Dallas is the destination..
 

Evening All

Thank you for all welcoming me into the community here; it is much appreciated given the circumstances.

A bit of history:
I've ALWAYS wanted to relocate to America, specifically the heart for many years. I have been a General Manager of music venues, famous restaurants/bars, nightclubs, festivals and I am also an award-winning Opera singer. In my spare time I am a Marketing Advisor and structure independent businesses social outlets an networks to create a fuller and profitable content. I feel like after the 2020 we have had it is time to jump the pond and finally chase my American dream.
After doing my research I have finally settled on Dallas. I have friends in Fort Worth and had many British friends travel and end up in the business sector there too with great opportunities.
In an ideal world, I'd love to go and never bloody come back! However I do know that there is a structure to this and now with Biden taking office, immigration is seeming to have a brighter future.

Facts that may deem important to my case:
- I have been in my chosen field for over 10 years; hold a Personal License and complete clean CRB.
- I have no family restraints or financial/personal ties in the UK; other than a few old bills I'm all paid up.
- I have a dog and he will 1000% be joining on the journey; he is very much my medicine in terms of mental health support.
- I DO have somewhere to live when I get to TX; and with the first 8 weeks expect to have my own home with a friend.
- I have no time frame but ideally would like to be long gone by June 2021 with my feet firmly on American soil.
- I do not own a property here and merely rent, I am taking only two suitcases and will be selling all my possessions apart from memorable things to my Grandmothers house.

After much research online for the last month I have driven myself to a madness in terms of the best route to go by to get into the country safely, quickly and without any issue on my VISA.

ALL help is appreciated!

Thank you x

Re: Dallas is the destination..
 

Hi, welcome.
You're going to want to read this first:
https://britishexpats.com/forum/us-i...ork-us-585898/
There are a very limited number of ways to make this happen, and put bluntly, unless you have close relatives living in the U.S. who are U.S. citizens, it's going to be difficult.
As you state you are an "Award winning Opera singer", your best chance may be the O-1 visa. I would research that to see if you qualify.

Re: Dallas is the destination..
 

You need a visa to work and live in the US - that is your first task to get. While you are focusing on Dallas any visa you get might mean you are anywhere in the US.

You either get a work visa (for this you need a sponsoring company), an investment visa or if your singing is that good maybe apply for an O-1 Extraordinary Ability.

https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the...or-achievement

Re: Dallas is the destination..
 

I agree with this. The O-1 visa is an employment visa, though. I am not an immigration lawyer, but it seems unlikely that you'd get an O-1 visa as an opera singer, if you aren't normally employed as an opera singer.

Jojo - welcome to the forum. I'm afraid the most likely explanation for you being "driven to madness" trying to work out which visa to apply for, is that none of them are available to you.

You also might consider that 2020 is no better in the US than the UK.

Re: Dallas is the destination..
 

I agree that 'award-winning Opera singer' is a possible path. But, an 01 visa will mean that you can only work in that field. If your Opera credentials are really strong, you can apply for a EB1 Green Card which means you won't need a sponsor and you can work in any field you like. Your best bet is to have a consultation with an immigration lawyer that does a lot of Extraordinary Ability cases.

Re: Dallas is the destination..
 

The only thing mentioned that leaps out is the award winning Opera Singer. Somebody I know is a well known DJ and moved over on an O1 visa, initially to Colorado but then to Las Vegas where there is much more work.

Is there work for Opera Singers in Dallas?

Re: Dallas is the destination..
 

Which route do you think you qualify for after all your research? I think you are dreaming about something that does not exist.

Re: Dallas is the destination..
 

O-1 and try the EB-1 path justifying it with music teacher for any ISD (Independent School District).
It will be easier this path in case you have any bachelor or masters in music.

As they already advised above, it won’t be a walk in a park.

Re: Dallas is the destination..
 

I just wanted to add as you mentioned mental health support. This may not be the best place to get help for it, something to consider too.

Re: Dallas is the destination..
 

Just something to think about over and above the significant challenge you have of just getting a valid way to move here;

Texas, and in particular Dallas isn't all that great. There are a lot of people from the UK, but it is absolutely not greener on the other side. Getting a home within the first eight weeks whether mortgaged or rented with your name on any documentation will also be a significant issue. These draconian corporations who run apartment complexes are interested in two things; Credit and money. You won't have any credit until long after you've obtained a social security number which at best would take a year (depending on your entry method).

Bills are very different than back in the UK - It's not council tax, it's property tax. You pay water, you pay city, county and in some states, you'll pay state tax (Texas you wont). It's all expensive. Don't even get me started on health insurance.

I learned very quickly that there is a LOT more to it than just moving, no matter how simple it seems.

If it is any consolation, I've upped and left the main land and moved to the US Caribbean to get away from all the nonsense that is going on just now. The US is not a fun place to be right now.

Re: Dallas is the destination..
 

I never found this to be a significant issue when I moved to Texas.

When the large apartment corporations realized that I didn't have any credit record whatever as a new immigrant, they were willing to accept a statement from my employer certifying my income along with an additional sum (a further month's rent I think) towards the deposit.

Now that can still be a significant sum to put down - several thousand dollars in some cases - but like most things in the US, it was a problem that could be overcome with sufficient money up front.

Moving to the US isn't necessarily cheap, and many of the costs - like apartments and car leases - are definitely front loaded.

Re: Dallas is the destination..
 

I know quite a few people who are involved in the classical music scene in Colorado and my impression is that there is quite a bit of mutual support, so an award winning Opera Singer may well have a much better intro than many.

Re: Dallas is the destination..
 

It doesn't take a year to get an SSN. So long as you have a visa entitling you to work it only takes 10-14 days, though the civil pandemic may have affected that.

The US isn't a country you can just "up and move to", and in most cases you need a sponsor (US relative or qualified employer) to start a visa application for you. .... And you cannot apply for a visa from within the US. Unless your employer is transferring you (not "hiring" you, actually "transferring" you, as an existing employee), expect any other visa category to take at least a year to complete, with the covid pandemic adding to that, possibly considerably - and while I am seceptical that you will find any visa, even if you do find a route, I don't believe that it will be possible to get a visa and arrive in the US before mid 2022 at the earliest.

From what you have said, and before our good friend Folinsky shows up, I do see some possibilities in the area of E1 and E2 visas, so a discussion with an experienced immigration attorney about those, as well as the aforementioned O-1 visa, might be useful to identify some possibilities.

Re: Dallas is the destination..
 

Didn't the soon to be ex presidents wife manage to get here on an 0-1 visa?
If you are that good as an opera singer maybe that would work.
Any links to your performances? We love a little entertainment.

Re: Dallas is the destination..
 

I think the O1 has a wider application than most people realize, I had a friend of a friend who moved to NYC... I assumed as an L, when I met her for drinks it turned out she came on an O1, she worked in marketing for an international cosmetics firm... she had add campaigns in international publications and and I think industry awards she was able to show...