Tim Biller

Hello all,

I've been lurking and occasionally posting while also researching my
situation and both myself and my wife would be very grateful for some
advice.

I'm a UKS (resident in the UK) and my wife is a USC resident in California
(her home state). We were married there in February 2002 and shortly
afterwards returned to the UK to live. (My wife having obtained the
necessary visa to do this)

Unfortunately the ill-health of one of our twin daughters prompted a sudden
return to the sunnier climes of the San Francisco Bay Area in March of this
year. We are now researching the option for getting me over there with them
(I have a job here, my wife is currently job-hunting in CA) Had my wife
stayed we would have (in due time) initiated DCF for me to work and live
back in the USA, as we planned to return there after a few years.

HI-B
It's becoming pretty obvious to me that I don't have the necessary
attributes to qualify for an H1-B visa. I work in a pretty narrow (but
widening) sector of IT (storage) and while I have all the certifications
from the various software/hardware vendors I don't have a degree and I've
only been in IT for 6 years. I do have a potential job offer from a
US-based employer but even with that I doubt that we can convince the
necessary authorities of my eligibility for H1-B status. The prospective
employers HR department are checking into that now.

K-3
So the other option is a K-3. This would then enable me to enter the USA
and obtain EAD (hopefully at POE although that seems uncommon from what I've
seen) and then take up the job offer as I would then be (effectively) a US
resident and able to work. Immediate filing for AOS would then be made.

The only (only -hah!) fly I can see in this ointment is my wife's current
unemployment (therefore we would fall at the income hurdle)

So my main questions are:

1) When she has a job with a decent salary to take her over the 125%/poverty
limit then can I use my job offer as extra leverage on BCIS to grant the K3?

2) Would my prospective employer be breaking the law in offering a job to an
alien who currently has no right to accept it?

Thanks again for any feedback.

Tim and Crys

Apologies for the length of this posting. This is a superb resource full of
vastly experienced (battle-scarred?) and helpful people and should be
required reading for any and all who want to live and work in the USA.


(NB the email and Reply-To address is invalid - so for email please use "tim
at charlieb dot demon dot co dot uk")

L D Jones

Tim Biller wrote:
    >
    > Hello all,
    >
    > I've been lurking and occasionally posting while also researching my
    > situation and both myself and my wife would be very grateful for some
    > advice.
    >
    > I'm a UKS (resident in the UK) and my wife is a USC resident in California
    > (her home state). We were married there in February 2002 and shortly
    > afterwards returned to the UK to live. (My wife having obtained the
    > necessary visa to do this)
    >
    > Unfortunately the ill-health of one of our twin daughters prompted a sudden
    > return to the sunnier climes of the San Francisco Bay Area in March of this
    > year. We are now researching the option for getting me over there with them
    > (I have a job here, my wife is currently job-hunting in CA) Had my wife
    > stayed we would have (in due time) initiated DCF for me to work and live
    > back in the USA, as we planned to return there after a few years.
    >
    > HI-B
    > It's becoming pretty obvious to me that I don't have the necessary
    > attributes to qualify for an H1-B visa. I work in a pretty narrow (but
    > widening) sector of IT (storage) and while I have all the certifications
    > from the various software/hardware vendors I don't have a degree and I've
    > only been in IT for 6 years. I do have a potential job offer from a
    > US-based employer but even with that I doubt that we can convince the
    > necessary authorities of my eligibility for H1-B status. The prospective
    > employers HR department are checking into that now.
    >
    > K-3
    > So the other option is a K-3. This would then enable me to enter the USA
    > and obtain EAD (hopefully at POE although that seems uncommon from what I've
    > seen) and then take up the job offer as I would then be (effectively) a US
    > resident and able to work. Immediate filing for AOS would then be made.
    >
    > The only (only -hah!) fly I can see in this ointment is my wife's current
    > unemployment (therefore we would fall at the income hurdle)
    >
    > So my main questions are:
    >
    > 1) When she has a job with a decent salary to take her over the 125%/poverty
    > limit then can I use my job offer as extra leverage on BCIS to grant the K3?
    >
    > 2) Would my prospective employer be breaking the law in offering a job to an
    > alien who currently has no right to accept it?
    >
    > Thanks again for any feedback.
    >
    > Tim and Crys
    >
    > Apologies for the length of this posting. This is a superb resource full of
    > vastly experienced (battle-scarred?) and helpful people and should be
    > required reading for any and all who want to live and work in the USA.

