USBound

one thing - if you manage to get a job.. ask if THEY will get you through the GC app. My work is paying for and arranging the WHOLE thing.. I just get sent the odd request and some forms to fill out.

I know it will get more complex eventually... but for now its simple.

scrubbedexpat099

I am sure I have said this before but here goes again.

You have little chance of a B2

Even if you get one it does not guarante entry, no Visa does.

Duncs

That’s a very unlikely scenario you suggest there. Beside if you think that Sinn Fein & Co are corrupt wait until you see American politics!

If you are in Northern Ireland and are Northern Irish by birth you can apply for the visa diversity lottery(this is a UK exception for NI no other UK areas qualify). Your odds are long but its easy to do (don’t pay anyone to do its not a complicated procedure) and if you get it you get the chance to apply for a green card. I knew people in NI who had tried unsuccessfully for years but I knew some people who got it so you never know. Last year 75 people from NI got it. You can read about it here:

http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/r...cy/divvisa.htm

The 2006 lottery is closed but I would expect the 2007 lottery to open up eventually you just have to keep you eyes posted on the web site.

Laska

Why do you say this? I'm intrigued to know, because a B2 is a tourism visa and if I present strong social ties and a return ticket, on what grounds does the consul have to refuse me?

Duncs, I do intend to try the visa lottery. There are some benefits of being Northern Irish!

scrubbedexpat099

You qualify for the VWP, that's good for 90 days.

So you only need a B if you want to stay between 90 and 180. Most people can not justify to the Embassy satisfaction of UK ties to this extent.

fatbrit

You're trying this with brawn, not brains. And it'll all end in tears -- yours not theirs!

The B2 will most probably be refused. You are prime refusal material: young with absolutely no ties and previous intent. In this case, you've just increased your problems getting to the US. If you did get it, applying for an extension is likely to red flag your next visit. (Also, B2 gives you up to 180 days, not 90. But the POE officer makes the final determination -- this is evidence you haven't done your homework.)

If you're applying for a work-related visa, your attorney doesn't start the process, your prospective employer does. And you don't have an employer -- so where this is going is totally beyond me.

Dunno what the moan about living in NI was all about except it's more evidence you haven't done your homework. You have to have been born there to enter the DV, not live there! Next application period will probably be at the end of the year if they haven't done away with it beforehand.

Duncs

Depending on your age etc there is also the Walsh Visa program as well. It is not a long term visa but you could spend 2-3 years in the USA and have the experience if nothing else. Although they are not taking any new people at the moment but maybe it will start up again in future.:

http://www.walshvisa.net/

The work permit idea is a total non starter you have next to no chance of getting one unless you bring some kind of impressive skill to the market and get pursued by a US employer. The employment market here is still soft and employers don’t need the hassle of a foreign employee and visa application when they can get a current us resident. If you want to create that opportunity you would be better looking into a student opportunity and taking a graduate degree in the USA through something like the Fulbright program then trying to springboard from that to a work permit position.

garfro

thanks Duncs.........for the level head about sinnfein and US politics...made me believe in why im leaving the US for NI.

Duncs

NI isnt perfect by any stretch but there is plenty of political corruption going on the USA as well as far as i can see.

Laska

I was born in N.Ireland and I currently live in it so yes I do qualify for the diversity lottery as it stands. Actually the country is getting worse. I worked at a mall in a kids shop while I was at uni to get extra cash and we were out on bomb scares at least twice per week, sometimes up to 4 scares in one day as it was at Easter time, and yes some were real bombs- incendiaries and car bombs. You people living in America or England for that matter usually don't hear about these unless they go off. The media only have an eye for juicy news like people being killed so most of you won't understand what the true situation in N.Ireland is like.

I want out of it. No place in the world is perfect or safe by any means but N.Ireland just will continue to get worse and I've had my fair share of it. I was caught up in a bomb several years ago, my dad was shot at by paramilitiaries when I was 5 years old by going to a non existent address to pay for patio work, and I had my car attacked a few years ago when I was working as a vet assistant trying to rescue a dog in a bad area of North Belfast at Ardoyne on the twelfth, and my best friends Grandfather was shot dead by the IRA in his own front garden. This isn't living and I have always vowed I will get out.

Please don't patronise me by saying I haven't done my homework. You are not talking to a child. I'm a 24 year old educated adult. I get the feeling from this board that those of you that have made it to America see themselves as victorious and that nobody else has a chance. Yes you are triumphant and I'm sure it wasn't easy for any of you , but please give other people a chance instead of discouraging them from the outset.

There is always a way and I intend on exploring that way and to continue researching and seeking advice from my attorney. I'm in this for the long haul.

Best intentions meant.

fatbrit

Hi Laska,

Sounds like it’s time for you to get out and travel. And yes, you’re right! I do not care who lived or died at the Battle of the Boyne…or the rest of it!

Patronization is easy on this board. If you look back you’ll find plenty of folks who’ve been to see Mickey on holiday and then decided to move over. Simple fact: in 99% of these cases, it simply ain’t gonna happen!

