Elliot-Ross

Hi ya, im 17 and it has been my dream for a long time to become a special agent in the United States. However I have found several problems:
They ask for you to have a bachelor degree, Because I live in the UK is a bachelor degree over here valid in America? And what is the equivalent to one over here as I haven't seen anything which is called that?

Also I have seen something on the USA immigration site called a student visa, however it hasn't got a lot of info on it. What does a student visa allow you to do, and how are the fees in American university's if I decide to go over there to study.

If I get a student visa and go to study in America, and the course is lets say 3-4 years does this allow me to apply for citizenship as I really want to be a special agent and that is the only way to become one!

And green cards: What is the story with these???

Thanks so much
Elliot

md95065

Read this.

really ...

meauxna

Please do a little bit of background reading so that you understand some of the terms, then we can help you make sense of it.

Green Card (Permanent Residence)

Read that, and the links on that page.

Also, please read the Really Really Read Me post pinned at the top of the forum.
thanks.

BILDER

What's a special agent? FBI?

Elliot-Ross

Special agent is FBI, its what I want to do but it is very difficult to do so! Especially when I am a British citizen!

GeoffM

Special Agent Oso. It's on the Disney channel so it must be true.

(Sorry, I couldn't resist. It's my son's favorite show)

Elliot, beware that US universities will cost you (or your parents) tens of thousands of dollars per year - and apparently most US degrees are four years.

BILDER

You've got a long way kid. Could take you another 17 years to become a US citizen, a little less if you get married to a USC.

Duncan Roberts

Look at and apply for the GCHQ Leadership Development Scheme, make sure you go to a university in the UK that is accredited with the US department of education (there are not many), get experience for 10 years after you graduate university and then hope you are able to get to the US in some capacity that will lead to citizenship. The last part is extremely unlikely though and you're probably looking at a couple of decades total time before you could even think about applying. By the way, the life of an FBI agent is not really like it is on TV or in a movie.

BILDER

^ listen to Columbo.

Elliot-Ross

Bloody hell! Didn't think it would take that long! I was thinking of a few years! I know that you can be up to 37 years old to apply to be a special agent, but it looks like that is out of the window!!! I have seen that after working in America on a green card it can take average of 7 years to become a citizen??? Is there some sort of job list which the immigration goes on, point system or something? I really want to pursue this career!!

Duncan Roberts

No. You'll need a degree from an accredited university, most in the UK are not and a lot in the US aren't either. You need to be a citizen and unless you marry an American it will take a very long time to get citizenship, if it's possible at all. Getting a greencard via a job takes a while then you have to have it for 5 years before you are eligible for citizenship. Through marriage you get a greencard relatively quickly but still need to wait 3 years for citizenship. Do you have any immediate family who are US citizens? Even if you are eligible to apply to the FBI it's not that easy to get a job there.

Noorah101

No, there is no point system. Did you read the link in Post #2 of this thread? Those are all the ways of getting into the USA.

If you happen to get a work related visa (which you wouldn't, at your age, with no university education), it may or may not lead to a green card. Let's say it does. Let's say you spend the next 4 - 6 years getting a university education in the UK. So in 2017 you are qualified now to get hired with a company in the USA somehow. You come to the USA in 2017 on a work visa. The employer decides 3 years later to start your green card process. So now it's 2020. It takes lets' say 2 years to get your green card. It's now 2022. After 5 years of being a PR (having a green card), it's now 2027. You can now apply for citizenship, which takes maybe a year. So you might become a USC in 2028 if this scenario works out for you. Of course this is just an example, and there are too many variables to say anything certain. But as you can see, even with this simple and realistic scenario, it's taking 17 years for you to become a USC. You're 17 now, so that would make you 34 when you become a USC, in the above scenario.

Rene

Hopeful_USA2011

You could in gtheory become a USC by about age 25 but it would mean marrying a USC (not that that's a bad thing of course ).

ian-mstm

Why? What, exactly, is it about the FBI that so entices you? I'm asking you to think about this... and write down all the reasons why you want to be an FBI agent. If you can't convince us... you sure as hell won't convince the FBI. So... c'mon, tell us. It'll be good practice for later on.

Ian

discoviking

Go for MI-5 instead. Spooks is cooler than the X-files anyway.