tht

There are a range of institutions and most US students don’t have $$$’s.... they debt finance their education. There is many be a 20-30% spread on international fees. They would need some sort of an education for a decent job here anyway.

Either way saying the only way is marriage is just not true. At least say the only “cheap” way...

scot47

Study. Get a qualification. Get a career.

civilservant

If I'm not mistaken don't you have to have evidence of not only the funds to pay the education but also the funds to live? You can't debt finance your living expenses and when he says he's going to live with his GF, that will open up another can of worms.

tht

No idea I have only studied “abroad” in NZ and my employer paid for it all. Not sure how 2nd guessing the ops finances helps. Sure qualify that certain options cost more than others, but compared to an E or EB5 an F is could be way cheaper, and the average wedding in the US cheap is not cheap either... so saying marriage is the only option is also not free depending on what they would want a wedding to look like.

civilservant

Not sure that anyone in this thread declaratively stated that marriage was the only option.

tht

right... the closest anyone came to saying that that was

”I foresee either a break up or wedding bells in your future.”

SanDiegogirl

..... well the guy is unemployed, has no qualifications and his family is helping him pay for a passport. So, one could logically think he a) does not qualify for a work visa b) does not have the money to pay to go to college in the US and c) has no money to invest in a company ; so getting married and his girlfriend sponsor him seems like the obvious (and possibly only) route for him.

Nutmegger

However, it has also never been established whether they have actually met in person.

civilservant

A prediction is not a declarative.

Perhaps you might want to look up the difference.

I also don't really see what your point is, since you just admitted that no one had actually said anything like what you were complaining about.

No you can't do that! Making assumptions is you saying it's the only route for him!

The humanity!

Honestly, if we listed every single possible route in every single thread asking, despite 99.9% of them not being relevant, threads would have little actual useful information. We go by our experience here on BE, and yes, that means making certain assumptions and ruling out certain options based on someone's post.

tht

Well I am glad I did not find BE when I was a 21 year older with a USC GF and was not ready for marriage. I did my research.. and researched all the possible routes to get here from the extreme like a private bill, or becoming a Cuban citizen and then coming here and being given GC, marriage (not something I was ready to do at 21, despite her being willing) to all the standard visa types and doing the DV lottery every year (only a 1:200 chance based on my country of birth) If I come here to get the “standard” advice I would likely not be here now.

Instead I analyzed the options and made a plan, worked hard and 9 years later was here on a visa, had a GC a little over a year later and became a USC about 9 years after I became a PR.

Being realistic is 1 thing... but I find many of the responses strange given that most here are immigrants themselves, maybe more people were able to benefit from family based pathways, but some also did the hard work to get here on their own.

civilservant

I think many of us would find that statement offensive. As if meeting someone, developing a long distance relationship, and spending years (usually) apart, sometimes while a married couple, is somehow 'easy' by comparison to getting a visa via work.

tht

I have done long distance multiple times for multiple years, I don’t think it’s easy. I even had to commute to the UK for a few years after moving here to keep my relationship with my now wife, so I know what it takes to do it. The visa requirements once you get there seem to be more straight forward, but I chose not to go that route so I can’t speak to it from experience. I know from friends who have that it still involves a lot of paperwork and significant cost, and that is on the individual and not the employer.

SanDiegogirl

Presuming that they have met in person then the marriage route is, considering all other options, the only route for the OP. If they have not even met then, as per my other post, the OP is just a 'troll' - which is usually the case when a post is based on "i want to go to xxx to live with my girlfriend'

PetrifiedExPat

Pretty sure its Adrian Petterson in disguise.

tht

the username would point to a 18-19 year old called David Cleare..