dickinson.lm

I am 20 years old living in America. My boyfriend is 18 and living in the U.K.. We've been together for about a year now and are planning on one day having him move here to the U.S. so that we can get an apartment together. However, we are encountering a lot of problems when looking into immigration for a number of reasons.

I was on here a long time ago, around when we first started dating, just to get a general idea of what we are up against, but now it is getting to the point where I am seriously looking into details. We would like for this to happen over the next year. Once I am out of school, I will be moving to Murfreesboro, TN near Middle Tennessee State University. We would like for him to be able to move into an apartment with me and possibly attend the University there as well. These are the problems, questions and concerns that we have:

Student Visa: I have been told that while in the U.S. on a student visa, the visa holder cannot be hired for a job. Thus, school must be paid for up front, which is a huge problem because I can't afford to pay for an apartment, bills, food, etc. on my own and without him working and the fact that our families struggle with money as it is, paying for school up front is nearly impossible. We are looking into exchange programs, but unfortunately most of the schools in the U.S. are no where near where I am moving or near any of our family and being so unstable, getting an apartment and all for the first time and living on our own, I don't want to be so far from family. Also, almost all of the programs are only for a single semester. We are not, however, completely giving up on this idea. If there are no other avenues, we will take whatever we can get.

Work Visa: Now the impression I had, whether from being told or not I don't remember, of work visas is that you work with a company that is planning on hiring you to get the visa. I was just recently informed that this is not true and you have to have a visa first in order to get hired anywhere. I'm not exactly sure what the true information on this is. Although, another problem that comes up for this is that he is very young and does not yet have any kind of degree, real work experience, etc. It's hard enough to get a job with the recession going on in the U.K. much less while you're younger. When I was looking up work visas, all of the ones I was coming across were for business men, teachers, people with a lot of experience in their field, etc. Is anyone aware of any visas that are for people looking for just any kind of job? A restaurant, a secretary, something and the bottom of the rung as far as positions go. Anything to start off with is what we're looking for and it seems like there is nothing out there for this kind of situation.

If there is no other real way to get him here other than this, I have been told that the only other option is for us to get married. All I really want is time to live with him for a while first before we do anything that drastic. Another option we've allowed ourselves is me moving to the U.K. for a year until we felt that we could do that, but part of us just wants to get married in court anyway just to bring him here and not have a real ceremony or anything until WE are ready to take that commitment. It's kind of a big mess and we don't really know what to do.

If anyone sees any false information in what I said, has any other options that we don't know about or has any advice about how we can go about this, it would be greatly, greatly appreciated. We are open to any ideas. Thank you for your time.

Rete

As you have found out, non-immigration visas are extremely difficult to get. Yes, you can get an F-1 but you have to have a letter of acceptance from the school and you need to be able to show that the course will be paid for in full and that you have money for books, room, board. Yes, also you cannot work off campus but you can work on-campus. Will this bring in a lot of money? It is doubtful.

As for a non-immigration work visa, you must have the skiils in either the form of higher education and/or work experience to qualify. In addition, the job can only be in one of the categories listed.

Low paying non-professional employment does not fall under the HB or L visas. If you want to spend time together, perhaps he can look into a J visa.

Good luck.

dickinson.lm

I figured as much.. A J visa. Okay, I'll have to look into that.

Noorah101

Kudos to you for doing a lot of research ahead of time. Everything you've said is correct. At age 18, it will be more than difficult to get a work visa - I'd say pretty much impossible. He doesn't have the degree or experience to go that way.

Student visa is possible, but you've mentioned the financial problems, which probably will nix that idea as well.

A J-1 might be the way to go, but no guarantee he'll be able to live near you (or with you) in the USA.

As you've discovered, the easiest way to bring him here is via marriage, but you are very wise to realize you're both young and not ready to take that big step just yet.

In the meantime, unfortunately, there is not a "live together before you get married" visa. You will probably have to continue the long-distance relationship until you feel ready to make the marriage commitment.

You mentioned wanting to get married "just to bring him here", and then have your "real" wedding later. But you need to realize that even the court marriage is binding, you will need to fill out an Affidavit of Support (or if you don't earn enough, you need to find a joint sponsor who does), and this is a binding financial contract between you (or the joint sponsor) and the US government, and divorce does not void that contract. So it's a big risk to take if things don't work out in the long run, especially since you're not really prepared for marriage just yet.

You have some decisions to make.

Rene

dickinson.lm

And thank you. We'll need it by the looks of things.

dickinson.lm

Yeah, you're right Noorah. It's a big step to take either way and it is binding. It's a really hard situation to be in. I will look more into the J-1 visa, but it would be tough if we still couldn't live near each other. It looks like me moving there for a year is looking to be the option of choice.

Jerseygirl

I don't know any of the ins and outs of moving to the UK...but I'm pretty sure you'll need some sort of visa if you want to live there for a year.

Octang Frye

Did you meet over the web? Ever met in person?

dickinson.lm

We did meet over the web. Yes, we have met once and we're spending 7 weeks together over the summer, half in the U.S. and half in the U.K.. I'll have to look into visas for the U.K. but I'm sure its at least a little bit easier to get in there than it is here. Hopefully.

Octang Frye

Cool. Did you share a common interest? Chatroulette?

Will this be your first time in England, and his first time here?
I'm excited for you both. To see it all through fresh eyes.

That's why I like to have visitors who have never been to the US before.
I get to see my home through their eyes - the wonder of it all anew.

dickinson.lm

Mm, well thank you! We're both really excited for the summer too. We'll have much more time together this time around. And we met under a common interest, yeah. In a role playing forum. >.< It's just really stressful being in the long distance relationship for the pure fact that we've been trying to hard to figure out how to move in together finally. Everything else is amazing.

But yeah, it will be my first time in Europe, let alone the U.K. I'm so excited.

paul_79

You've already had replies on him moving to the US, but for you going to the UK look into BUNAC for when you finish school maybe. It gives you 6 mths in the UK and you're able to work. My wife and I met when she was in the UK on the BUNAC scheme (which was slightly different then). At the end of the 6 mths she was then sponsored for a 5 year working visa. We didn't stay in the UK for that long though and now we're married and living in the US.

dickinson.lm

Oh, awesome! Thanks, yeah I didn't even start looking into moving to the U.K. yet so that is really helpful. Thanks so much. Can you reapply or renew the BUNAC? I was kind of planning on staying a year if I moved there.

paul_79

No, I don't think you can. If you qualify for other visas you can then apply for those at the end (such as HSMP - google it).

It's an option - 6 mths is better than 0 mths even if you have to leave at the end of it. And you never know what doors it might open for you (as it did for my wife).