iandallimore

Afternoon guys!

I've briefly looked around the site before but thought I'd join and stop being such a creeper.

I'm currently dating a young Lady from Charleston SC and I'm here in Kent UK. We've made the decision very recently that it's time for me to immigrate and i've began the job search and was hoping for a couple pointers. All I currently have is an ETSA Waiver, no full visa.

Currently employed by Ford UK as an apprentice engineer and due to pass my course next summer, though do have qualification that may allow me to move prior to the end of this. I have a linkedin and applying to various Engineering jobs in SC under my UK address etc, should I be doing this? Or applying under my girlfriends address?

Looking to come out on a working immigration visa and obtain a green card, rather than through marriage as we're not quite ready to that.

Anything that might help will be appreciated!

Cheers,
Ian

Pulaski

You can apply for jobs from outside the US and attend interviews while on a VWP visit. I did exactly that myself.

That said their is very little prospect of you getting any traction whatsoever with potential employers while you are outside the US. You application will either be filtered out by software, by the HR department, or, in the case of small employers, just ignored.

If you use your girlfriend's address you would have to be prepared to visit the US at short notice for an interview. That said, the US job market moves very quickly - you'd likely be expected to start work in just 2-3 weeks after being offered a job, so applying for jobs many months ahead of arriving in the US with permission to work is pointless.

Note, if you come to the US on a K-1 fiancé visa it will be effectively about five months before you can work, so you'll have plenty of time after you arrive to apply for jobs. Alternatively if you marry then apply for a CR-1 visa it will take about 8-10 months to get the visa. In short, either way, you are a long way from the time when you should be applying for jobs. .... From the little you said I doubt that you have the qualifications and/or in-demand skills that would support a work visa in your own right.

Noorah101

By "working immigration visa", I assume you mean an H1B or the like? Unless you qualify for a transfer to the USA through Ford company (L visa), I fear you have little chance of getting a work visa.

Your best bet is to continue the long distance relationship until you feel ready for marriage, then immigrate based on that.

Rene

iandallimore

Honestly, I'm not that clued up on VISAs. I've given a couple looks at it but hope I can learn a little more from being on the forum

Pulaski

Take a look at the two Pulaski wikis in the US section of the Wikis tab above. .... If, having reading them, you reach the conclusion that emigration to the US is very difficult, then you have probably understood them fairly well.

BTW "VISA" is a credit company.

Owen778

It's Easter Sunday morning here, so I'm not going to write a long post. Instead, I will say this:

Get married, either in the US after using a K-1 visa or in the UK after using a UK spousal visa and then a US CR-1 visa.

If you think you're not ready to get married, keep long-distance dating until you are.

Noorah101

Or, get married in the USA then return to the UK for CR-1 immigrant visa processing.

The point here being that the chance of a work visa in your field are slim to none. Think to yourself, why would a US employer spend thousands of dollars to bring me to the USA, when there are USCs who can start work tomorrow for free? What am I especially bringing to the table that a local doesn't have?

Rene

Nutmegger

A little food for thought: you're willing to give up your home, your family, your friends, your job prospects, and your country to take a chance on a totally alien culture in order to be with this woman? Then marriage would be the least of the steps you would be taking.

Pulaski

I missed the emphasis on him looking for a work visa when I replied to his post above.

I agree there is very little prospect of him obtaining a work visa (work visas require a degree or 12 years of work experience equivalent to degree level study) based on what he said about himself, and approximately "zero chance" in the Charleston area as it is not a center of automobile engineering.

iandallimore

Well, certainly thank you guys for telling it how it is.

There's a large amount of engineering opportunities in Charleston (as well as volvo, Mercedes and Boeing) but it's good to know it's fairly futile applying to them from here. I'd have been happy to take something and move in the short term but it's obviously not that easy.

We've only just started looking at the possibility so maybe I need to go back to drawing board a little.

ian-mstm

I'll just cut to the chase here... this isn't likely to happen. Given what you've written so far, this is unrealistic - at least in the short term (read = up to 5 years). If you're willing to make this a 10-year plan, it's quite doable but by then, you'll probably be ready to marry and so won't need to wait for an employment-based visa.


Since you ask... I suggest you give up the plan for an employment-based visa. Rene is right, but she didn't go far enough. It's going to cost an employer between $7,000-$10,000 to sponsor you for a visa. Why should a US employer spend that kind of money to sponsor you when there are already many thousands of unemployed people in the US, with similar or superior skills, who can start work tomorrow if asked, and who don't need sponsorship for a visa? Those people are your competition for jobs.


Visas don't work that way. If you want an employment-based visa, you must be sponsored by a US company and, quite simply, that's not likely to happen.

No one here wants to burst your bubble but, as mentioned, your current plan is unrealistic. Most people eventually come to the sensible realization that marriage is the only viable option - but, if you're not ready for that, then you need to wait until you're ready and continue with a long-distance relationship.

Ian (also).

scrubbedexpat099

You work at Dunton? Ford move people around .

iandallimore

Well at least I have some idea from this forum frankly. I knew it would be difficult,but never quite understood the extent or the actual cost for an employer.

At least I'm finding these things out and that'she all I joined the forum for. Even if it is a little bit of a baptism of fire haha.

I do work at Dunton actually hahaha.

Pulled on that string without too much luck thus far but always might be a chance to get to cold detroit.

scrubbedexpat099

Your best bet.

Pulaski

This isn't a baptism of fire. .... We reserve that for people dreaming of moving to Orlando!
In all honesty, you should grab any chance you can if you want to immigrate to the US, then after you've got here, work on moving to your preferred area. In your career, Detroit has the greatest concentration of suitable jobs, but if you're offered Kansas LTP grab it with both hands and don't let go!