I hope this doesn't sound naive but can anyone recommend a good US immigration website that runs through the requirements of each of the visas outlined above. The sites I've seen tend to either just quote the regulations or want to charge you for anything more than basic information.

By way of backgroung I'm a UK chartered accountant looking to buy a property in Florida. Obviously there is nothing to stop me from doing this but I would like, in due course, to live and work in the US but I don't want to go back into a large international practice in the US to do this. If anyone out there has practical experience of what I'm trying to do I would love to hear about it.

Paul

Pease start your own thread! It will get the proper attention.




NC Penguin

yes, Switzerland issues Diplomas but only for those who finish university and take it from there. The less fortunate like me ( was not fit for University because I had to learn the language first) just get References when they finish their apprenticeship.

In the meantime I am one of the highest paid females in the city of Zurich in my job, speak 6 languages fluently and my "brilliant" references would blind you. But where does that leave me?!?!?

Zurich

No Manc, I don't give up that easy and although I love the brits humour, I was hoping for some "serious" help here

people with wit!

So you're a single Mum? If so, I'd honestly recommend that you look else where as the implications of immigrating to the USA, finding a job that is well paid enough to fund child care while you work, and gives has level of medical coverage as a benefit that a responsible parent would want for their child are mind-numbing. :scared: ... And that is before even considering what you'll need to be saving to fund the cost of college education for your son.

I created the list I posted above because of the number of questions like yours that get posted here, and sorry to rain on your parade, but if you don't fit readily into one of the categories on my list then there really isn't much hope of you coming to live in the USA.

One thing though, I think that there is an "equivalency" allowed under the graduate qualifiction requirements. If you are doing work that in the USA would require a degree you are allowed three years work experience for each year of a US degree. Which means that you are deemed to have degree level education if you have, and can prove, twelve years work experience in the field in which you are seeking to work in the US.

Ty for your reply. I have 20 years of experience in what I do and I cannot by the life of me imagine ANY country being more expensive in medical aid and schools as here in Switzerland. Another very impressing thing was the salary a PA can receive in the US or are all those american job sites just pulling a cloth over one's eyes ?

One other thing is: an american can afford to have a home, In Switzerland you must be a multimillionaire to have your OWN home, I am renting an apartment, fair enough, its luxury, but I am paying 2300$ per month and it never will be mine.

You're a PA? .... I really can't see that a US company is going to be able to justify the investment in a visa for you.

I don't know what salaries you have seen for PAs, but they're at best likely to reflect the cost of living. So, if you see mega-bucks for a PA in Manhattan then you should remember that the cost of living there is absurd - very similar to what you are experiencing in Switzerland.

PA = physician's assistant, or personal assistant?

Looking through the thread, it's hard to tell for sure

If she is a physician's assistant, I thought that salaries were pretty good....(?)

Personal assistant, executive assistant, whatever you call it in US. Here its the person that actually runs the company while boss is out playing golf

Har har, know what you mean. Then I'd agree with Pulaski that persuading a company to go through the visa process when PA's are "ten a penny" (their perception) would be difficult. Only way I can think of to get around this would be connections - person who gives you an amazing letter of recommendation actually knows a person in the firm you're applying to. Or if you were on the front page of Switzerland's equivalent to "Money" magazine..

Don't want to burst your bubble. It just seems that in that line of work there is not a huge shortage and it would be very difficult to produce tangible evidence of your level of excellence and convince a US employer...

The employer would then have to convince USCIS that you're the only person who can do the job and that there are no candidates in the US.

Does your company has offices in the US?

Not for some visas. H1B, for example, you just have to demonstrate that the person is qualified. You don't have to show that they are the only qualified candidate, nor the best qualified candidate, as far as I understand it.... I'm not familiar with whether a PA would come on an H1B or some other visa...

Oops my mistake. I was thinking that if you weren't going for a job that's in short supply you'd have to have a good case for going. (I was reading the rejection letters on USCIS last night)