Andyrocks22

Hi,
I am a British citizen married to a US citizen. We live in the UK but are planning to move to the states. I have been checking out jobs in my field and there are a couple I really would be perfect for and would hate for these opportunities to slip through my fingers. I know I will be allowed to work once we are over there but is there a way I may go ahead and apply for these positions?
Thanks very much,
Andrew

Octang Frye

Sure, go ahead and apply for these positions. Good luck.

Bob

Nothing to stop you applying, or even interviewing while on the VWP.

Can't accept the positions without a visa, but you've got to make it very clear what your timeline will be and that you wouldn't need sponsorship, or you'll just end up in the bin.

ian-mstm

She can accept the position without a visa... but she can't sign anything to that effect - and many employers won't hold a position open without a signature!

Ian

Duncan Roberts

Even if it's done via electronic means while the OP in the UK?

ian-mstm

I interpreted the post to mean she's coming to the US for an interview. If she's in the UK, yes... she can sign on the electronic dotted line. When she's in the US on the VWP, she can accept employment but can't sign anything.

Ian

chopper40

Andy
I went through the same thing. I saterted looking at jobs over a year before I even applied for a visa to move to USA with my American wife. I applied for a jobs "pre-visa" and even flew over for interviews. To be realistic, alas, as a foreigner you are just too exotic and too much of an unknown entity to be considered for a job without actually living there and without actually having a work permit. Technically, employers can't consider someone for employment if they are not legally eligible to work at the time of application (that was in the small print of a lot of jobs that I applied for)

Once you do have a visa you become far less of an employment liability. At that stage it helps how you market yourself and get around the fact that you are thousands of miles away. Even if you are perpared to hop on a plane and attend an interview the next day, you sucess rate is going to be low.
Someone on here suggested a great idea. Once you have a visa, put an American address down on your applications. A US realtive. Get them to take messages for you. or Vonage has a facility where you can have an "American" number abroad.
Its not deciet, it's marketing. If you get to an interview you make it clear you are still wrapping things up in UK. You still put on your job applications for "current employment" that you are working in the UK. There is just something very off-putting in the HR department to get a job application from a foreign address. Avoid it if you can.

if/when you get to the stage you have flown over for an interview and they seem interested you must make it clear you are practically packed, and only need to give current employer 1 months notice etc.

Remember once you have your spousal visa, you are an American resident. You can't leave it more then a year without making the move to USA with or without job. Don't be out of the USA more than 6 months at a time...and be ready for questions when you go through immigration

For me the longest delay was actually processing all the paperwork after I got a job offer!

One final tip. If you get your spouse visa but chose to remain in the UK while looking for employment, don't forget that you also need to file world-wide income in USA for that calendar year.

Good luck. It can be done.

ian-mstm

No. Once he has a "spousal visa"... all he has is a "spousal visa". He doesn't become a PR until the day he enters the US.


No. He has 6 months - and 6 months only - in which to enter the US.


No. That's just not true. Even if he gets the "spouse visa", if he doesn't enter the US he does not have to file a US tax return.

Oh... it's called an "immigrant visa"... not a "spouse visa". Also, if you're going to post advice, please try to make sure it's accurate! I really hate correcting people who write stuff as though they know what they're talking about.

Ian

chopper40

Let me completely re-post that bit again.
Remember once you have your spousal visa (IR1) in your passport, you have 6 months from the expiry date to go through POE (Point of entry) THEN you become an LPR (Legal Permanent Resident)

Once you are an LPR, if you return to the UK, you can't leave it more then a year without making the move back to USA (with or without a job) without needing a re-entry permit. I thoroughly do not recommend it. Don't be out of the USA more than 6 months at a time...and be ready for questions when you go through immigration.
[Note: The immigration literature states that you "should not" be out of the country for more than 6 months. Although I was absent for 7 months and once I even passed through without my green card (had to wait in a room for 3 hours- this is also not recommended!)

For me the longest delay in moving was actually processing all the paperwork after I got a job offer!

One final tip. Once you become a LPR if you chose to remain in the UK while looking for employment, don't forget that you also need to file world-wide income in USA for that calendar year.

Note to Ian-mstm
The OP said he is a British citizen married to a US citizen. I assumed they have been, or will be married > 2 years. The OP would therefore qualify for the IR1 visa (IR=IMMEDIATE RELATIVE) by means of having an American SPOUSE. "Spousal visa" is a colloquial term that every immigration agent understands, even if you don't. Granted, OP may in fact only qualify for a CR Visa (Conditional Resident) if married < 2 years in which case the term "spousal visa" would be inappropriate. Lets not get too pedantic on that point.

What you know is only what you have read. My knowledge is also based on what I have actually experienced. The OP's concern is about applying for jobs while being based in the UK. I have been there, got the T-shirt and its a tough, stressful route. Hopefully my post offers some reassurance that it can be done. Thanks though.

Thanks though.

ian-mstm

I'm not being pedantic at all... I'm being specific. You wrote, "once you have your spousal visa, you are an American resident" and that simply is not true. He doesn't become an "American resident" until such time as he enters the US... which, I'm constrained to point out, was not mentioned in your post. By the way, the class under which he's admitted, either CR-1 or IR-1, is determined at the POE the moment he enters. It's nothing to do with the actual immigrant visa that's in his passport.


Really? I've been following this forum for 14 years, and I've been through the immigration process. Do you honestly believe that I have no experience job hunting from outside the US?

Ian

chopper40

If I had posted on here "can I be gone from the USA more than 6 months" what would you have replied? You would have posted what you have read. You have never been gone more than 6 months have you?

If I had posted on here "Can I go through an immigration without my green card" what would you have replied? You would have posted what you have read. You have never been through immigration without your green card now have you?

Your experiences from 14 years ago are likely to be dated and irrelevant. I'm "fresh off the boat" and I post my real life mishaps and mistakes so other people don't repeat them.

The most important thing is I now think the OP has some useful info and experiences from others that have been through what he is contemplating. Instead of pulling me up, why don't you try posting about your expereinces searching for a job abroad? That is supposed to be the purpose of this thread.