lucindad

Hi, I’m in my final year of University in the UK, I’ll be graduating with a Law (LLB) degree this Summer and I really want to move to the US. Does anybody have any advice on the quickest way for me to gain residence (temporary leading to permanent/ permanent) in the US? Thanks! Lucinda

christmasoompa

Be prepared for it to take years before you can get over there, there's no 'quickest' way unless you happen to have close family that are US citizens or a million dollars stashed away that you haven't mentioned!

Work towards either getting enough experience for a company to go through the paperwork/hassle and thousands of dollars it would cost to sponsor you for a H1B visa, or getting high up enough in a multinational company to warrant the paperwork/hassle and thousands of dollars it would cost for them to transfer you, and think of it as a long term plan.

Or, before anybody else suggests it, match.com, or an easier country.

Have a read of this for your options - http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulaski's_Ways:_How_to_Live_and_Work_in_the_USA

Best of luck.

Jscl

or look to do a higher degree in a US university...

jxv73

The only way you'll ever be able to sit a bar exam is by doing an LLM at a reputable University. Even then you will only be eligible for the New York or California bar exam. Therefore, start by applying to good universities to their LLM program.If one of them accepts you, you can get an F1 visa. After you graduate then you can look for someone to sponsor you an H1B and permanent residence.

MarylandNed

You've received good replies already but I'll just highlight something in the wiki link provided above - Canada. It's not easy to get into Canada but it's usually easier than getting into the US. If you can become a Canadian PR and then citizen, you could qualify for a TN visa in the US. It's then possible to move from TN to PR to US citizen. You might even like Canada enough to stay there and just visit the US.

lucindad

Thank you for the advice, it's really appreciated. I was looking at the possibility of University but financially this isn't an option for me right now, I've been looking at interning, what's the chances of being sponsored to go to University by a firm if I land an internship, any ideas? Lucinda

Noorah101

I think it will be difficult to find an employer to sponsor an intern with a UK law degree...wouldn't they prefer to have an intern with a US law degree, as that would be more appropriate to their work?

Also, are you asking about employment internship, and studying on the side, having the sponsoring employer pick up the tab for your university education? I just can't see that happening....

Rene

ian-mstm

If you can't afford to go to school, if you can't afford $$ to invest, if you don't have any eligible family in the US, if you don't have any work experience, if you don't have an easily transferable degree, and if you don't have a skill set that a US employer wants... then I'm afraid you're simply not going to get a visa to the US. End of story.

If you really want to move to the US, make it a 10-year plan... that, at least, might be doable - but it probably isn't going to happen any sooner.

Ian

jxv73

You need to be admitted to the bar to get any sort of work visa.

ian-mstm

I'm pretty sure that isn't true.

Ian

jxv73

OK, yo're right. That was a broad statement. You need to be admitted to the bar to get an H1B, L1, or O1 to work as a lawyer. USCIS will verify this.

NatashaB

Why would a UK law degree be relevant to a US employer? I guess there's a small (tiny) chance that a US company may need a UK lawyer based in the US to deal with their European affairs... but if that's the best 10 year plan you can come up with, prepare to be disappointed.

Sally Redux

I think she means an employer paying for her higher law degree - my friend's daughter was able to do this in England. But as you say, I don't know if this would work in the US.

Steve_

Which is what I was going to say, about the worst degree you could have really.

My suggestion would be to move to Canada, you still have to re-do bits of it but the basics are the same.

Either that or move to a Commonwealth country in the Caribbean or Bermuda, but Bermuda is full of expat British lawyers.

Steve_

I know a Canadian lawyer on TN-1 in the US, basically the business he works for has a Canadian division and he helps them with all the Canadian paperwork. Not easy to get though, "lawyer" is a very rarely used TN-1 category, at least based on his experience of getting it.