Thanks LOTL, I understood that you didn't need to prove you had no intention of emigrating in the way that folks on other visas have to but it seems my info is out of date.

Five years, yes I'd heard that too. Seems an awfully long time, doesn't it?

can I ask then? how long you been living in rented/temporary accomodation waiting to learn if you're successful?

Was that to me?

Presuming it was, since May......although we've rented for the last few years anyway as we've moved around the UK a fair bit......the difference is this house is owned by my family (no notice needed to leave).

Are you on your way to suggesting we need to find some way to prove ties to the Uk?

As I said earlier, my understanding was, from what I read up on, you do not need to prove ties to the UK, if Im misinformed then...................oh heck! :( :rolleyes:

yeah

fair enough

I dunno, didn't come here on a H1B..........
I find it amazing though that people base their entire future on an event that may never happen.

It will happen

Happy Birthday, Manc

Hope you have a wonderful day :D

keep the faith then, think you're mad as a fish, but keep the faith then.

fanks for the birthday wishes

Sarasota is a wonderful place to live. No complaints here - oh yes there is one - bloody snowbirds.

Sarasota is a wonderful place to live. No complaints here - oh yes there is one - bloody snowbirds.

LOL ...they are something else, aren't they? and it gets worse every year...roll on April...the mass exodous. We DO need their money though, half the businesses here would go under if not for them......just wish they'd take their car keys off them at the State line when they all descend.

To the first part, I'd ask "how do you do that?" I don't recall having to prove ties to the UK, whatever that might mean.... I've been on an H-1B twice, and renewed once. I don't remember any part where I had to show I owned a house in the UK, or anything like that... though I do vaguely recall a question that asked something about "Do you intend to stay in the USA" - but anyone could say "No", i.e., you don't need evidence.

To the second part, anyone have experience of getting an H1B that was NOT 3 yrs? For some reason, my current H1B was 29 months, the renewal was for 3 yrs. Hypothetical question: does that mean my employer could apply for a further 7 months at the end of this renewal (I know this isn't the visa forum, but thought I'd ask).

BTW, please don't ask me why I don't just get a green card....

So..let me get this straight....
you have to say that you Don't intend to stay in the US when applying for the H1B. But you don't have to prove it.

and, if the GC takes approx 5 years to get...then whens the earliest that your employer can apply?...is it after 1 year on the H1B..assuming that you have 2 years left and then you can extend for a further 3 years...or, once the GC is in process can you stay even if the H1B expires?.

Anybody know how long the interview lasts and what sort of questions they ask at the US embassy when you go for the H1B?.

Thanks to everybody who replied...

In reply to NC Penguin post about schools..

good question..haven't really thought about that much..

anybody else shed some light..what sort of things do i need to look into..

obviovsly..schools in sarasota google search..then what.. how different are the schools achievement tables to ours?.
Also, how much does it cost per term...is that for private schools?. do the public schools cost anything?. are they any good?.

thanks

1. Proving ties to the UK. We had to send photocopies of any documents we had to prove our ties to the UK when the visa application was sent to the embassy. This includes things like insurance policies, pensions, mortgage, etc.

2. Applying for thr Green Card. The earliest time to apply is debatable. We left it for 2 years in order to get established here first and find out what we wanted to do. I had read somewhere that if you apply too soon it may look like that was your intention from the start, and may hinder your application, although I don't know if this acurate or not. As our GC application is in the early stages,(labor certification I think) we have been told that we still need to renew our visas this year in order to stay. By the time the new visas have expired we will hopefully be at the AOS stage and will not need to extend it further. I'm rather a lay man at this and don't really know all the in's and out's of the procedures, but hopefully I've made things a bit clearer, myself included. I've just read that you cannot extend the H1 visa for a seventh year if you have not arrived at the I-140 GC stage by then. If you have you can have indefinate 1 year extensions until the GC is received.
Can't tell you anything about interviews as we didn't have any.

3. Public schools cost zip to send your children to. The hidden costs come at the beginning of the school year when you are given an enormous list of supplies they need to take in. For example my last list was something like this: paper, pens 4 packs of 25, crayons 4 packs of 20, 3 erasers, 50 paper plates, kitchen roll, 25 plastic cups, 10 file holders etc. The list is huge. Private schools obviously vary in cost and standards. The big worry is college and saving for it. On an H-1b visa you are not a permanent resident and therefore cannot enroll in any college savings schemes.

LOTL..

thanks very much for that...

thats cleared it up a bit..