Melanie23

Hi all,

I am a qualified English teacher with 2 years experience teaching in secondary schools. My partner and I are potentially moving to the US next year with his work and so I am currently researching the career opportunities for me. We are not married and so I will not be able to enter the US as his spouse (I'm not even sure that this is a real type of VISA anyway...)

I've looked into the California Teaching Credential but despite reading various websites and other forums I'm finding it difficult to get my head around the whole process. As far as I can tell I need to send all of my degree certificates and transcripts away (I get that bit!) but then there are all sorts of subject knowledge tests and other such things that I need to complete. I'm not sure where I do these tests, how I organise them or most importantly, how long the whole process tends to take.

Has anyone done this before and can give me a sort of step-by-step guide of how it all works and where to start?

Thank you so much

Melanie

Pulaski

Unless you're married you won't be working unless you qualify for a work visa in your own right, and there is effectively zero chance of the public school system sponsoring you for work visa.

If you are married, you will probably be able to work, depending on the visa that your husband gets.

Melanie23

Thanks Pulaski... I didn't think I would automatically receive a working visa and so am trying to find out how I could find work myself. Why do you say there is zero chance of me getting a job over there? Surely other people have achieved this??

Feeling very disheartened!

Pulaski

An employer will have to pay out of pocket visa and lawyers fees of $5,000+ to get a visa for a foreigner, who can't start work for 6-18 months. Why would they do that when there are plenty of Americans who can start work within 2-3 weeks, if not immediately? There is particular sensetivity to government departments bringing in foreigners, so even if there was a visa type for teachers (I don't believe there is) there is a political barrier to bringing in foreign teachers.

I dropped a hint earlier, that you either missed or blocked. If you want to work, you need to get married (assuming that your boyfriend's visa comes with an accompanying spouse visa that allows you to work.) To be clear, in most cases (unless you have a criminal record, a drug habit, a communicable disease, or psychosis), an accompanying spouse visa is a granted virtually automatically, and with most inter-company transfer visas (L-1's and E-2's) that comes with a right to work (once you have received the EAD "permission slip".) Some work visas do not give an accompanying spouse the right to work.

The best, and perhaps only chance you have to get your own work visa is with a private British or international school. They do hire teachers directly, though I hear that competition is fierce and they pick the most experienced teachers (we looked closely at one for my daughter and the teachers were all very experienced), but ironically, as a couple of people have discovered here on BE in the past six months, the major drawback to such a job is that the accompanying spouse visa does not allow the spouse to work, which wouldn't be an issue for you.

Noorah101

The first questions is... exactly what visa is your partner getting? Depending on that answer, your easiest way to work in the USA would be to get married, if he gets the type of visa that allows a spouse to work.

Unfortunately, teaching is not a strong career for obtaining your own work visa, and even if it were, chances of you and he working in the same city are slim.

Rene

ian-mstm

If - and it's a big if (unless you have a Master's degree) - you meet the state requirements for teaching, you'll likely have to sit the Praxis exam to get a license.


Well, now that you have some more info, research should be a bit easier for you.


But you don't want just any job... you want a teaching job - and that's a bit more involved considering the parents wherever you live might not like the idea of some foreigner teaching their kids.

That all said, if you do get a teaching job, you'll need to get a Master's degree (if you don't already have one) in order to keep the job for more than just a few years!

Ian