If your wife still a resident of the UK? Has her UK status expired? Have
you contacted the US consulate to determine whether you are still
eligible to file directly? I would exhaust all possibilities in this
area before thinking about the K-3

meauxna

ditto, ditto, ditto. It may be possible to DCF if you ask the right question the right way.

Tim And Crys

"L D Jones" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > If your wife still a resident of the UK? Has her UK status expired? Have
    > you contacted the US consulate to determine whether you are still
    > eligible to file directly? I would exhaust all possibilities in this
    > area before thinking about the K-3

Hi - thanks for the reply.

I just called and asked and her UK visa expired on June 11th. Damn - so I
guess that avenue is closed.

I'll check with the consulate tomorrow on what our remaining options are.

Thanks,

--

Tim

(NB the email and Reply-To address is invalid - so for email please use "tim
at charlieb dot demon dot co dot uk")

Tim And Crys

"meauxna" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Originally posted by L D Jones
    > >
    > > If your wife still a resident of the UK? Has her UK status
    > > expired? Have
    > > you contacted the US consulate to determine whether you are still
    > > eligible to file directly? I would exhaust all possibilities in this
    > > area before thinking about the K-3
    > ditto, ditto, ditto. It may be possible to DCF if you ask the right
    > question the right way.

Hi - as I replied above to LD Jones my wife's British visa expired on June
11th (ie last week)

And as she's no longer resident here I'm not sure how to progress. I'll
contact the consulate and see what they say.

Thanks,


--

Tim

(NB the email and Reply-To address is invalid - so for email please use "tim
at charlieb dot demon dot co dot uk")

L D Jones

Tim and Crys wrote:
    >
    > "L D Jones" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > If your wife still a resident of the UK? Has her UK status expired? Have
    > > you contacted the US consulate to determine whether you are still
    > > eligible to file directly? I would exhaust all possibilities in this
    > > area before thinking about the K-3
    >
    > Hi - thanks for the reply.
    >
    > I just called and asked and her UK visa expired on June 11th. Damn - so I
    > guess that avenue is closed.
    >
    > I'll check with the consulate tomorrow on what our remaining options are.

It didn't expire that long ago. I would try to convince them you would
have done DCF if your daughter's health problem had not taken your wife
out of the country. If the I-130 is filed for you in the US it could
take a year to be approved. Don't take no for an answer. Ask to speak to
a supervisor or consular officer (I don't know the official title of the
people there)

Tim And Crys

"L D Jones" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Tim and Crys wrote:
    > >
    > > "L D Jones" wrote in message
    > > news:[email protected]...
    > > > If your wife still a resident of the UK? Has her UK status expired?
Have
    > > > you contacted the US consulate to determine whether you are still
    > > > eligible to file directly? I would exhaust all possibilities in this
    > > > area before thinking about the K-3
    > >
    > > Hi - thanks for the reply.
    > >
    > > I just called and asked and her UK visa expired on June 11th. Damn - so
I
    > > guess that avenue is closed.
    > >
    > > I'll check with the consulate tomorrow on what our remaining options
are.
    > It didn't expire that long ago. I would try to convince them you would
    > have done DCF if your daughter's health problem had not taken your wife
    > out of the country. If the I-130 is filed for you in the US it could
    > take a year to be approved. Don't take no for an answer. Ask to speak to
    > a supervisor or consular officer (I don't know the official title of the
    > people there)

We would absolutely have gone via DCF otherwise. The original plan was to
live here for three years and then for us all to return to live permanently
in the USA. I guess we should have done DCF as soon as we decided that the
little one had to repatriate. Ho hum.

Thanks very much for the advice! I'll call the embassy tomorrow and report
back.

--

Tim and Crys

(NB the email and Reply-To address is invalid - so for email please use "tim
at charlieb dot demon dot co dot uk")

Andy Platt

"Tim Biller" wrote:

    > HI-B
    > It's becoming pretty obvious to me that I don't have the necessary
    > attributes to qualify for an H1-B visa. I work in a pretty narrow (but
    > widening) sector of IT (storage) and while I have all the certifications
    > from the various software/hardware vendors I don't have a degree and I've
    > only been in IT for 6 years. I do have a potential job offer from a
    > US-based employer but even with that I doubt that we can convince the
    > necessary authorities of my eligibility for H1-B status. The prospective
    > employers HR department are checking into that now.

