JEN82

Ok, so this may sound like a crazy, too much of a risk thing to do, but I'm planning on moving to Chicago in a month to be my girlfriend (I'm a girl too, so no hopes of visa through marriage etc).

I have no job lined up out there, but have a lot of experience in Teaching English (ESL), which I'd like to continue doing, so my plan is to come out on the 3 month visa waiver and go around all the Chicago ESL schools with my resume, hoping someone will beimpressed by it and me, and sponser me. This is the perfect scenario and I'd be able to stay there legally from January

My queries are: 1- What type of visas would be possible? Is my only option the H1B visa? If so, is it right that an employer can only apply for this in April of the following year, and you can't start work until October??
2-What are the risks of working illegally while looking for a sponser? Is it 'doable'?
3-Does anyone know of ESL schools in Chicago which hire British teachers?
Please help! Cheers

J. J. Farrell

On Aug 25, 11:41 pm, JEN82 <[email protected]> wrote:
> Ok, so this may sound like a crazy, too much of a risk thing to do, but
> I'm planning on moving to Chicago in a month to be my girlfriend (I'm a
> girl too, so no hopes of visa through marriage etc).
>
> I have no job lined up out there, but have a lot of experience in
> Teaching English (ESL), which I'd like to continue doing, so my plan is
> to come out on the 3 month visa waiver and go around all the Chicago ESL
> schools with my resume, hoping someone will beimpressed by it and me,
> and sponser me. This is the perfect scenario and I'd be able to stay
> there legally from January

If you enter on the Visa Waiver, you have to leave before the end of
your admission period (which will be 90 days). You cannot change or
extend your status.

> My queries are: 1- What type of visas would be possible? Is my only
> option the H1B visa?

H-1B is the only one I can think of which might fit this, but I don't
know if it's available for an ESL teacher.

> If so, is it right that an employer can only apply
> for this in April of the following year, and you can't start work until
> October??

Unless you get H-1B sponsorship from a University research institution
or similar, the employer won't be able to file an application for you
until April 1, 2008. They'll have to get the application in on that
date, and it will then go into a lottery to see if it goes any
further. If it wins that lottery and gets approved, you'd be able to
enter the USA in late September 2008 to start work at the beginning of
October.

> 2-What are the risks of working illegally while looking for a sponser?

Arrest, imprisonment, deportation, ban for life from re-entering the
USA.

> ...

meauxna

Plan on a visit, not a move. You want to get paast the POE with a clean record and soul if you want to come back in legally.
Play it clean.. there is hope in the future, but you can't get it organized for a move in a month.