Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

Hi everyone.

So my partner has his final embassy interview on Thursday for his H1B visa to come over and work in the states - we currently live in UK

I have a great job, but have agreed to forgo this in order to let him further his career in the states (he works in a very specialist sector with a huge talent shortage in the USA)

As any of you who have been through this process well know, there is a lot of waiting and unknowns in the process, and we had always planned to get married in order to make the move easier and allow me to ultimately get back to work after a period of time out to settle.

We are not married despite having lived together 7 years, as my father got cancer last year and died quite suddenly and we don't feel ready to do it yet.

I was planning to initially enter and leave on an ESTA for the first 6/9 months and we would then get married and apply for relevant visa - so i can work.


We have now found there is a B2 cohabiting visa.

-can i volunteer with a B2 - full on charitable work?

- how long does it take to get a B2 visa, do I just make a seperate application once his H1B is done?

- is there any reason I would not be allowed to enter and leave as I wanted on a B2 visa? I plan to spend quite a bit of time in the UK still

- Can i work in the UK when I am home if I have a B2?


Thanks so much in advance everyone, your sharing of knowledge is much appreciated

Re: Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

Hi, and welcome to BE.

You can't work anyway on an H4? Or did you mean a visa that's not dependent on his?

I'll move your thread to the immi section of the forum as it's about visas, the good folks there will no doubt be along shortly to help you with your B2 questions.

Best of luck.

Re: Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

Apologies, I suspected I may have goosed up my first post!

I had read somewhere that they brought in a new rule that you could work if you had a H4? Must have got it wrong, such a minefield!

Thansk very much

Re: Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

From my (limited) understanding, that's only when you get to a certain point in the immigrant visa/green card process. Are your partner's employers prepared to sponsor him for a green card?

Others will be along to clarify shortly no doubt! :)

Re: Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

I'm not sure I'll ever understand this. You're willing to forego your own career for this person, and move half way across the world for him... but even after 7 years, you don't feel ready to marry him? How odd!


As you've read, you can't work on an H-4 visa.


Yes... you can also volunteer with an H-4 visa.


Just a few minutes... the hard part is getting an appointment.


Yes.


No.


Yes. The US has no interest in what you do when you aren't in the US.


Yes, but as christmasoompa notes... that option kicks in only after you're already in the process to get a green card - which, by the way, may not ever happen.

Ian

Re: Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

Ian,

Sorry i dont get how to quote on these threads yet!

thanks so much for your uber helpful response!

neither of us are really into getting married for the sake of a piece of paper, and as we lost my dad suddenly last year the thought of doing it without him is still too raw,

also, as it doesn't really make any difference as to me getting into states if I can get a B2 there is no real requirement to just for a different kind of visa.

part of the idea of the move is to allow me to spend more time with my mum, for elongated periods of time rather than always being at work. (I already live 5 hours from her now so dont see her much) I also want to travel a bit, so have no intention on being in the states for prolonged periods of time - no longer than 4 months at a time i would say.

If I can work when I am back in the UK, and if I am allowed to volunteer in the USA - the B2 sounds perfect for us.

I will just wait for him to get his H1B and then make my own appointment.

We have several properties and all our family in the UK. We also have 7 years of documented relationship proof (mortgage etc) so we shouldnt hit any problems from my research?

Thanks again form sunny scotland!

Re: Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

Hit the "Quote" button in the bottom right corner of the post you want to quote.

For advanced quoting that Ian does, insert additional "[qu0te]" and "[/qu0te]" (use "o" not "0" - if I had used o's it would have turned the "and" into a quote box) before and after anything you want to quote.

Tip: to break up a quote into multiple sections like Ian does, click where you want to type into a break in the quoted text, then click the quote button above the edit box (looks like a yellow, square speach bubble), then add and remove the "/" to end one quote and start another.

Re: Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

There's a quote button at the bottom right of each post. :)


There is a subtle but important difference, however so long as you're eligible for the visa. The H-4 is a derivative visa... so, if you apply for it, you'll get it. There is no guarantee that you'll get a B-2 visa as a cohabiting partner.


It's your choice, of course. :)


I was born in Glasgow... and my family lived in Muirend.

Ian

Re: Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

You might want to look at health insurance. As an unmarried partner, he probably can't add you as a dependent on his coverage, so you need your own.

Rene

Re: Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

I'll be very sad to leave Glasgow, its a fantastic place to live!

I may be being overly confident but I cant understand why they would deny me a B2 and if they did, could we then get married (which is part of the long term plan anyway) and just apply for the H4?

I cant see any previous examples of people being denied B2?

Thanks for the tip on the insurance Rene, I think he has looked into that, and found a quote somewhere for $3000 for both of us which is OK - but a lot of ifs/whats/buts and maybes and we didnt do too much until we know if he definitely gets this h1b!

Re: Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

I'm not sure why either... but I threw it out there because the possibility exists. If you're going to make a decision, it should be an informed decision! :)


Yes.

Ian

Re: Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

If you get a B2 / H4 and can't work, but spend significant time in the US you will become tax resident, so you will need to file tax returns in the US as well as the UK for your worldwide income, even if none of your income is from here. The tax you pay to HMRC for your UK work will likely offset any federal tax you owe, but depending which state / city you live in you may be hit with other taxes, and you cant credit UK tax's against these.

Re: Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

Thanks - you guys are so helpful - I wish I'd joined this when we started this whole process, he was offered the job last October - and we didnt hold out much hope as he had a 1 in 3.5 chance of getting a H1B due to lottery - but here we are.

Now we just have to get me in :)

My earnings in the UK will probably be very small, but I will be sure to check that out, thanks tht

Re: Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

As for the health insurance, it will probably be provided by your partner's employer. Some employers will also cover unmarried partners and some won't. He should check on that. If they don't cover unmarried partners, that would be one advantage of being married. Then you can probably get on his insurance.

- Eric S.

Re: Advice kindly requested; Brits moving on H1B and B2 (hopefully) to Chicago
 

Thanks Eric.

We are actually in a pretty strong position with the future employer and have yet to iron out the detail of the contract. This is a role which just a handful of people are qualified to do in the USA and they will have been looking to fill it for 2 years by the time we likely arrive. There was little point discussing the details until we knew if he could actually get into the states.

I would appreciate any advice / opinions on the below.

Strong basic salary
Car + insurance (i assume but will check this includes me)
Medical insurance for both of us
We are also going to ask them to provide housing (we have a house in the UK we need to keep given it is only 3 year contract initially)
37 days holiday including public hols

We are going to ask about life insurance given he will be the only earner
we are also going to ask re pensions - about to give up 18% in UK

is there anything else we should be discussing?

Thanks again guys