carle88

Hi All,

Hope you are keeping well, this seems like a really friendly helpful place to get advice so here goes.

My partner and I are looking to move to the USA in the next 12 months, so we are in the very early stages of making the move.

We both love the US when we have visited and we have always talked about making the move.

I'll be honest (and i'm sure i'm not the only one) since we have started doing our research it seems like i've opened a huge box of worms as there is so much to consider.

That said myself and my partner are fully committed to moving so the hard work has begun.

I was wondering if there was anyone on here that has made the move who I could speak to over email or skype?

As you can imagine questions are popping into our heads every day and online guides can only guide you so far.

Hope this is ok and looking forward to hearing from some of you.

Best Regards,
Carl

MidAtlantic

On what basis are you anticipating coming? Is one or both of you an American citizen?
Do you have the potential to move due to your work?

Look at the Wiki on visas above and see on what basis you might be able to come.

Many people would like to come but there has to be some basis on which to get a visa, otherwise it will never happen.

Orangepants

Welcome to BE.

What are these worms that have been let loose? Do you need to know about lifestyle, work visas, financial considerations, cost of living, health insurance, practicalities of emigrating? Many of us have moved to the US through work and/or marriage.

How far have you got in your research? Visas and jobs are usually step number 1 for non US citizens.

carle88

Hi Mid Atlantic,
Neither of us are American Citizens.
I am currently exploring with my employer to see if there is an opportunity to relocate (which at the moment doesn't look promising) but my background is in Retail Purchasing so I am currently looking into roles.
My Partner is a qualified PE teacher (3 Year Degree, 1 Year PGCE)

sir_eccles

Your partner will have to be your spouse otherwise they will need to get a visa on their own merits.

carle88

Hi Orangepants,

Thank you.

I'll be honest the work visa's bit is a little confusing at the moment.
As in my above post moving with my current employer doesn't look promising so I am looking into roles through indeed.com and monster.com.

We are ok with things like lifestyle, cost of living, health insurance as we have done a lot of reading.

carle88

Job & Visa's are definitely my number 1 priority but can I begin to apply for jobs without applying for a visa?
Sorry it may sound like a silly question

sir_eccles

The employer has to apply for the visa.

carle88

Thank you sir_eccles

michaeldc

To be clear, are you looking at jobs already in the US or jobs in the UK that would want to send you over to the US?

I'm going through this process now and have done a lot of reading and I can assure you it isn't easy to find an employer that wants to spend thousands of pounds sponsoring you and it's impossible to find one that will do it just because you want to go. You need to show that you can do the job that an American citizen can't and give very good reasons for that.

People will need a lot more information from you to help but from what you've said so far it doesn't seem that likely.

cautiousjon

The first thing that you must figure out is on what basis you're going to be able to stay, which means figuring out exactly what work visa you will be able to get.

Unfortunately, many people that want to move to the US seem to simply think that somehow the American authorities will just let them in if they have enough of a desire; illegal immigrants aside. This isn't how it works.

You should check out Pulaski's great guide for advice about some possible avenues to getting work authorization: How to live and work in the USA.

As you read more information on the BE Forums, you'll realize that the two most common ways to get into the USA is via family (marrying a US citizen or being a child of a US citizen), and work-related visas (inter-company transferee (L class), Individual with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement (O class), individual in a specialty occupation (H class), or immigrant investor (EB class)).

tom169

Public school teaching is not a well paid profession. This unfortunately means your partner has pretty much 0% chance being sponsored by a public school. If he/she has relevant experience there is a very minimal chance of being sponsored by a private school.

Do you have a degree?

As mentioned earlier, if one of you were to be sponsored, you'd have to be married for the other to come along for the ride.

ian-mstm

Generally, there are 3 routes to the US: family-based; employment-based; and investment-based. From what you've written, family-based is out, which leaves one of the other two. You've already been given a link to Pulaski's Wiki information - so that should be your starting point. Study the different visa types (including all the links) and see what fits. Being eligible for a visa is still only half of the issue - because, as you've read, you must find a US company willing to hire you and sponsor you for a visa (or you need to be wealthy enough for an investment visa - anywhere from $60K to $500K).

One thing to always keep in mind, is that most of the people in the world will never come to the US as anything more than a visitor... including folks from the UK.


Alas, none of this helps you. There has to be some basis on which to make the move - and that basis (in your case) is likely an employment-based visa. Here's another thing to keep in mind... getting a job offer from a US company is relatively easy. Getting that same US company to sponsor you for a visa is a whole different matter. Unless you have niche skills, you'll likely not even be considered. There are already many thousands of unemployed people in the US, with the same or superior skills and education, who can start work tomorrow if asked, and who don't need to be sponsored at great cost to the US company just to hire them. Those people are your competition for jobs.


So will we - but we're also realistic. Given the information posted so far, your chances aren't good. It's a doable plan, but it's going to have to be a long-term plan... in the neighborhood of 8-10 years. This is definitely not going to happen "in the next 12 months". Stay honest to your dream, but stay realistic also.

Ian

H Bomb

I work in retail and it is very competitive here - much more than I anticipated.

Unless you are exceptionally specialized/very highly regarded in purchasing I cannot see this being an easy move.

The only UK people I know in retail here have either transferred internally, moved with a spouse who qualifies, married a US citizen or being headhunted into board level positions.

That said nothing is impossible. I would suggest if your current company is not willing to transfer you move to one that does transfer employees, work hard and switch your expectations to moving to the US from 12 months to 3-5 years. But even then you have no guaranteed route and it will not be easy.

Mjdee86

Hi Ian

Is there a post on the forums which explores the investment visa route?

I had always assumed that the capital requirements were $1 million or $500k in a Targeted Employment Area.

But $60k? What kind of investment would you need to make to qualify for a visa on such little capital?

Thanks