I'm 99.999% sure the answer will not be good. As you probably know you are
required to have the equivalent of a four year bachelor degree or higher and
that work experience is counted at a rate of three years experience to every
one year "missing" from the degree. So you would need 12 years experience
with no credited years for the degree.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

Tim And Crys

"Andy Platt" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Tim Biller" wrote:
    > > HI-B
    > > It's becoming pretty obvious to me that I don't have the necessary
    > > attributes to qualify for an H1-B visa. I work in a pretty narrow (but
    > > widening) sector of IT (storage) and while I have all the certifications
    > > from the various software/hardware vendors I don't have a degree and
I've
    > > only been in IT for 6 years. I do have a potential job offer from a
    > > US-based employer but even with that I doubt that we can convince the
    > > necessary authorities of my eligibility for H1-B status. The
prospective
    > > employers HR department are checking into that now.
    > I'm 99.999% sure the answer will not be good. As you probably know you are
    > required to have the equivalent of a four year bachelor degree or higher
and
    > that work experience is counted at a rate of three years experience to
every
    > one year "missing" from the degree. So you would need 12 years experience
    > with no credited years for the degree.

Hi Andy,

Well I'm SOL in that case. I guess I was born in the wrong country.
Although why residents of Northern Ireland qualify for the GC lottery and
Scots, Welsh and English don't escapes me. We are all subjects of Brenda
after all. Ho hum.

So it's back to the embassy for advice on DCF. (even though my wife is not
resident here anymore)

And as we are already married, and I entered the USA with intent to marry
AND NOT STAY when I visited for the marriage and to bring the family back to
the UK last year, what is there to stop me from visiting again on VWP and
filing for AOS once in country? Is that likely to get me deported? (I have
a feeling it might...)

Thanks for the feedback. The job offer is a real one and the
salary/benefits are excellent. More than I could ever earn here in the
sector anyway.

Cheers.

--

Tim

(NB the email and Reply-To address is invalid - so for email please use "tim
at charlieb dot demon dot co dot uk")

MrsLondon

Really--don't go over on a VW and stay. It wouldn't look good when you came to AOS even if they let you in in the first place.

Andy Platt

"Tim and Crys" wrote:

    > Well I'm SOL in that case. I guess I was born in the wrong country.
    > Although why residents of Northern Ireland qualify for the GC lottery and
    > Scots, Welsh and English don't escapes me. We are all subjects of Brenda
    > after all. Ho hum.

The lottery would not be a help in this instance anyway. The reason, though,
is simply that Northern Ireland, as a whole, is under-represented as a set
of immigrants whereas Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales are
over-represented.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

Tim And Crys

"Andy Platt" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Tim and Crys" wrote:
    > > Well I'm SOL in that case. I guess I was born in the wrong country.
    > > Although why residents of Northern Ireland qualify for the GC lottery
and
    > > Scots, Welsh and English don't escapes me. We are all subjects of
Brenda
    > > after all. Ho hum.
    > The lottery would not be a help in this instance anyway. The reason,
though,
    > is simply that Northern Ireland, as a whole, is under-represented as a set
    > of immigrants whereas Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales are
    > over-represented.

Ah, understood. Well I've emailed the London embassy so we shall see what
transpires.

Cheers,

--

Tim

(NB the email and Reply-To address is invalid - so for email please use "tim
at charlieb dot demon dot co dot uk")

Tim And Crys

"MrsLondon" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Really--don't go over on a VW and stay. It wouldn't look good when you
    > came to AOS even if they let you in in the first place.

Hi - thanks. Yes, point taken!

They let me in last month for a short visit with no problems. I got quizzed
at POE (SFO) but had my business card with me (enough proof of a job it
seems), one small carry on suitcase and return tix. I was asked who's
address was on the VW and I said it was my wife's parents (never lie at PEO)
as she was living with them in CA while I made arrangements to live in the
USA permanently.

I may be tagged now for future visits but I'll just make sure all my ducks
are in a row for the next time (if the next time isn't the last time, so to
speak...)

Cheers,


--

Tim

(NB the email and Reply-To address is invalid - so for email please use "tim
at charlieb dot demon dot co dot uk")

lairdside

RoI and NI are eligible for the lottery.

I actually spoke to a former Con Off yesterday who confirmed my suspicions, it's less to do with underepresentation by the Irish and more to do with Ted Kennedy

Andy Platt

"lairdside" wrote:

    > RoI and NI are eligible for the lottery.
    > I actually spoke to a former Con Off yesterday who confirmed my
    > suspicions, it's less to do with underepresentation by the Irish and
    > more to do with Ted Kennedy

Hmm, you're right. Perhaps a few years ago it was different. In any case the
requirement is that the particular "country" (and they have a specific
definition for that) has not sent more than 50000 immigrants to the US in
the previous five years.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.