mishj

I desperately want to live in the US with my boyfriend. We plan to get engaged soon but do not want to marry for about a year, so I cannot come over on the Fiance visa. Currently I keep coming over here on the Visa Waiver program for a couple of weeks every month but it means I am not earning much (I can only work for two weeks in every month in the UK) and my finances are dwindling..

I have very good qualifications in IT (I am an Ebusiness expert with 14 years IT experience, two degrees and I have taught a Masters in ECommerce, I am also MCSD certified). Yet I am having such difficulty finding a company that will sponsor me to work over here.

Am I doing something wrong? Is there some way I can get to live over here that I am not aware of? It seems so unfair as I am not a terrorist or anything, I am simply someone who is in love with an American and wants to live with the one that I love!

I feel that our relationship will suffer if I have to live in the UK until we get married (one years time) because soon I will be forced to work full time in the UK and then wont be able to visit him much either.

Can anyone help? My resume is at http://mishj.brinkster.net/intranet/resume.doc
and my cover letter is at
http://mishj.brinkster.net/intranet/coverletter.doc

Thanks
Michelle Johnston
770 956 0318

mishj

By the way, my boyfriend lives in Atlanta, so I need a job either there or in Norwalk New Jersey (which is where his family lives).

John McHugh

I'm not an IT person, so I'm not really qualified to review your resume. But, I can say the job market is currently rather tight in the U.S., as I'm sure you're aware. Requiring sponsorship certainly doesn't give you a competitive advantage, even with solid credentials. If I may ask, why the one year wait for marriage? It's a totally unfair question, but unfortunately, as many will tell you, marriage-based adjustment of status is just about the only step you can take to (quickly) improve your job prospects here. Have you considered a legal marriage followed by a religious or family celebration in a year's time? I wouldn't recommend this other than for your intention to marry anyway. It isn't impossible to find an employer to sponsor you, but you need to ask yourself which of your skills are particularly unique such that you can identify employers who might be willing to deal with the hassle and expense of the immigration process. Also, the most effective job search strategy is personal networking...as they say, it's more often who you know that counts...and I think that becomes even more true when employers need to go out of their way to hire you.

Another possibility is to pursue a graduate degree here. Particularly in technical fields, gaining admission with financial support through teaching or research assistantships is probably easier than a job search, although it's not a way to address a short-term financial crunch.

In case you aren't tuned in to the online job-search engines available here (I imagine you are), you might try monster.com, careerbuilder.com, and hotjobs.com. You can search specifying specific metropolitan areas, such as Atlanta or North Jersey, as well as using keywords that describe your area of expertise. You may also want to track down a few "headhunters" who specialize in placing IT professionals.

Good luck!

mishj

Thanks for the reply - so quickly too!
I have tried cajoling my fella into an earlier marriage but he isnt keen.. and I have tried all the online job search sites, including the ones you mention but also hundreds more!
I dont have many connections over here of course, neither does my boyfriend it seems..
So until he marries me it seems I may have to live in the UK :-(
Thanks for your help though
Mish

Vicky88

Have to agree that this is not a good job market to be looking for a company to sponsor you. They have to be able to justify to INS why they need to have a foreigner fill a position when there are so many locals unemployed, and it seems companies are no longer inclined to do so.

Best of luck with whatever you do.

Pulaski

Even the most straight forward marriage or finace visas for a UK citizen to immigrate to the US take 4-6 months to process, which would bring you to within as little as six months of your anticipated marriage date.

It sounds to me like the best thing to do would be to apply for a fiance visa, which should arrive about 4-5 months from now, then you can come to the US (within six months of the visa being issued and get married about a year from now (within 90 days of arriving).

The main problem is that I think that you would not be able to come to the US on a visa waiver after you have applied for the fiance visa (others here might know), and certainly not after you actually have the fiance visa.

John McHugh

I can sympathize. I was in a situation somewhat analogous to that of your boyfriend, and I can say that my (and to a lesser extent, my wife's) principled stance not to allow the INS to dictate to us when we should marry has probably made us a whole lot poorer today. She was here almost two years on a tourist visa (minus a few weeks here and there) as we were dating...and then I lost MY job. We were married shortly thereafter, and the first half of 2002 was a real struggle.

All the best...

mishj

Thanks for all the replies..
I had no idea that once I applied for the fiance visa I couldnt come over here on the visa waiver program - thanks for the warning! I am wondering if we would be better off getting married in the UK and then coming back to the US married and forgetting all about the fiance visa.. Either way, looks like I have to get a job in the UK for now and hardly see my boyfriend for the next 6 months.. it sucks!

Thanks
Michelle

mishj

I didnt know about the national interest waiver.. interesting but we should be married by the time that would come through
My fella wont come to the uk unfortunately..
I just have to get him to marry me I guess