the marriage would be. Is one way easier/quicker than the other (CR1 or fiance visa), or are both essentially the same? Although the CR1 sounds better in terms of being allowed to work.

@mikelincs, thanks for that! It's all getting a bit cleared now. Me and the fiance were confused about all these visas etc!

Pulaski

They're very similar - the difference is only really when during the process you get married, and with a marriage visa (CR-1) you get all the paperwork completed in one fell swoop, whereas with a K-1 you get a fiancé visa, get married, and then have the adjustment of status process to complete.

ian-mstm

Why not marry her while you're here on this visit? It'll save you a bit of money down the road because by the time you immigrate, you'll have been married for over two years and instead of a CR-1 visa, you'll get an IR-1 visa. The process for both is identical - but it means you won't have to file (and pay) to remove conditions on your status 2 years down the road. The current fee is over $500.

Just a thought!

Ian

ian-mstm

Perhaps a moderator can move this thread to the marriage-based forum... as it seems the more likely route for these two!

Ian

Jerseygirl