ducatiandy

Does anyone know if being a teacher in the UK would allow you to teach in US?

My wife is a teacher in Glasgow and I have eventually got a job in the US and the company have applied for H1B visa for me, however we have been told my wife would not be able to work on it. She doesn't mind until the kids settle in but she will then want to start back again.

We were just wondering if she could apply for a H1B visa while we lived there and would teaching qualify?

Thanks
andy

ladyofthelake

Good news to hear you've got a job offer. All I know is that your wife will have to get a teaching licence for the state you will be in. I'm sure someone else can help you out with that info.

Peachbythebeach

ladyofthelake is right - the requirements for teaching are different for each state.

your best bet may be to do a google search for 'education department' and the name of the state you'd be moving to. then click on teacher certification or licensing-most web sites have a link there that refers to teaching with foreign credentials.

your wife could also look into exchange programs like this

http://www.vifprogram.com/learn/us/overview.html

though I don't have personal experience with them-I've just come across it on the web.

Pulaski

That is true, however the decision to award a visa is a matter for the Federal government, through the INS. .... So, yes, teaching does, I believe, allow an application for an H1 visa to be made.

ducatiandy

Thank you, do you know if she can apply once we are living in US?

Patrick

If you are a teacher in the UK there are lots of programs that you can get involved with that do teacher swaps to the US.

Duncan Roberts

My wifes looking into teaching and her mum is a teacher. Shes found that almost every city has different requirements and different levels of strictness, but a lot you have to have a state teaching license to be a full time teacher. Las Vegas is the only place I can recall her saying that you can just do it. Some school districts will allow you to be a substitute without a license, something that 2 of her friends are doing whilst working towards a treaching license. Another thing is that some universities will credit teaching experience towards part of a teaching degree. One thing you should bear in mind is that its rare for one state license to be valid in a different state and she knows people who have been teaching for 20 odd years and needed to retake their license when they moved states.

Pulaski

I'm not sure myself, but maybe the answer is buried in the INS web site, somewhere.

From what I have heard, it is generally possible to "adjust" from one visa class to another while in the United States (there are exceptions - notably that if you are in the US on a visa waiver you can't adjust). If you can't find the answer in the mountain of information on the INS website then you should consider asking an experienced immigration attorney.