vtcarter6

This site has been a massive resource in preparing for our move from the UK to the US. I am a US citizen and my husband, an EU citizen working in the UK, received his IR1 visa back in March. We've been helped here along the way on questions big and small and I'm hoping that sharing our experience might add to the collective wisdom here of Brit Expats, since we've gained so much from it.

I don't think we're alone in finding the whole idea of moving a family to the US on a marriage visa really daunting. Not least because it's often very hard to line up jobs (and thus healthcare) before making the move. As I've been told many times on this site, most people end up having to resign and take the plunge, sorting out jobs once they get over there.

After lots of stress and prayers and reaching out to whoever could help us, my husband has accepted and gotten a job offer that will allow us to move our family to the US in the next three months. Here are two things that may prove useful for others:

--reentry permits. On the advice of a friend who is an immigration lawyer in the US, we applied for a reentry permit as soon as my husband used his CR1 visa. So he came over on the visa in July, for a two-week family visit, and while he was there we filled out the paperwork for the I 131 reentry permit. We were really honest and just said we needed more time to look for jobs and wrap up our affairs in the UK than the CR1 visa allowed. This has apparently gone through without a hitch-- I guess?-- because he's been asked to come in for biometrics. We'll be withdrawing the application (too late to get our money back, boo) because in the end we don't need the extra time. But this option would have taken out a lot of the stress of this dilemma for us, giving us two years to look for a job from the UK rather than a few months. Again, the big surprise with this was that we were able to get it without my husband having spent more than a couple of weeks in the US on his CR1 visa.
*As a side note, if we'd been quicker about getting the paperwork in before we were scheduled to leave the US, the lawyer said we probably could have gotten the biometrics done in the same trip, thus making a later trip back to the US unnecessary. She said if you give it at least a week to get in the system many of the processing centers are pretty accommodating of walk-ins...at least the center in Charlotte, NC.

--foreign CVs. On the advice of (I think) Pulaski (thank you thank you thank you) we started sending out CVs that really played down the fact that my husband was located in the UK. So we used my mom's address in the US (which we use for taxes and other correspondence) as well as our US Vonage number. And boom...all of a sudden we started getting responses to his CV whereas we'd been getting nothing-- nothing-- for months. A couple of recruiters told us that most foreign CVs are tossed regardless of whether the applicant has a green card, for various reasons.

So...I hope this helps others in the same, very stressful at times situation. And thanks to all on this forum for the quick and knowledgeable advice! It's been, well, life changing.

Noorah101

One thing to keep in mind is that simply having a re-entry permit in hand does NOT prevent a US PR from abandoning that status if they stay outside the USA for too long. The re-entry permit is only one way of showing that you don't intend to abandon PR status. You must be able to prove that the USA is your permanent home, and that your trip abroad was temporary in nature (even if temporary for 2 years).

Rene

ian-mstm

A cautionary note: It wouldn't actually have done that. You might think that's what it'll do, and it sure sounds like that's what it'll do... but it doesn't. All it does is allow you to demonstrate (as one small part of a greater whole) that you don't intend to abandon your status. That's not actually the same thing as being safe from having your status deemed abandoned. Bottom line - it doesn't give you 2 years to look for a job!

Ian

MsElui

I think thats understandable. If they genuinely have a bunch of decent applicants - what recruiter is going to add potential hassle and delay looking elsewhere where there could be uncertainty (do they have a visa/greencard, place to live etc) or delay (may not available for phone interviews in office hours, or delays in getting flights for interviews (PLUS hassle over who pays for flight and feeling bad if someone paid and then were not picked). etc
remember also that when you get a job - it can be dependent on passing medical tests or visits that require you to be on the spot for photos or something and this could get delayed etc)

They are not going to make their own life harder if they dont have to. IF they are struggling to find decent candidates, or the ones they have looked at so far are not right - THEN they may be more open to taking a chance/look.

plus remember - YOU may be genuinely ready, have a greencard, be willing to be there anytime for an interview, ability and desire to start job as soon as possible (ie start Monday not wait 3-4 weeks to make final move etc) but many other 'foreign' candidates may not and they wont know the genuine ones from the non genuine.