The problem with choosing the US as your final destination is that it is by far the most difficult one to emigrate to. Yes, you can make it over here, but it is not particularly easy to plan unlike many other destinations – Evropa, Canada, NZ and OZ. If you just need a change of scenery, why not chose one of these? It’ll save you a lot of problems, upsets and money.

If you qualify for the DV go for it as it’s the best visa bar none. I myself came out to the US this way, but had lived in many other places since leaving the UK in my twenties. The next easiest, BTW, is marrying a USC.

You’ve got the guide we’ve done, and most folks will happily give their experience and point out common pitfalls. All which brings us to your attorney: I have no idea who s/he is, but it is not uncommon for them to string you along as far as your finances will last until you eventually discover that their proposed route is going nowhere. It is in their interest to keep you believing it’s all possible, and sometimes it just plainly ain’t. If we think we can fob you off easily, you won’t have much staying power with USCIS. So, which route from Pulaski’s Ways are you taking?

ladylisa

I wish you every luck in getting your visa and I hope that living in America is everything you wish for. I honestly dont think many here feel victorious that they have made it, if anything maybe a little jaded by their experiences of trying to get here and then finding it all a little trying at times.

scrubbedexpat099

True,

It can be done, if I really really wanted to do it, other than accidental Marriage, I think I might have managed it.

But I would not have wanted to invest the time and effort, it would have been a mega life choice on a long shot.

Duncs

I am surprised at your comments about NI. I was a soldier in NI for 5 years and served before the ceasefires came along so I certainly know it can be rough in places. In my own experience the world in NI changed a lot after the ceasefires and the Belfast Agreement. NI is not anything like as dangerous as it used to be and I personally felt that it was chalk and cheese between my earlier experiences and the current situation. But that’s me, not everyone has the same experience. Out of interest so where are you from in NI? What Mall did you work at then if it was being evacuated all the time? Which Uni did you go to then? What did you study?

America is not the Shangri la you might think it is. In my own experience it is hard to make it here and the opportunities for advancement are hard to come by. My previous qualifications and experiences didn’t seem to have much, if any, value over here and now I am back at school getting a graduate degree to try to gain access to wider opportunities in the USA by getting a qualification that has some recognition over here. The downside is that its costing me around $80,000 of student debts to do it. Given the opportunity I would happily go back to Belfast.

The advice people give is genuine they are just being realistic. Lots of people come onto this site with a vague notion of moving to the USA without realising that it can be very difficult to do. It is hard to move here and the immigration hurdles are considerable. Realistically you have very little prospect if you don’t either win the DV lottery, or marry a USC. If you just want out of Ulster then maybe you should look into Canada, NZ and Australia as well. I think most of them have a points system still and if you have a degree, are young and can find a job you can usually clock up enough points to get a visa. Its worth exploring all options as far as I can see unless you have some very specific reason why the USA is the one you want. I loved all the business trips and holidays I had over here but once I began living here I have enjoyed it a lot less and have been pretty disappointed with my experience. A holiday and residence are really not the same. Try being sick with no medical insurance in the USA and that will open your eyes pretty quick.

Lastly do your own research. The USIC site has links to all the relevant rules and the legislation. If you have a degree you are smart enough that you can do it yourself. An attorney is no use to you this point and will more likely take your money and deliver nothing. Be especially wary of the ‘we can get you a US visa’ outfits they are just rip off merchants. There are limited ways to get a US visa and no Attorney can change that or find any special loop holes.

I wish you well with what ever you want to do and if its really what you want I hope its happens for you. Personally I didn’t like it but I reckon I needed to see it and experience it for myself to realise how good NI actually is.

Franklin

As you say you are young, why don't you look at moving to another country inside the EU? Or maybe to a country not quite in the EU like Norway? In other words - why America? This is not the land of milk and honey that the UK media sometimes like to portray it. If you think it is hard in the UK, you will find it ten times harder here. There's no NHS here, the job market remains tough. Unless you have close relatives over here willing to support you, moving here will be a VERY difficult proposition unless you have fantastic qualifications or are otherwise eminently marketable which judging by the difficulty you are encountering in NI/UK you are not quite yet in that category, as you write: "I don't have any prospects in Northern Ireland or in the UK in general with regards to my profession".

Realistically, the only way you stand a chance of moving here is if you happen to marry a US citizen (genuine marriage, not a Micky mouse marriage of convenience that is against US laws). I am not trying to put you off, but opening your mind to the reality of moving to the USA absent connections here. You have the whole of the EU to choose from - why ignore it? Why not give the EU a try? What do you have to lose? And you don't need to spend a lot of time fighting for a visa, then another visa, then another ... and who knows, you might meet up with an American, marry her and find yourself on that plane trip to the USA ... or you might get a transfer organized by your employer. Who knows, but why do it the hard way? Life is [harder] hard enough as it is than butting your head against a wall, when there are obviously better options that don't require a huge effort to sort out. Your options are not defined or limited by NI or the UK, look outside to the rest of Europe.