Iam an 18 year old student currently attending a BTEC National Diploma course in college. After leaving my course in a few months time i would like to move to the USA to look for employment and generally just for a fresh start. I was just wondering if anyone has any experince on the subject, or just any guidence on how difficult it would be to make the leap for the UK to America.

thanks for reading.

even less chance than this guy....

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=573888

Sorry, is never going to happen. If you marry an American or have a sibling or parent that is a US citizen living in the US they could sponsor you, but it would take longer than a few months. At 18 with a BTEC you have zero chance of getting an employment based visa unless you find a training program that you can get on that will sponsor you for a short term J-1 visa.

If you are serious you need to spend a long, long time researching and then probably a long, long time trying to put what you've researched into practice. But remember one thing, most people are not able to move to the US because of the visa requirements.

In addition to what the others have said, do get a degree. It'll serve you well in the long run!

Think about attending college in the states, maybe you'll meet an American girl and who knows....

My stepson got a scholarship to play football here. He still had to pay for the service (it was legit) to find one for him/send out his game video, etc. after he "passed" the match play. He starts school here fall of 2009.

America doesn't want or need you.

It's harsh but it's a bit of reality you should let sink in (and then try to find your way around). Basically the US immigration service doesn't want to let you in, you need to find an exception.

Coming over to school to get your degree is a good one, but you have to show that you have the ability to pay your own way (which is really quite a pain). Marriage is the other quick option, but you kind of have to find a US citizen for that.

Other than that, and short of having some family in the US already, you're basically out of luck. Check out the WIKI above for more explanation on the different visas. 99% of the people who want to come here get stopped at the visa issue.

welcome to BE....

though, read the wiki on ways into the US, it'll give you an idea of what your up against, basically no chance what so ever right now on the qualifications youv'e got alone....you need a proper degree to increase your chances or a shit ton of money to study over here....what might be a good plan of attack would be doing a degree in the UK with a place that has a transfer in the US, I know Brunel Uni if you do one of the design courses has a swap with San Fran state, but it's one of the top courses in europe so you'll have to really be good...but the other approach, get a degree in whatever and come to the US for a masters, having a US masters will increase your chance of getting a H1B visa, mainly because there's an extra 20K visas reserved for those with a masters from a US uni which usually doesn't get filled.

I'm an old Brunel graduate - not thinking about Masters study at the moment, but thanks for the heads-up on that, Bob! If I do decide to study again a US uni will be considered, although it's very unlikely that I'll go back to studying at this point in time.

aye, it's a bugger, but you might be able to throw in some "life" experiences in to knock the masters down to a year and potentially work a little for half of it to knock the course down...still a tad pricey....

Sounds very tempting mate, but I'm on a money-earning mission now and don't want to return to my poor student days. Secondly, the motivation for formal study will be hard to regain right now.

Very very very interesting piece of information!!! I didnt know that! Thanks!....Is there a link to a website that states this? After I do my exchange program as part of my BA degree in Geneva, I plan to do a masters in the USA, because its only Pennsylvania University that does the course I want to do in the whole of the western hemisphere! So, I have no choice but to go there.

Tell me what course it is and that's the one that I'll do as well!

Hahaha! Its so funny how people can think that they can just jump onto a plane and go to sunny Florida or wherever and start a new life, just because they are British. EU law doesnt extent to the USA (Unfortunatly). I am not blasting a particular person or people, im just talking generally. Also this special "relationship" that the US and the UK have seems to be limited to the UK side. In my opinion save yourself some hassle, if you want Sunny California, opt for Sunny Andalucia instead. It really is not worth the hassle, especially if you dont have a niche qualification. Thats my 1 penny.

For some reason i dont think its the kind of course you wanna do, and i dont think its in my best interest to tell you!!
OK OK - You really wanna know?

Pashto Language and Pathan culture

KNow what that is?

I thought not....

google H1B US masters cap will probably throw up loads...