em0307

Hi all, 1st time post on the forum. I have a quick question for someone with some visa knowledge:

I have a potential opportunity with my current job in the UK to work out in the states for a few months starting in the not too distant future. Spaces on the placement are pretty well contested and I'm keen to get a place on the project.

I have recently married a US citizen and want to know if my employer would look on my visa circumstances more favourably than someone in my company who had no ties to the states? I haven't started the ball rolling with my visa application yet as I'm not long married.

Would I be saving my employer time, money & hassle through them sorting out my marriage visa vs. organising a work visa for someone with no ties to the US? They are desperate to get people out there so anything they can do to speed the process up they will look at!

Thanks in advance, really useful forum keep it going guys!!!

jackattack

There are very many experts on this site. And once they've finished gorging on Thanksgiving dinner, I'm sure they'll be along to help you out.

But from my limited knowledge, you should easily be able to get a visa to live and work in the US through your spouse. However since you will be applying from outside the US, I think that the wait time is up to one year. So it's probably worth getting the paperwork rolling anyway but if your company want you in the not too distant future, they'd be better off getting you a visa designed for inter company transfer (providing you fit the criteria - search this form and read the sticky up top for more details).

Bomjeito

For us, it made no difference to the employer which way my husband chose to come over. (I'm speaking as the USC, my husband is the UKC.)

However, we chose for him to come over under our marriage (CR-1, like you'd choose) so we'd have the control over his visa. Meaning, if they wanted to 'yank' it, or re-locate him even again elsewhere. We felt more comfortable doing it ourselves.

His company is British and they'll take care of any expat that they want to relocate anywhere. I personally don't think visa designation will impact anything - and if you have status already to work in the USA, companies can determine that you are welcome to work in the USA, as a local employee, NOT as an expat, which means kiss those expat perks goodbye (full relocation and the like.) Oh, it can also impact which holiday packages you'll fall under - UK or USA, and the UK holiday is much more generous!

Our situation ended up with them wanting to put him over as expat, but we stuck our 2p worth into and still got relocation and generous holiday and the company saved a bundle by not doing his visa. Win-win for both.

ETA: Even his company mentioned that if he came over on the work visa, no one knows if they can guarantee renewal. AND, I forgot, if you come over on a company-sponsored visa, you are tied to that company. Hubby wanted to be able to move to another company once here if things didn't work out on the US-side of the company.

Just our thoughts as we finish cleaning up the turkey dinner!

Pulaski

It is implicit in a marriage visa that you're going to settle in the US. Your employer would foot the bill for an employment based visa, and they are quicker, often a lot quicker to obtain than a marriage visa, so my guess would be that your employer really won't see any difference as a result of you being married to a USC.

Back to my first sentence above, if you did obtain your own marriage visa, it would be good for the duration of your posting in the US, but would likely expire 6-12 months after you return to the UK, so assuming that you footed the bill, it would be money down the drain.

JAJ

You have not told us something that's really critical and impossible to give meaningful advice without - where do you want to live? Do you plan to move to the United States, or stay in the U.K.?

And do you understand that if you get yourself a green card, it brings U.S. tax and financial reporting obligations with it. Not something you want if you do not see a future for yourself in the United States.

ClosedAcc 7654

I doubt that the visa issue is much to them. I imagine they are planning on the project team travelling on simple business visas which are easy to arrange as you'd still be based in the UK for whatever the time is (I'm guessing from what you said). I should imagine the best thing to do, if you really want it, is to brush up on the required skills and make sure those are what shines when it comes to their decision.

penguinsix

This was slightly troubling when I first read it.

For your company to get a visa for you to work in the US, it's going to cost quite a bit of money for them, perhaps as much as $5,000 USD or more in fees and legal expenses. While it is entirely possible they are willing to swing this "for a few months", in other cases we have heard of employers sending folks to the US for 90 days on the Visa Waiver Program and telling them "it's ok, you'll still be working for / paid by the UK company so you don't need a visa for the US".

This is basically incorrect.

Please be careful to make sure you have the proper visa for the few months of working in the US. You don't want to break US law which would jeopardize and complicate the future visa options you may wish to pursue with your wife.

ClosedAcc 7654

I think the standard B visa will do it if it's for a few months. Beyond 6 would be a problem, as would working as a normal US employee in effect. But it is a gray area, and I think they will have done their homework on the intent.

That said, often 3 months turns into 6, then more, then they offer you a US job (happened to me) so you'd be in better shape than most as you have the USC.

But if it did extend, as Penguin advises, be careful. If they find you overstaying, you could be banned from the US for years, a problem if the USC spouse wants to visit family, and if you decided to move over. Keep a close eye on compliance.

Michael

Many companies do short term working assignments on the visa waiver program or B-1 visa (in theory not allowed) and this is an area that USCIS currently normally turns a blind eye. However if USCIS tightens up on it's policies, it is normally the employee that will be penalized and not the company.

Pulaski

And may create significant problems with the IRS. If there is found to be an under payment of US taxes they will come after you!

Hotscot

Can you ask your employer your questions? Or do you not feel comfortable for some reasons.
They may appreciate your willingness to work with them to streamline the process.

em0307

Thank you all for your advice on the subject. Apologies I neglected to say Happy Thanksgiving in my first post. I hope you all had a great day. Wife is abroad currently so celebrated Thanksgiving a few weeks back!

In short the work visa sounds quicker and cleaner as I'm not looking to move out there permanently on this occasion.The client that we'll be working for is unsure exactly how long they want us over in the US for but this could be over the 90 days that some posters have mentioned, but they wouldn't send us on visa waivers. Keeping a close eye on the visa while working over there is key if I'm on a work visa.

Thanks again!

JAJ

Has your employer ever sent employees to the United States before?

Also consider tax, you do not want to get into a situation where you become U.S. tax resident, or have U.S. source income to deal with for tax purposes. In most states, there is state tax as well as federal, you have to consider that as well.

veryfunny

We get these type of comments all the time, and my advice is this; if you want people to really help you, try asking specific questions. Vague questions like this makes it very difficult to help.

Example: I am in the IT field (Programmer) I want to know how I can apply for jobs over in California and how can I make them be receptive to my skill set (10 years as a programmer). I would really like to work for facebook, does anyone here have any advice? etc......

American companies depending on the field are always looking for a competitive edge, I think that is the number one choice, everything else is secondary....