UK to USA Social worker
 

Long time lurker of the site and since finishing my degree (social work BA) I'm finally in the stages of looking into the possibility of moving from the UK to USA.

I believe that i need to get my degree certified by the Council on Social Work Education? I am looking at practicing in New York or Miami any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

If it is not possible to emigrate as a UK qualified social worker what other forms of entry are possible? - I'm 27 years old with a degree in social work.

Re: UK to USA Social worker
 

Read our Wiki article called Pulaski's Ways, it lists all the available visas to the USA.

There are basically 4 paths: 1) marriage to a USC; 2) Work; 3) Student; or 4) Investment.

As a new graduate, with a degree in social work, I would not think your chances are very good at finding a US employer willing to pay the high cost of obtaining your work visa.

I'm only guessing, but you probably don't have enough money for an investment visa. ... you'd need a few hundred thousand dollars.

Perhaps you could do a Master's Degree in the USA? That might open some US doors, and it gives you a year of OPT after graduating.

You could also meet USC Ms. Right while at school...

Rene

Re: UK to USA Social worker
 

Marriage

Must admit I do not remember coming across a social worker before, who have you been talking to about jobs?

Re: UK to USA Social worker
 

Every Nursing Facility legally must have one.

Re: UK to USA Social worker
 

Plenty of social work jobs in the US; a friend of my wife is a social worker for the VA. Plenty of people with social work qualifications too, though, and usually it's a post-grad degree (MSW). So all other obstacles notwithstanding, OP would be at a disadvantage only being qualified to bachelor degree level.

Re: UK to USA Social worker
 

I agree, but would contend that the OP is primarily disadvantaged by needing a visa to work in the US. Even if he had the qualifications to level the playing field he would still being going head-to-head in job applications with people who don't need a visa that is going to cost $5,000-$10,000 in application and lawyer's fees.

Re: UK to USA Social worker
 

There's another consideration also... to be an effective social worker in the US, someone would have to be familiar with not only US social services and what can and can't be done, but they'd also need to be familiar with state services also.

I think someone from the UK would have a really hard time getting up to speed sufficiently well to be considered a serious candidate for a job... and that's even supposing an employer wants to pay the visa costs.

Ian

Re: UK to USA Social worker
 

Yes, that is why I wrote "all other obstacles notwithstanding". My point is that even if his UK degree can be validated to a US equivalence, it's still going to be of less value than those most of his US peers can offer, making it less likely that any potential employer is going to get to the "worth sponsoring a visa for" point. And I think we're all agreed that the chances of that for the OP, even with the best qualifications in the world, are pretty slim.