RhiTom

Hi,

My boyfriend and I are looking to move to the US as soon as possible on a permanent basis. His mother has been living and working in Florida for nearly 10 years and has been successful in obtaining a green card, she moved there originally on the basis of his brothers tennis career which has secured a place for him at University on a scholarship. We are both hoping to find work quickly but are hoping for some advice on how to make the process as quick as possible in light of both his mothers green card status and our professional qaulifications.

I am 24 years old, I have a BSc honours degree in Physics and 4 years work experience. I have worked primarily in technical sales, firstly in the telecommunications industry and later as a financial trader. Currently I am an account director for a creative firm in central London.

My boyfriend is 25, he has a Msc honours degree in Physics and 3 years work experience. He is currently working as a financial trader.

I'd greatly appreciate any feedback regarding our best options. I have looked into the numeous visa options and am slightly confused about the best way forward for us. We are both completely dedicated to this move so any helpful advice is most appreciated.

Many thanks,
Rhi

discoviking

If you haven't already, read the wiki:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulaski's_Ways:_How_to_Live_and_Work_in_the_USA

RhiTom

Many thanks for this link, I have read through this previously. We've had such conflicting opinions back regarding turnaround times etc I was hoping what everyone thought our chances of finding work quickly given our professional backgrounds. Naturally we don't have a wealth of employment history being younger.

Marocco

If your boyfriend's mother becomes a US citizen and you marry him, she can petition for you under the 3rd family preference category (married sons and daughters of citizens). It's a few years' wait though - according to the October visa bulletin they are currently processing petitions filed in Jan 2001. This is due to the fact that only a limited number of places per year is allocated for each family category.

Apart from that, the easiest way would probably be to find work with a multinational company and be transferred to the US (L1 visa). If you are married and one of you can transfer to the US, the other can go on an L2 visa, which also allows you to work.

discoviking

Depends on how you define quickly. There are still tens of thousands of americans looking for employment at the moment, and they are all authorized to begin work immediately. What do you have to offer a prospective employer that they don't?

But that's besides the point. The first question you need to answer is what kind of visa do you believe the two of you qualify for if any? If you don't fall within one of the categories listed in the wiki, it is unlikely that you will be moving to the US any time soon.

ian-mstm

How, exactly, did she qualify for a GC based on her son's athletic ability? It's okay if you don't know... I'm just curious.

Ian

dreamercon

Well, naturally they would be looking for a H1b/L1 visa. I don't think it's impossible to get one, but getting a job offer won't be easy at present.

RhiTom

Hi Ian,

She has only just been successful on the green card front, she's been working there as an Engligh teacher for nearly 10 years. Originally she had been travelling back and forth every 3 months before deciding to look for a job. She managed to start work on a visa within a couple of months and has been working there ever since so she was lucky to fall into work very quickly, her green card was granted last month.

This is the main area of interest for me as some posts basically imply even with outstanding credentials the process is a lengthy nightmare whereas she was able to find work as an English teacher with a High School very quickly and move over within a matter of weeks.

I'm sure there are loads of exceptions to the long process so widely discussed, it certainly gives me strong encouragement.

Ozzidoc

So, to clarify, your boyfriend's mother was able to obtain a visa which allowed her to work and then permanent residency (a "green card") completely independenly of her son?

What visa or residency status does your boyfriend's brother have?

Rete

I have to chime in that coming to live and work in the US is not going to easy for you. Your mum is not in a position to do much but petition for you and then the wait will be years.

As for a work visa, I don't see much hope in that for either of you. The US does not need financial traders. We have too many that have lost their jobs already and the mandate is to hire from within and not without.

The US is not the land of plenty nor are the streets paved in gold. It is hell sometimes to be living here and you should really and truly step back and take a long hard look at what life in the US is going to be like.

RhiTom

Thanks dreamercon, this was certainly the visa we had in mind. I absolutely agree with you on the job market front, there are seriously qualified people looking for jobs. We are fairly well connected through family & friends over in the states so I'm optimistic we'll make quick progress here considering the CV requests incoming so far, if I were to land a job is it simply a case of moving over? This is a naiive question I know, there are just so many conflicting streams of feedback on most threads I'm totally none the wiser as to what exactly has to happen prior to packing bags!

sime303

For starters a lengthy wait, so job offers that are there today will probably not be there when you get your visa. My advice is get the visa before anything else.

RhiTom

That's correct Ozzidoc, her work visa and now green card were both applications completely independent to her sons tennis scholarship. He is currently a dependent of her and will have full residency status as soon as she gets her green card, as far as I understand.

Thanks for your reply Rene. I would not necessarily be looking for work as a financial trader, I'm currently working for a marketing firm so have held a couple of different positions within different industries over the last few years. In terms of skills coming over etc both my partner and I have exceptional (please note this is for the purpose of supporting our case and I know how arrogant this sounds in any other context!) qualifications and academics behind us which I truly hope cement us as being of particular 'use' to companies in the US and help get our foot in the door. It's really important to us to be close to family.

ian-mstm

Getting a job is the easy part. Qualifying for a visa is what's going to slow you down. It's a lengthy and expensive proposition on the part of the employer... and you'd need superior qualifications before they'd consider sponsoring someone when there's lots of folks already available who don't need sponsoring. Sorry... but it's the reality of the situation in the current economy.

Ian

RhiTom

Thanks sime303, again its chicken and egg as I simply don't know which way to go first. How do I secure a visa without having a job?