JRMINT

Im 17 years old, and i have just done an apprenticeship in business management in the UK. I want to move to the states to study and then work, my parents have agreed to this. Where do i start? My aunt lives in Florida and I'm able to live with her.

So what would be the best way to apply for a visa? Use my apprenticeship experience, get a job in Florida then apply? Or Am I able to because of my Aunt?

I don't want any negative answers telling me it can't be done, because I know it can.

Just need to be pointed in the right direction from people with experience

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE.

Did you read the sticky thread above? http://britishexpats.com/forum/us-im...ork-us-585898/

If so, which visa route do you think you'd qualify for? Sounds like your only option at the moment is a study based visa, if you or your parents have the funds for you to attend uni in the US. Or you get more education and work your way up in the UK (in a fairly specialist role - just any job won't do!), and aim to move in a good few years when you'd qualify for an employment based visa.

But have a read of the above and then once you've done some research on the possible visa routes you can ask more specific questions about any that you may qualify for.

Good luck.

SanDiegogirl

Only being 17 sounds like you are too young to have a University Degree.

At what education level are you? GCSE's; A Levels?

What is an apprenticeship in Business Management?

If you require a University degree from a US college, hopefully your parents have tens of thousands of dollars to spend on it.

Basically, you get an offer from a US college and then get a visa or you get a job offer and then get a visa. It's NOT get a visa first.

ian-mstm

First, you get accepted at a college or university... then you apply for a visa. You can't apply for a visa independently of a basis on which to file - so, you can't usually get a visa first and then to go the US to find a job, work, or live with your aunt.


Oh... it can be done - but the process isn't what you think it is - so do yourself a favor: learn the process.

Ian

Awesome Welles

This may not go well for you, young fella.
What is an apprenticeship in business management that at 17 years of age, you have completed?
Because you KNOW it can be done, why are you asking on here? Just go ahead and use that knowledge. Knock yourself out.

kimilseung

You want to start by talking and expanding about this knowledge first, it will help others to know where to start in offering help.

Twinkle0927

Your parents may have given their approval and your aunt may be delighted to have her nephew under her roof.

Unfortunately neither of them issues the visa that you would need to do so. That's the government and they unfortunately say "no" to living with aunts.

LondonSquirrel

I knew everything when I was 17 too. Not.

carcajou

The process definitely isn't what you think it is. Read the stickies.

Migrating is hard, perhaps one of the most difficult things you will ever do, and you will find swaggering about how you are going to get a visa is not going to be well-received in a forum like this because the process and experience can humble you in a millisecond.

Getting accepted to a university near where your aunt lives, and getting a study visa is a possible path - there is no pathway to residence from that but it will greatly increase your chances of getting into a relationship with an American girl whom you eventually marry, and that is the pathway. You apply to universities directly in the US. Hopefully your family is wealthy enough that you can just go to the vault and chip off what you need to pay the tuition fees for international students over four years.

Nobody will care that you did a high school business management apprenticeship in the UK, though it may serve to slightly enhance your CV for university acceptance. A university degree is an essential pre-requisite for many even minimum wage jobs in the US.

Other forumites - at age 17, could he be legally adopted by his aunt, and get a Green Card that way? Would he have to prove extenuating circumstances with his immediate family in the UK for that to happen?

Rete

Also to point out having an aunt in the US is not helpful to you at all in getting a visa. If it were a parent or a sibling, then, yes. But an aunt. Nah, not going to happen.

Sorry but these are not negative posts but realistic ones. At age 17, it is great to have a dream to strive for. Either attend college in the UK or apply for a student visa (F-1) and attend college in the US. Be sure that your parents are willing and have the necessary funds to pay for your room and board (or perhaps auntie lives in or near a college town) and full tuition costs which could be over $30,000 a year for 4 years.

Pulaski

Well our experience says what you're proposing won't work, so if you'd care to share what you "know" then we'd be happy to discuss it because at the moment you are, legally, a child, and therefore unable to sign contracts, which makes you pretty much a legal nobody, unable to do anything much with out the direct participation of your parents, .... not your aunt.

And, as others have asked, what is an "apprenticeship in business management"? .... What actual qualification did you receive? Because you will need to get it evaluated for its suitability to prepare you for college (university). Any university will tell you which evaluation agency they require your qualifications to be evaluated by, as there are several.

scrubbedexpat099

F1 Student Visa.

tom169

So you're older than 16 which means you can partake in the UK national lottery.

Buy a ticket, win it and then buy a green card via investment.

Pulaski

... When you reach 18.

JRMINT

Were you also making £35k a year? Didn't think so.