Hi guys,

I'm a 24 year old male born and residing in the UK. I have an Italian and Iranian passport but no British passport.

I really want to move to California. Or at least work there for a few months/years.

Could anyone please, please advise me on what options I have in getting a working visa, or perhaps immigration to the USA?

Many thanks for your help guys!

Sacha

Read this link: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulask...ork_in_the_USA

That should get you started. Moving to the USA is a struggle for most people. It helps if you're fabulously wealthy or supremely gifted, otherwise you could be in for a long and frustrating wait.

If you have an Iranian passport, surely you must also have relatives in the real estate business in Beverly Hills who can help you out?

(I jest. But, lacking a bit more background info, it's hard to offer serious comment.)

Do you have a degree, a substantial amount of money, currently work for a company with US offices, wish to study for a degree in the US and have the funds to do so, have immediate family who are US citizens or are you eligible for the for the diversity lottery?

Just a few things I can think of that might open up a route to a visa.

Hi guys!

Many thanks for your replies!

What background information would you like to know?

As for the degree. No. Cash. No. Work for US company. No. Able to study. No. Diversity Lottery. Perhaps, though complicated.

So those are the only ways to work the US as I thought? I have a friend who is staying with her boyfriend in Cali and she said she'd help me get a job as a waiter or chef but I doubt that that's possible (she's currently in Australia with her Cali. boyfriend so she hasn't actually tried getting a job herself yet and I therefore suspect she doesn't know she can't).

Looks like I'll have to go to Canada instead.

To get a job, you must find someone willing to sponsor you for an immigrant visa, such as the H-1B. The cost is many $k, and there are strict rules, such as the job must be one that requires a degree, and you must either have a degree or 12 years work experience (or a mixture of 2 years of a degree and 6 years work experience), so therefore, you are not eligible for the H-1B visa.

Also, your friend may have a shock if she planned to move to the US with her boyfriend, if she's in a similar position to you.

From the link above...

....

Could someone elaborate on this?

I'm thinking about opening my own high class Italian pizzeria (I can make pizzas like they make them in Napoli) in the UK sometime in the near future. If I had my own business I can get into the US?

God bless guys!

So basically the answer is, "no".

If you want short term, you should consider studying in the US, not cheap, but if you had a degree or were at uni, it would open internships up for J1's as well as stuff like Bunac/Camp America type programs.

If you're going to start a business in the US, it's E2 visa but you realistically need upwards of $150K in cash.

Come to think of it I remember one of my family members went to the States with a E2 Visa before 9/11. He had a business in the Uk but I'm sure he didn't have £150,000 in cash.

Are you sure it's not £150,000 turnover or something?

No degree, no cash and no funds to study. What makes you think Canada would be any easier?

You'll need funds to start up a business in the US, or start a US franchise of your UK business.

I don't see any way in which you can emigrate to the US any time soon. I'm not too familiar with Canada's visa requirements, however you may be able to go to Canada on the 'working holiday visa' (not sure what it's called now).

Worth stating that even if you did qualify for a visa, with an Iranian background you should be prepared to get stuck in administrative processing for some time.

No.

They want you to invest in a business or create a business that'll lead to employing people, 10 plus people. A business that won't go splat with a tin pot turn over.

Considering you'd need money down on premises, equipment, insurance, utilities, medical insurance and all the rest of it and then personally have to have personal set up costs of getting a place to stay, utilities, car, insurance, furniture, etc, etc.

Only way you will find a location where you could do that would be in a shit hole where your business will be even more likely to fail.

Things are very different now than they were 10+ years ago.

If you were born in Britain around 1988-89 with Italian citizen parents exercising European Treaty Rights then you (normally) should also be a British citizen. You can apply to the Home Office for a nationality status certificate to prove it.

HOWEVER - British citizenship/passport won't get you any further in terms of entitlement to live in the United States.

Wow thread got hijacked by weird cheating girlfriend story. Yes women cheat - it is common practise lol.

Yes I am a British citizen but I don't hold a British passport. Don't think you can legally hold three passports anyway so they might ask that I revoke Italian/Iranian citizenship.

As for Canada - I'm pretty sure a UK resident/European national can get a working visa to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc. I just wanted to move to California because I feel I am destined to go there.

Alright well looks like I should focus on opening a business. Anyone fancy going 50/50 on an Italian pizzeria takeaway? £25,000 needed. Any location. Wood fired pizzas and pastas. Expected turnover £6-£10,000 a week, 35% food margin. I have the credentials more info on request.

Peace