pixelgd

Hi, new to the forum.

I have been unsuccesful if trying to find out roughly what the possibilities are of my wife and I emigrating to the states from the UK. I can't seem to find any basic guidlines with regards to funds required, job requirements etc.

Is it impossible to give a rough answer as to whether we would be considered if I was to post more details about us?

Looking for help, thanks.

Ingo Pakleppa

You may check out the links in my signature line, there are quite a few interesting
ones that will answer your question. But to give you a very short answer: it may not
be possible at all. But do go ahead and post some more details, that will give more
information. What we'd need to know is:

- country of birth for you and your wife
- do you have any relatives in the US?
- do you have a college degree or work experience?
- what is your profession?
- why do you want to immigrate to the US? What are you planning to do after you
move here?

Essentially, the only realistic option for immigrating to the US is through
employment. Your funds don't matter (unless you have a million dollars free for
investment. In that case, you can immigrate through investment). What matters is your
qualification and your patience.

You need to start out by finding an employer who is desperate to hire specifically
YOU and is willing to go through a lot of red tape for
it. The employer will have to prove that there is no qualified American at all who
would take the job - and the job must pay the same as comparable jobs would pay
for Americans. Also, the employer must be patient because it can take several
years for the paperwork to go through. For me, it took six years, although in
most cases nowadays it is faster, at least if you have a college degree.

If you have a college degree, you can get a temporary visa and work authorization in
about six months that is tied to one particular employer. You cannot quit or change
jobs without major hassle until well after you have your permanent Green Card. But
at least you can reside in the US and work here while waiting for the paperwork to
go through.

This is a very superficial summary of the only feasible option.

There are theoretically other ways to get a Green Card:

- The visa lottery. The US gives away 50,000 Green Cards every year. Unfortunately,
you probably don't qualify because you are a UK citizen (if either you or your wife
were born in another country, both of you would probably qualify. Citizenship
doesn't matter, but birthplace does)

- immigration through family. If you have a parent, adult child, brother or sister in
the US, then they can sponsor you for a Green Card. Unfortunately, the times this
takes are astronomical. Right now, it can be up to 22 years, and I would not be
surprised to see it reach half a century before you would qualify.

- asylum. Being from the UK, you'd be highly unlikely to receive asylum (although I
did hear that there was one case of a German being granted asylum due to the
religious persecution of Scientologists there). Asylum also is a very messy
thing. Stay away from it and allow those from countries with more serious
problems to use it.

Ingo

On 6 Apr 2002 01:02:18 GMT, pixelgd <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Hi, new to the forum.
    >
    >I have been unsuccesful if trying to find out roughly what the possibilities are of
    >my wife and I emigrating to the states from the UK. I can't seem to find any basic
    >guidlines with regards to funds required, job requirements etc.
    >
    >Is it impossible to give a rough answer as to whether we would be considered if I
    >was to post more details about us?
    >
    >Looking for help, thanks.
    >
    >
    >
    >--
    >Posted via http://britishexpats.com

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. For reliable advice, please consult
with a professional immigration attorney.

For further information, check the following frequently-requested links.

For many questions, you may find answers at
http://travel.state.gov/visa_services.html (Department of State)

or http://ins.usdoj.gov (INS).

For consular policies and visa reciprocity fees, find your consulate in
http://travel.state.gov/links.html

For DOL Online Labor Certification: http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/

For information on affidavit of support for marriage to US citizens (I-864), go to
http://travel.state.gov/i864gen.html and http://travel.state.gov/checklist.html

For information on entering the US as a K-1: http://www.k1poelist.com/

For poverty levels, see http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/poverty/00poverty.htm

For information on H/L/O/P visa extensions at Dept. of State in St. Louis, MO, see
http://travel.state.gov/revals.html

For non-official information, check:

(When using these sites, and any Web sites, please watch out for privacy, as I do not
know all site operators.)

http://www.visalaw.com http://www.shusterman.com http://www.immigration.com
http://members.aol.com/MDUdall http://www.murthy.com/ http://www.richw.org/dualcit/
(dual citizenship FAQ) http://www.ilw.com http://www.srs-usvisa.com
http://www.getusavisa.com http://greencard-lottery.virtualave.net/
http://www.jcvisa.com (H-1B) http://www.h1bresources.com (marriage and fiancee)
http://www.kamya.com/misc/ (marriage and fiancee)
http://www.mindspring.com/~docsteen/...o/visainfo.htm http://www.workpermit.com

This is not an endorsement of any of these Web sites. I am not affiliated with any of
the Web site owners and do not receive nor accept payment in return for listing them,
and typically don't even know them.

(if believe you have a good immigration-related Web site and want your Web site
listed here, please e-mail me).