Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

I applied for Canadian residency a few years back but it fell through as applied through my job and they got into financial difficulty.

I love visiting the states and at my happiest there. England is rather depressing and have little friends here and spend all my time saving to go back out there.

I am 33, single and have a BA in American Studies and Film 2:2. I have worked as Head of Admin and online sales and project co-ordinator for a company who install and clear furniture in hotels since 2014. Previous to that I managed a candy store in Canada and worked in retail prior to that

I don't know if my experience or degree would be enough and if so which visa I would be eligible for.

I potentially know someone who does online selling and is looking to expand who would potentially be willing to sponsor me in the future. But not sure how that would work either.

Any help appreciated. Have read all the documents and still really confused. Hoping its not just a pipe dream and could become a reality one day. In the meantime will continue to play the lotto so could become an investor in the US.

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Hi Nikki,

Read the following article a few times and let us know any conclusions you may come to:

Pulaski's Ways: How to Live and Work in the USA : British Expat Wiki

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

I Read it and that's why am asking as not sure.

"employment based green cards require employer sponsorship, labor market testing to prove no American can do the job, and in many cases (especially third preference) the wait may run into years. In other words, a sponsoring employer or job offer is not necessarily enough. The pathway to a green card should be researched before you move to the United States on a non-immigrant visa. There is a total quota of 140,000 for employment-based green cards per annum, you should check the State Dept. visa bulletin."

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Do you feel that a US employer would be unable to find someone to fill positions such as that locally, to the extent they would dish up a few thousand dollars in order to bring you in? Also, I believe that your degree must be relevant to the job for which an employer sponsors you.

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Why is it so hard for hardworking British people to live and work in the USA. Unless your like a brain surgeon or doctor.
I don't know was looking into the business opportunity with an american friend and potentially look to export goods from the UK for him to begin with and if that works out he would look to sponsor me if it worked out.
My dream job related to my degree would be to work in a talent agency but I have only interned in that in Canada so far as where I live there aren't any and I refuse to work or live in London.

I have loads of friends in America and hardly any back home. I have no social life here and just work to go back to America my happy place. The dating scene here sucks and all the women i meet and like are American :( I guess one positive is gay marriage is now recognised by immigration.

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

I see one visa that you are probably potentially eligible for per your post #1, and you could probably get fairly easily, like quite a few of us here, but unlike this guy, for example. ;)

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Which one is that sorry for sounding dumb?

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Marrying a US citizen. I dare say that's how the majority of us ended up here.

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Read your first post, then his first post. .... I have probably said too much already and no doubt one of the Mods will be along shortly to admonish me. :( :demon:

Any how, it more or less explains how I came to be married and living in the US. :nod:

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

their country, their rules. Anyway, it's not impossible, I'm not a doctor and I still made it. You may just have to work to on a longer term plan, e.g. one of your options could be to get a job with a multinational company, do well and then get transferred to the USA.

Have a look again at the wiki, and instead of thinking what you're eligible for right now, think what you could be eligible for in a few years with a bit of planning and hard work and luck.

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Why is it so difficult for hard working non EU citizens to live in the UK?

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

We are seeing a pattern here - people saying they are "more comfortable" and "at their happiest" here. Whilst I would never say it's impossible to be happy here, I would urge caution with such feelings. If you've only been here on holiday of course you were at your happiest. You were relaxed, carefree, no work to do, everyone is at their happiest on holiday. If you value your holiday time, and it sounds like you do, then I would seriously reconsider a desire to move here. You say England is "depressing" but one look at how much annual leave you would have here and what not having the NHS costs us can be pretty depressing too. And that's just for starters.

I am happy here. But that's because my husband is here. I'd be happy wherever I was with him and probably happier in the U.K. but we are where we are. I think it's a case of rose-tinted glasses here. Please do think long and hard about what you really love about here. What you saw here as a tourist doesn't really transfer to daily life here.

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

I was happy living in Canada. Since I moved back all i do is work to go back to Florida to visit my friends. I have no social life in England and very few friends. I generally visit alone and have made so many friends in Florida. Living there I would be happy. Everyone I know says I should have been American lol with my taste in food and clothes lol. Defo not a fad thing been considerering it for years

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

So you know that you need a work visa to work and live in the US.

That would be either an H-1B in your case, unless you obtained a job in the UK and then were transferred across to a US office of the same company.(L-1 visa)

With your degree/qualifications have you tried researching and/or applying for jobs in your field?

To obtain a work visa in the US you require skills and in most cases experience, as per your statement, it needs to be proved that an American cannot do the job.

Unless you obtain the above two requirements and have something to really offer US employers, your options are limited.

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

So looked up my American Studies degree and got this varied result

"American Studies graduates find jobs in a variety of sectors including banking or accountancy, the media, advertising, marketing, political administration and law. Popular career choices for American Studies graduates include teaching, journalism, publishing, law, broadcasting and librarianship."

Film might have a few more options but only interned in the industry in Canada. mainly worked retail and admin in the hospitality industry.

I currently work for a small company and not that many international companies where i live in Eastbourne lol

So does it have to be a job related to my degree. As the guy i know does ebay and online sales and we thought about doing imports from the UK and things and then if it worked he would sponsor me for a visa?

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Yes, the position has to require a degree, and you have to have the relevant degree.

Rene

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Maybe don't give up on the Canada option. At least with Canada, you have more options for self-sponsorship which is a really big hurdle when it comes to US immigration.

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

What does that mean?

