claire10

Hi there,

I'm just after a bit of advice. I am a married mother of two (age 7 and 10) living in the UK but a US citizen. My dad was American and I have lived here all of my life (apart from two years when I was a child). I am a primary school teacher and have been teaching for 18 years here and have a B'Ed degree. I am also in my late forties!!

My husband is a designer and UK citizen, we have been married for ten years. I know this is a very random questions but we are very keen to live and work in the US. I know the visa process but how easy do you think it will be to get a green card for my family and work in the US as a teacher? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks
Claire

quiltman

Regretfully, there are a lot of negatives in your case. Have you read Pulaskis Wiki re emigrating to the US? I'm on my phone so not easy to add links.Search the Wiki above.
i know you are a USC so can move back tomorrow but getting a job with your UK qualifications is going to be extremely difficult. As the USC YOU will have to sponsor your husband but I believe both your children are already US citizens. I'm sure others will be along soon with some more relevant info. I assume as a USC you have been filing your US tax returns each year??

claire10

Thanks for your advice. I know it's not going to be easy! I will have a look at the link you suggested.

Thanks.

Pulaski

In order to be able to have passed on US citizenship to your children, you would have had to live in the US for five years, and at least two of those years after the age of 14. So if you had lived in the US for five or more years and left at 16 you'd be able to pass on citizenship.

This means you will need visas for your children, but IIRC, instead of getting green cards on entry into the US, they will get US citizenship.

Your husband will get an IR-1 spouse visa, which is quite straightforward to get, assuming you have some savings and/or equity in your home. Alternatively you would need either a job paying 25% over poverty, or a joint sponsor (a US citizen or permanent resident living in the US, doesn't necessarily need to be a family member) with enough income to provide a financial guarantee for you. With an IR-1 your husband can work legally in the US the moment he clears immigration - literally right there in the airport if he had job to go to, and even before he has received his social security number.

The tricky part is going to be getting a job. Applying from outside the US may be very difficult, not least because you aren't immediately available for an interview. Also you lack US teaching qualifications and experience, so from the prospective of a US employer you are an unknown quantity.

There are a few international schools that employ non-US teaching staff, such as "The British International School of ....." (I think there are six of them, including one in Charlotte, NC), so you might look into applying for a job there.

That said, teaching in the state school system (US speak = "public schools"), is often an unattractive proposition, with poor pay until you have many years service (I do not know how the school systems here would see your experienced in the UK), and poor job security.

If it is possible for your husband to continue working remotely in the US for his British employer while in the US that would be ideal, because it would give your family continuity of income while you searched for a job.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

claire10

Thanks for the advice. A great help!

AmerLisa

I would decide the area that you want to move to and locate a school district and ask what you would need to do to gain a job in that district. The information you would gain from that would be very helpful in your job searching endeavors. Teachers are in high demand right now where I work, it may be true throughout the country, I don't know.

Good luck!

claire10

Thanks.

talkto_menow

I apologize but English is my second language. I've been living in US for the last 24 years and I'm US citizen. I went through the naturalization process and I understand some procedures.

US immigration has different queues for people that want to change their immigrations status. Primary queue is for close relatives of US citizens and spouses. That means that mother/father can sponsor their own children. Children cannot be older than 21. Also they can sponsor their spouses too.

Therefore, it would be your father as US citizen sponsoring you. If you do not have any relationship with your father or if he passed away, then you would have to initiate the process by yourself. You will need your father's birth certificate stating that he was born in US and that he is US citizen.

Next step it would be you sponsoring your husband. That queue is moving fast (1-2 years). Since this process involves whole family, they may get visas too and complete process in US.

You may have to get advice form immigration lawyer.

From your post it's not clear if you were born in US? if yes, that means that your are US citizen already. If you have your US birth certificate, then you might be able to apply for US passport and sponsor your family.

Owen778

Welcome to BE.

I'm afraid you misunderstood the first post. She is a US citizen already, she is asking about how to arrange for her husband and children to move with her to the US.

mrken30

I would also approach the private schools in the area as they may have more flexible requirements.

talkto_menow

Ooopsy daisy

This is what happens when you rush.

Well since you are US citizen already, process is straight forward. That part I wrote about US citizen sponsoring close relatives applies.

That is fast track queue and you should not have any problems sponsoring your family. It should take about 6 months to get response from immigration office. You need to get your own paperwork ready (birth certificate, US passport) and fill up all the required forms. These forms are can be found on immigration's office website.

Finding job as a teacher is a different issue and this is something that would be much easier to do once you live over here.

You may have to be open to possibility of doing some other jobs for a while. Maybe you will be able to start working as a substitute teacher first

US market is a bit different than Europe's. I would not worry about your age. I'm 49 and I'm considering changing career in next 2-3 years

TimFountain

But again the point you have missed is that even though the OP is a USC, she still needs a job at 25% above the poverty level in order to sponsor her husband. QED there needs to be verifiable income before sponsorship can take place. The only way I can see that happening is if she moves to the US ahead of the family and secures a job and then the rest of the family join. That would be super stressful and risky though....

Pulaski

The point you have missed is that I already said that in post #4 above, and I gave two alternatives, because it absolutely isn't necessary to have a job at all to sponsor a spouse for a visa!

jeepster

As someone else stated there is a shortage of teachers in the US, but it is state specific. My advice is for you to email the individual state department of education and see where the need is most.

Every state has a dept of education. But they don't hire teachers, the local school boards do. But they can tell you which school boards have shortages. You will have to apply directly to the individual school board. And the state Dept. of Ed. can tell you about your ability to qualify for a teaching certificate with your back ground. Different states have different requirements.

jeepster

As someone else stated there is a shortage of teachers in the US, but it is state specific. My advice is for you to email the individual state department of education and see where the need is most.

Ooops double post. Here try this: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/lis.../tsa.html#list