Help and Advice Requested
Mar 18th 2001, 5:57 pm
#1
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 16
Hi to everyone on this board who are getting married or have been married, we could do with your advice.
Our situation is that we both met over the internet 3 months ago, I live in the UK and she lives in PA. We met face to face 2 weeks ago and had a fantastic time, and since then it has been painful to be appart. We chat on the net everynight and are racking our brains inorder to sort something out so that we can be together.
The complicating factors in this is that she is 19 and has 3 years of a masters degree to go. Her parents are very strict and would certainly not approve of the relationship, let alone marriage. I am 26 and am prepared to give up my house, job and friends over here to be with her. However looking around its not that easy is it!
We have not made any definate plans for marriage as we would rather wait until she has finished her studies before we do that. However we are prepared to marry in secret (so that her parents do not find out) so that we can just be together. The situation is also that even if we do marry then we will not be able to live together at first as she will still have to live with her parents for the time being until we can get them used to the relationship. With the sale of my house I would be able to survive for like 6 months in her hometown, but obviously I cant work to obtain an income until we marry. The other complicating factor is that I do not have any academic qualifications, as I went straight into work when I left school and have been working hard ever since - I do have 10 years experience of working with IT and have built myself up to a good status in what I do at the moment.
So the only option we have at the moment is to speed up our marriage plans and just do it so that we can be together. My questions are - does she have to be 21 before I can marry her and gain residency?; Will we have to be living together in order to pass the interview or even obtain the change of status of my Visa?; Is there anyother way around this??
Your help and comments would be appriciated on this as we do not know what to do.
Thanks
Eddie
Our situation is that we both met over the internet 3 months ago, I live in the UK and she lives in PA. We met face to face 2 weeks ago and had a fantastic time, and since then it has been painful to be appart. We chat on the net everynight and are racking our brains inorder to sort something out so that we can be together.
The complicating factors in this is that she is 19 and has 3 years of a masters degree to go. Her parents are very strict and would certainly not approve of the relationship, let alone marriage. I am 26 and am prepared to give up my house, job and friends over here to be with her. However looking around its not that easy is it!
We have not made any definate plans for marriage as we would rather wait until she has finished her studies before we do that. However we are prepared to marry in secret (so that her parents do not find out) so that we can just be together. The situation is also that even if we do marry then we will not be able to live together at first as she will still have to live with her parents for the time being until we can get them used to the relationship. With the sale of my house I would be able to survive for like 6 months in her hometown, but obviously I cant work to obtain an income until we marry. The other complicating factor is that I do not have any academic qualifications, as I went straight into work when I left school and have been working hard ever since - I do have 10 years experience of working with IT and have built myself up to a good status in what I do at the moment.
So the only option we have at the moment is to speed up our marriage plans and just do it so that we can be together. My questions are - does she have to be 21 before I can marry her and gain residency?; Will we have to be living together in order to pass the interview or even obtain the change of status of my Visa?; Is there anyother way around this??
Your help and comments would be appriciated on this as we do not know what to do.
Thanks
Eddie
Mar 18th 2001, 6:21 pm
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
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No she doesn't have to be 21. Yes you'll have to live with her.
Come clean to her parents or find another way to come here that doesn't involve
marriage. The usual option is a temporary work visa (H-1B) but that requires a
few things:
a) A sponsoring employer
b) A bachelor's degree in a related field to the employment
c) The field needs to be one that there is a shortage of qualified US citizens /
permanent residents. IT is the biggest user of such visas.
Andy.
--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.
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No she doesn't have to be 21. Yes you'll have to live with her.
Come clean to her parents or find another way to come here that doesn't involve
marriage. The usual option is a temporary work visa (H-1B) but that requires a
few things:
a) A sponsoring employer
b) A bachelor's degree in a related field to the employment
c) The field needs to be one that there is a shortage of qualified US citizens /
permanent residents. IT is the biggest user of such visas.
Andy.
--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.
Mar 18th 2001, 6:45 pm
#3
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2001
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 276
A couple of extra bits of info to what Andy wrote:
regarding b) 12 years experience in your field replaces the need for a university degree. So you're not a million miles off there...
c) is for what is known as H1B dependant employers only. These are companies whose staff are made up of 15 or more % people working on H1B visas. They can only hire you after they have already advertised the position.
Good luck with this, man!
regarding b) 12 years experience in your field replaces the need for a university degree. So you're not a million miles off there...
c) is for what is known as H1B dependant employers only. These are companies whose staff are made up of 15 or more % people working on H1B visas. They can only hire you after they have already advertised the position.
Good luck with this, man!
Mar 18th 2001, 7:44 pm
#4
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 16
Ok thanks for that information - another idea was that we could get married in the UK - but I suppose then I would still need to be living with her in the US wouldnt i? Or if I got an appartmnent nearby could we not pretend to be living together?
Mar 18th 2001, 7:52 pm
#5
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2001
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 276
Eddie, check your e-mail!!! Mucho info for you!
-Harry
-Harry
Mar 18th 2001, 8:09 pm
#6
Guest
Posts: n/a
EddieUK wrote:
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The only requirement is that she be legally able to marry, however I suspect that the
greater problem in your case would be that SHE has to offer an affidavit of support
for you if the immigration is based on marriage, and SHE may NOT have the money or
income to do this. It will require a yearly income on her part of around $15K or
savings in the amount of around $75K, give or take. A work visa might be a better
option in your case, frankly.
alvena
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The only requirement is that she be legally able to marry, however I suspect that the
greater problem in your case would be that SHE has to offer an affidavit of support
for you if the immigration is based on marriage, and SHE may NOT have the money or
income to do this. It will require a yearly income on her part of around $15K or
savings in the amount of around $75K, give or take. A work visa might be a better
option in your case, frankly.
alvena