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

She's fat and wears sweats? :unsure:

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

You in a mood or something? :unsure:

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

That I like to wear jeans/shorts, t shirts and baseball caps. You wear baseball caps in uk and people think your a chav.
Plus I love American food lol

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Erm not fat maybe average and would never sweats ever yuck. I like baseball caps

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

What is "American food'?

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

I don't know many Americans who wear baseball caps. :lol:

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

It's the same the world over.

You said upthread that you have lots of friend in Florida? It reminded me of my years in California which taught me that you can make a friend in 5 minutes, but that after 5 years nothing has changed.

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

It was just an observation by my work colleagues probs more related to me being a lesbian lol.

Was only a joke

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Yes everytime I go I meet up with old friends and make new ones. Even potential girlfriends whether they would consider long term and then eventual marriage i need to work out.

How do you mean after 5 years nothing has changed?

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

I guess buffets and American diner food. Although living out there would defo cook as vegetables seem rare in restaurants and often raw which I don't eat only cooked ones. Pretty good pizza and steaks too

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

A lot of American "friendships" are casual verging on disposable - friends come and go very easily, but creating long term, deep friendships is commonly reported as a very tough challenge in America.

That said, personally I didn't find it much different in the UK. I have a few friends from uni that I still keep in touch with, but other long term, deep friendships are rare, and I suspect that it is the same for Americans - a few long term friends from college, but everything else is quite superficial.

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Possibly. Although I was wondering if it meant she had the same sense of "dress" as The Husband of mine. I dread to think!

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

what's his sense of dress. I never wear track suits or sweat pants gross. only time ever would be in a gym and even then wouldn't wear out of the gym. Mainly just lived in jean shorts, t shirts and tank tops and baseball caps out there. Plus I am not fat am a size 16 am self conscious enough as it is. I felt slim compared to some people out there.

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Just wondered what "dressing like an American" meant. My husband is American and he wears sweats around the house. So I suppose that's American clothes. But he also wears leather kilts, beat-up DMs, t shirts held together by safety pins, a green Mohawk... my point is that there's no such thing as "dressing like an American". There as many styles are there are people. Here in the Cascades, I don't think you'd find anyone in shorts and baseball cap. As for American food, well he eats the vegetables and fruits we grow. So I suppose that's "American food".

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

I was just stating that my friends and family say that lol. Obviously based on what they see on TV. The main work colleague who says it hates America. He always says my photos of food when I am out there are just brown. Wasn't meant to cause offence. I think my dress sense is more to do with being a lesbian and just being me than being American. It just fits in a bit more when am in America or Canada. Here I just feel like I am being looked down upon for my dress sense, I cant help being me. I may not be the girliest girl in the world, I can if I want just can't wear heels. But am comfortable in what I dress in.

I just want to find a way to move to America. Whether its a job or regular visits until I find the woman of my dreams who wants to marry me

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Well thankfully the rules changed a few years back and same-sex marriage is exactly the same process for a visa. :)

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

nikkif99UK , I absolutely understand why you think the US is better than the UK, especially from the time you have spent there. however as many folk here have said, the reality of living there is streets away from vacations - as it is in the rest of the world. Just health care alone should make you think twice , unless in the years to come you get a job, in your field , relevant to your degree , which includes health care benefits. your chances of getting a visa to live AND work in the US are not great - it's up to the US to decide who they want to allow into their country, just as the UK and others do. you either work towards meeting their requirements or rethink your future. The vast majority of people will only ever be allowed to VISIT the US. Did you look at Pulaskis Wiki re US visas to see if any of them , other than marriage to a USC , can apply to you? Sorry If I come over as harsh, but life is what you make of it, not neccessarily what you want it to be. Surely there are Gay clubs where you are so you can meet like minded people and maybe find long term friends? Here, even though it is a staunchly Catholic country, the Gay scene is large and tolerated - I have quite a few Filipino friends who are gay and they seem to lead a happy and contented life.

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

OP, seriously try a dating site. I used to be very disparaging about these but I've heard so many success stories of couples who never, ever would have found each other otherwise that I've changed my mind.

I know some of the peeps on here found their partners that way and ended up moving here- maybe they could suggest a site?

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

If anyone wishes to suggest such a place to the OP then PM privately tlease. :sneaky:

Immy forums are for all things Immy .

cheers beers.



-- edited coz --

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

so would a job relating to my degree have to be one I have currently done before or could it just be a job requiring my degree. As its American Studies mainly history was thinking a museum or something. Or for film studies a talent agency which i have interned in, in the past. Or some other type of film company. Just exploring potential avenues. Otherwise just have to keep visiting for the time being.

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Museums are on tight budgets. Think of it in this way: why would they (or indeed any employer) spend a lot of money to bring in someone who has never worked in the field when every year there is a new crop of eager grads, many with advanced degrees — who have spent their summer breaks interning at comparable institutions for a number of years—all available for the jobs at no cost and with a demonstrated commitment to the field?

Re: Is my degree/current job eligible for work based immigration visa
 

Thats why i wanted to ask as I haven't really used my degree since graduation unless you count selling furniture to film sets or interning in a talent agency. I have worked in retail most of my life and currently sales, project managing and admin for almost 4 years in the hotel industry. Really wish I had done a degree in business now. But then I never would have lived in Canada for 3 years if I had done.

I never understood why British people are not eligible for the green card lottery as its not easy for us to move there unless your like a brain surgeon, computer specialist or millionaire unless married to an American.