Dreamweaver2011

Hi all,

Great forum by the way.

I think it's easier if I just write what I eventually want to achieve and where I am at the moment.

I am a UK citizen, aged 30, I am married with two children, my dream is to live and work in the USA, preferably in the NY/CT area. I will be starting college in Sept for 1 year, then looking to do a 2 year course in my chosen subject (which I haven't narrowed down yet either IT or social services as I have experience in the carer field) My wife is currently working as a assistant teacher and is hoping to qualify to full teacher in the next year or so. My children at the moment are 5 and 8.

The main reason why it's the NY/CT area that interests me is that I have a sister who lives in CT, she lives there with her American husband who owns his own IT company and their 2 year old daughter.

I was just wondering what you guys thought was my best plan of attack as I want to come up with a 5-year plan to achieve my dream.

I really do apologise for this opening post as I'm really not sure how all this works... I appreciate it's confusing and rather annoying to have to deal with new guys! Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

crg

Hi,

I can think of a 15 year plan. The sister becomes a US citizen and sponsors you. The 8 year old may not to be able to tag along though because they may age out in the meantime. The priority dates can and do change though.

ljaw2002uk

Have you read this: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=585898

Orangepants

Welcome to BE.
It is great to have a dream but you have chosen one of the hardest countries to emigrate to. To be eligible for a work visa you need to be really good at what you do and usually very highly qualified. To get a H1B you would have to have a degree and a number of years experience in that field for an employer to seek you out - to go to the time and expense of "importing" you for want of a better phrase. You could get a job with an International company and try to get a transfer with them but you need to have either specialised knowledge or be an executive manager. Unemployment is pretty high here in the US and many companies wont (read - cant - due to a hiring moratorium) employ foreigners. As Gordon Brown once said - British jobs for British workers.
I have been trying for 5 years to get a visa and I am in a niche industry and qualify for a visa (and have been offered several jobs) but companies will not go that extra mile unless you are super dooper! If BIL's company is big enough he may be able to hire you once you fulfill the visa criteria.
Crg has shown you the family based way which would take significantly longer than 5 years but perhaps the most feasible.
Perhaps another country?

Bob

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulask...ork_in_the_USA

That sums it up.

Without a stack of niche IT skills, 5 year plan is looking pretty unlikely, but that's not to say things will be different in the future.

Social work is likely to not be a goer if you're looking at that towards a visa, the employers generally won't have the spare money to petition a visa.

Teaching, equally unlikely and with added issues that you'd pretty much start from scratch again and need to get state certified.

Michael

Your ideal visa would be an intercompany transfer (L1 visa). With that visa, you wife gets a L2 visa and can work. The H1-B visa doesn't allow your wife to work.

With either the L1 or H1-B visa, the employer could possibly sponsor you and your family for green cards but may be difficult depending on your educational background and experience.

iray

Apologies in advance for taking this O/T, but the irony of this of course is that with EU membership there's no way that this could be enforced.

And probably further aggravating the OP is the fact that as a Social Worker (if that ends up being his chosen field) he will find many US transplants that are able to come to the UK due to SW being a shortage occupation.

ljaw2002uk

I am pretty sure I saw a program before I left the UK, a Midlands council (possibly Nott's) was "importing" SW's from Chicago, as they could not find enough suitable applicants locally!

iray

It's still (as of March 2011) considered a shortage occupation ( for family and child social work), so yeah, that wouldn't surprise me.

That's not to say that it's not a thankless, unforgiving job that probably sees a very high turnover.

It does make me wonder though how many Brits have turned to this field (seeing as it's been deemed a shortage occupation since at least November 2008 when Tier 2 was introduced, and not difficult to qualify in) and still can't get a job, yet local authorities continue to recruit abroad.

Dreamweaver2011

Thankyou very much for all your input, it's very much appreciated!

I am at the very beginning of this so there is certainly a lot for me to look into! maybe my best bet would be to become a priest!

I thought there maybe some way through my Brother-in-law or my sister and maybe that would be something to explore?


Again I look forward to becoming an active member on here!

Married2abrit

Regarding your sister and a way to get to the US, crg already answered you in his first post. It is doable (after she is a citizen), but it will take many, many years (especially since you are already married yourself-- single siblings have a bit of a shorter wait).

seawaternow

No shorter wait for single siblings - all the same category F4 and current wait time is 10+ yrs.

S Folinsky

Child Status Protection Act

Married2abrit

Sorry about the inaccuracy in my post. I remember reading on here that certain posters would be told "whatever you do, don't get married because that will add years to your wait". Sorry for the confusion!

seawaternow

That's for children over 21 of LPR (have to be unmarried or they don't qualify for immigrant visa on that basis).