Jacko74

A up all

Just found the site and I must say its a crackin hive of information

I have possibly got the opportunity to go and work for an engineering firm in Mentor Ohio

Anyone got any hints and tips????

hungryhorace

Er, wrap up warm.

Jacko74

Shouldn't be a problem, I love snow and I've seen that they get their fair share

Noorah101

The main thing to ask is what visa the company will be sponsoring you for? Until you know that they will definitely sponsor you for a work visa, any other comments are putting the cart before the horse.

Rene

Jacko74

They are offering me a sponsorship but it is early days
I've still got a few visa gremlins to sort out before we start packin
The main thing is that I don't know if me and my fiancée need to get married before we go

christmasoompa

You don't have to get married, she could apply for a cohabiting B2 (assuming you do cohabit of course!). She couldn't work on it, but then even if you were married she probably wouldn't be able to work anyway (assuming the visa would be a H1B, although you've not said which visa).

But (again assuming) you'll be on a normal H1B, you've got almost a year before you'll be moving anyway, so plenty of time to plan a wedding if need be!

What's the job?

Good luck.

Jacko74

Thanks for that info
The role is a mechanical design engineer
They will be offering a H1B visa based on my qualifications and experience

Noorah101

Assuming you are getting an H1B, if you want her to get the dependent visa H-4, you will need to be married.

If you are currently cohabitating, and can prove it, and you don't want to get married, she could get a B-2 visa as a cohabitating partner, but it's a little more hassle and not as stable as the H-4.

If you're not planning to get married, you should check your new employer's benefit package to see if she can get added to your company health insurance without being married.

She would not be able to work in the USA on either the B-2 or the H-4, so in that regard it doesn't make much difference either way.

Rene

JAJ

"They" won't be offering anything. A visa is issued by the United States government, not the employer. Although employer sponsorship is a starting point, the U.S. government will assess your qualifications and experience against the H-1B criteria. Or the criteria for whichever other visa is selected.

In any case, this year's H-1B quota is used up, so unless by some chance the position is quota exempt, nothing will happen until next year and even then it could be subject to a lottery if the quota is over-subscribed again.

Hotscot

And....what exactly do you have in writing from the company?

Duncan Roberts

Said by somebody who has yet to experience it. If you get across, you won't love it. In all likelihood you wouldn't be moving out here until October 2014 which will give you maybe a month before the snow season starts.

Derrygal

I live in the Cleveland Eastern suburbs, not too far from Mentor (about 10miles away). It is very cold here and we get a lot of snow. Mentor is considered "the snowbelt" and gets a lot of "Lake Effect" snow. So be prepared for some cold weather (starting in October and usually lasting until April). Mentor is a very busy place - good shopping, etc. I would not want to live in Mentor itself, but there are some pleasant suburbs nearby (Concord is very pleasant). I believe the Mentor school district is okay (although there have been some problems with bullying in the high school in the past couple of years - a couple of kids committed suicide apparently due to bullying). When I first moved to NE Ohio my husband actually worked in Mentor (we have since divorced) but we chose not to live there. We decided to go to an area with better schools and a smaller high school as our daughter was 15 at the time. On the subject of weather, we have fairly nice summers here - usually not too hot as other parts of the US (although I seem to remember last year was a hot one). PM me if you want more info.

Jacko74

I must say I have been looking into this for quite a long time now and yes I know it ain't going to be easy and like I said we haven't started packing just yet

But we all need to start somewhere don't we

I haven't got anything in writing yet but this is being looked at as we speak

And yes I am awear that it snows a lot and yes I love it
If everyone hated snow then nobody would live their would they

Pulaski

I love snow too, but if it were to get between me and work, my daughter's school, and shopping for groceries on a regular basis, for several months of the year, it would very quickly lose it's novelty.

hungryhorace

Without meaning to be patronising, you have no idea the level of snow these states get compared to the UK. It's just not comparable. Imagine months on end of freezing cold snowy weather. It will soon lose its appeal!