wimbo21

Hi there, i'm after lots of advice (sorry!)

firstly i'll backtrack, i'm 21 and live in the UK, where you're not eligible for a greencard! i'm desperate to move to the USA and have been for a good couple of years. i'm not trained in anything and don't have a degree although i do have my certificate for the first year of university.

i know it's difficult to move to the USA, but i have must have missed something! my sister's friend is the same age as me and she has been in the USA now and is studying over there. she's not engaged or anything, but she went over on an ESTA visa and frankly i don't know how she's done it!!

i read somewhere about US naturalization, and that you have to have lived for at least 3 months in the state or USCIS district where you apply. so can i go over on an ESTA visa and then apply for a citizenship? surely not!

i obviously want to work in the USA and you can't work with an ESTA visa, but out of interest is it legal for someone to literally keep going back and forth with an ESTA visa for 3 months and then renew it and then go back??

like i said i'm desperate to move the USA and start afresh!!

any replies would be brilliant,

thanks

civilservant

First things first:

Calm down. Desperate people make really poor decisions.

Ok, now that's over, there are very specific reasons that will allow visas to live and work in the US. The most common are marriage and work. Since you do not have a US girlfriend, that rules out marriage for now, and your lack of a degree rules out work visas (at least short term).

You can look at 'Pulaskis Ways' in the Wiki at the top of the page, that gives information on the ways to life/work in the States, but in all honesty I think your best idea is to go back and finish University, since that may potentially lead to emplyment in the future.

With regards to your friend, if they are studying they way well have an F visa, which does not allow them to live forever, only for the duration of their studies.

You cannot enter the US on the Visa Waiver Programme (thats what the actualy name for the ESTA is) with the intention of remaining permenantly. Its explicatly forbidden. Nor can you 'apply for naturalization' without having lived in the US in status (ie with a visa) for several years.

Pulaski

Go read the two Pulaski pages in the USA section of the wikis (tab above). Your sister's friend may just have a student "F1" visa. Anyone can apply for one to study at a US university.

Otherwise, your post is full of errors and misconceptions, most of which the Pulaski wikis will straighten out. Come back and try again when you have read and digested them!

LinkTen

Do you have immediate family in the US who have green cards or are citizens? Do you have a substantial amount of money in the bank ($100k+)?

If not, it's unlikely you'll be moving to the US anytime soon.

As mentioned before, you do not qualify for the work visa (H-1B), which requires a degree, 12 years work experience or a mixture of both. You also do not qualify for a marriage visa.

I'd recommend going back to university in the UK and completing your degree, getting a few years work experience and then looking at the possibility of moving to the US.

wimbo21

hi all,

no i don't have money to invest.
i have a cousin who lives in Alabama and that's it!

if i wanted to study at a US college, could i get financial funding or would i have to pay for it all up front? i don't know if that's a specialist question! i know my sisters friend initially kept going back and forth to start with on the ESTA visa and then has now said she has a visa but not sure which one.
she is staying with her boyfriends parents, but don;t you have to show that you have like $10,000 to support yourself to get this visa? i know that she goes to a smaller college, so i'd think the fees weren't as expensive?

do certain US states have different criteria's, in that could i go over for say a year and keep renewing my ESTA visa to make me eligible for funding, does it work like that??!!

sorry, thinking out loud! well you know what i mean

cheers guys!

LinkTen

You need to go to the website of the university that you are interested in and they should have an 'international' section that will inform you of any funding available to international students. Usually, funding is not offered to international students.

For the F1 (student) visa, you must show that you have funds to support yourself for the first year or you degree (tuition + living costs).

If you are studying for a degree at a US university, you are not allowed to do this on the ESTA/VWP.

SarahG

You are not eligible for the Diversity Lottery but you are eligible for a greencard if you meet the criteria.

If your sisters friend went over on ESTA and is now studying then I hope she has the correct visa otherwise she is breaking the law.

Have you ever been to the US before or are you basing your desire to move over based on what you have seen on TV and movies?

No you cannot apply for naturalization if you have lived in the US for 3 months. 3 years after marrying an American citizen you can but not after 3 months and certainly not from arriving on ESTA.

Read the links given to you and come back when you've read it but I'm sorry to say that you don't appear to meet the criteria for a visa based on what you have said so far.

Pulaski

Size has no bearing on fees, expensive colleges can be large or small.
No and no. Immigration is a federal matter.

Apfelkuchen

The OP might be eligible for the Diversity Lottery if born in Northern Ireland or in a territory outside the UK that is eligible. (So far I've only seen him/her say he lives in the UK. Sorry if I've missed something else.)

SarahG

Yes I know that. As no mention of being from N. Ireland and the fact they said ineligible for greencard, I assumed, perhaps wrongly, they meant the DV.

wimbo21

i've looked and no, not eligible for DV or greencard. i have a brother that lives in another country that accepts green card applications. could i say for instance, naturalize to another country and then apply for a greencard from that country? it would take years i know.

Noorah101

So this probably rules out a work-type visa, unless you do a summer camp type of thing (if those still exist).

She probably has an F-1 student visa.

She probably got an F-1 student visa. Why don't you ask her.

Not. You have to first get a visa to get to the USA. Then you have to become a US permanent resident (i.e. get a green card). Once you've been a permanent resident for 5 years, then you can apply for US citizenship (3 years if married to a USC).

There's no "ESTA visa". ESTA is a pre-clearance to use the VWP. General rule of thumb is to stay outside the USA longer than you were inside. So if you come on an 89-day VWP visit, you should spend 90+ days outside the USA before attempting another VWP visit. That's not a law, it's just the best way to avoid getting turned away at the POE. If you start making too many trips, especially close together, the POE officer will start thinking you're trying to live in the USA as a visitor, and that you must be working illegally in the USA to support yourself on so many vacations (unless you bring proof otherwise).

It's best not to do anything out of desperation. Look at the Pulaski's Ways article, figure out which visa might suit you in the long run, and then make a plan to become eligible for it.

Rene

Noorah101

I'm not following what you're saying here. You can become a citizen of another country, if you want and are able to, yes. But that won't help you get to the USA, unless you become an Australian citizen, in which case I think they have an E visa which doesn't apply to other countries.

If you become a citizen of another country, you no longer need a green card for that country, you'd be a citizen.

There is no way to directly apply for a green card to the USA unless you have a US employer willing to submit a petition for such, or you have enough money to invest which results in a green card ($500K+). Or, you are eligible for the DV lottery, which it seems you are not.

Rene

Noorah101

So investment visas are out.

So family-based immigration is out.

If you can find a way to get funding, yes, you can use funding. You need to prove you have the funds for at least the first year - tuition and cost of living.

Probably an F-1 student visa. Why not ask her.

No.

Maybe, maybe not. Depends on the college.

No.

ESTA is not a visa. Once you have ESTA approval, it's valid for 2 years, you don't need to keep renewing it, unless certain things change, such as you get a new passport, you get denied a visa, get arrested for a CIMT, etc.

Rene

Jerseygirl

Do you mean the DV Lottery...if so the answer is no as it is based on where you where born. So becoming a citizen of another country is of no help to you.