sweaterboy

Hi,

I've been researching this for a while and decided to post because this forum actually has a lot of useful information on it which has helped a lot. I'm still kind of unsure about which route to go with so thought I'd ask opinions directly.

Basically I'm in my final year of university in Britain (I'm a British citizen, 21 years old), the uni is one of (perhaps the) top in the country (saying this in case it is relevant to the immigration officials decision, don't want to mention the exact one as not to give too much identifiable information), and while here I started dating an American girl on a year exchange programme. She's moving back to uni in a major American city from late June until mid-May next year and we both want to continue the relationship, ideally by me moving there.

Now I have an income from a UK based company I own, it's not that great, only about £800 a month, but enough to just about get by in the US. The income will definitely increase as I'll actually have time to put into the business while there, in the past it's been several times that while I was at school. But basically right now there's nothing in my bank account, although I do have credit cards and overdrafts available with about £8000 which I could max out to put into one bank account if required for showing I have access to funds. I also probably could get approved for a loan as I have been pre-approved in the past.

So ideally I'd like to get a B1/2 visa and move over there for the entire year, continue running the UK business remotely (by email, online, telephone - the business is online media related). I'd sublet a room in the city. I realise it is quite unlikely I'm going to get this - I do not own a home, I do not have a job expecting me to go back (I could get a company I've worked for before to hire me and provide a 'must return to work in May 2012' letter though), and apart from my parents I don't have strong connections here. From their point of view I could easily be an immigrant. The only thing going for me is that friends with similar degrees are getting jobs here paying £40k+ and obviously if I was an illegal immigrant to the US I'd be lucky to get a fifth of that. I could probably get a friend in the US who with his wife makes about $200k to sponsor me, but I doubt that would help. I might apply for joint B1/2 and do research while there (I've been wanting to scan historical photographs for website I own for a while).

I'm worried that if I apply I would not be able to get a visa waiver so we'd have to go down the K-1 marriage route, which we don't really want to do and to be honest I don't want to be permanent resident of the US. The plan is for her to come to Britain after May.

An alternative is to try to get a H1B job. I don't have programming skills so the traditional route is unavailable, my degree isn't job related, the best I can offer in skill set is internet marketing but TBH there's lot of people in the US with those skills and I doubt a company would want to go through the hassle of applying for H1B. The alternative I suppose is financial jobs - a lot of people in my course are getting jobs at investment banks etc, without direct skills in this, but the city I'm going to isn't New York (isn't a financial hub) and without direct skills I doubt I'd get a H1B.

So visa waiver is an unhappy alternative. It means I would go for three sets of times, first just under 90 days, second just over 60 and third just under 90. It would mean long time apart (three sets of slightly over a month). I worry that they may not even allow this though. I'd be subletting rather than staying in hotels which might go against me, I'd largely be in the same city, and the only way I can see them allowing it is on the basis of research in the archives in the city (it, as a happy coincidence, is ideal for the historical photographs I want to scan - and I'm the kind of person who wouldn't mind actually doing real research too, it might help for future masters/PHD applications to have done enough to get something published).

So the question is which route do I take. My inclination right now is to initially go over for three months on a visa waiver and then go back for a month before flying out again. This is due to the fear that a B1/2 rejection would mean I wouldn't be rejected for a visa waiver (I see people say this is mixed, but I wouldn't want to risk this as it kind of would mean a marriage visa would be the only route). I could also potentially look for a job while there, although as H1B opened in April the 65,000 would probably be filled by then (if it's not already). My worry then is if using visa waiver after spending a month in Britain (mid-September to mid-October) and flying out again for a trip until mid-December they might turn me back, or later in mid-January when going for the final 90 days. Again this would kind of mean, at least if it happened in mid-October, the marriage route would be the only way.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, anything no matter how short would be really helpful, I've become quite stressed over the whole thing and while I don't like usually asking questions in forums I haven't already contributed to this is a last resort. I'll be sure to post any experiences here to help future members.

ian-mstm

You can't move to the US on a visitor's visa. End of story.


You are not allowed to work on a visitor's visa. The criterion? Your physical body inside the US. End of story.


That doesn't sound viable given your skill set.


You may be allowed in 3 times, you may not.


Very often, there is no specific visa for what people want to do. Such is life.


Just get married... in the long run, it'll save you a lot of grief.

Ian

meauxna

Or the VWP.

sweaterboy, as a recent grad, why don't you check out the J-1 exchange programs? That's the only option for coming over to the US to work a non-career type job for the short term.

Everything else you posted is a non-starter.

sweaterboy

Thanks Ian. If we did want to do the K-1 route, do you think it would be OK to start the process while I was in the US on visa waiver (obviously I'd have to return to complete the process, I was wondering if it was possible to even start while there). I've seen a few sites saying the actual process takes about three months despite them saying it takes significantly longer, so to avoid spending too long apart if we went down that route starting at the beginning of a visa waiver trip would be best.

sweaterboy

Would they reject a visa waiver programme for the summer? Surely that would look like (and actually I suppose is) just a long holiday with a friend I met while here (who is renting a place in the city over the summer anyway, so it could be 'staying with friends' - I would not be renting myself)

The J-1 things seem to be things like Camp America which would not be in the city and mean we couldn't spend time together, they also seem to last at most four months.

Noorah101

The K-1 visa process takes roughly 8 - 10 months, and yes, the I-129F can be filed while you are still in the USA. However, you must be ready to marry and must write statements to that effect. Since she's planning to immigrate to the UK in May 2012, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to do the K-1 visa, since it leaves you still visiting on the VWP (as you would w/o the K-1 going on anyway), then spending only a few months in the USA before you both return to the UK. The K-1 visa is for those who are planning to immigrate to the USA and become US Permanent Residents.

Rene

Noorah101

Would who reject a VWP program for the summer? The VWP visit can be done any time of the year, for up to 90 days at a time in the USA. Most effective if you stay outside the USA longer than you were inside the USA between each VWP visit.

There are other J-1 programs. Do a bit more research. Check with universities in the city where she'll be living.

Rene

meauxna

Lots of different options besides Camp America. Check it out.
http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1267.html

Bob

J1 internship once you've graduated to get the most out of it...or do a uni student exchange, if it's as good a uni as you say, they'll have someone who can help arrange it and have contacts with places to do this then you just sort out the F1 student visa and come up with living costs etc.

sweaterboy

The internship suggestions seem perfect. There's actually loads of museums in the city that have unpaid ones which would probably look great on a CV for applying to grad school and I could afford to do (the company brings in money without any work being put in, so there would be nothing illegal). I'll have a search here for previous experiences of people.