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-   -   U.S. reccy booked for Oct 16th (https://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/u-s-reccy-booked-oct-16th-734698/)

cookie2112 Oct 5th 2011 12:53 pm

U.S. reccy booked for Oct 16th
 
Following my recent job offer to work in Bethlehem we will be travelling out to spend the last 2 weeks of October getting to know the place, look at accomodation, meet new colleagues etc. It's all getting a little real now but I guess it will be new year before the Visa is issued (2-3 months I'm told).

Biggest concern so far is transferring the cats!

As far as I'm concerned I just dress like Woody off Toy Story and dont take the piss right? :thumbsup:

Brat1 Oct 5th 2011 1:58 pm

Re: U.S. reccy booked for Oct 16th
 

Originally Posted by cookie2112 (Post 9658862)
Following my recent job offer to work in Bethlehem we will be travelling out to spend the last 2 weeks of October getting to know the place, look at accomodation, meet new colleagues etc. It's all getting a little real now but I guess it will be new year before the Visa is issued (2-3 months I'm told).

Biggest concern so far is transferring the cats!

As far as I'm concerned I just dress like Woody off Toy Story and dont take the piss right? :thumbsup:

Woo hoo!!! Let the journey begin as they say. It's a great idea to do a trip over to get a feel for the place, look at different areas around where you're going to be working, Citidata is a great place to get feel for nice neighbourhoods, schools etc if you want info on that. What kind of visa is your employer sponsoring you for??

As for the cats, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle, there are plenty of threads on here about shipping dogs/cats, we did it with our Rotti and it was all relatively painless, but we had a company do all the airline booking etc for us, you can do that yourself to cut down the cost.

Hope you enjoy your trip, might be an idea to get in touch with a local Realtor to work with you on the accomodation if your company isn't helping out with it. Don't stress too much, it's way too exciting to waste time worrying and you'll find loads of great advice and comments on here. These guys have been a God send to me before, during and after our move to the US, so as I said, don't worry and have a great time!!! :thumbsup:

cookie2112 Oct 5th 2011 3:16 pm

Re: U.S. reccy booked for Oct 16th
 
I will be getting an L1 Visa which I am advised is relatively straight forward as its an inter-company transfer. A car and house will be supplied with the position but not being married makes a bit more tricky for the gf to get a work visa.

However, my company provides plenty of resource and we are currently engaged with international solicitors who will be handling the gf's application. Initial response based on her CV & degree is positive, "I would also say that most likely the evaluation will come back favorably and Rachel would be eligible for an H-1B visa if offered a job that uses her business skills and courses." :fingerscrossed:

Brat1 Oct 5th 2011 3:52 pm

Re: U.S. reccy booked for Oct 16th
 

Originally Posted by cookie2112 (Post 9659130)
I will be getting an L1 Visa which I am advised is relatively straight forward as its an inter-company transfer. A car and house will be supplied with the position but not being married makes a bit more tricky for the gf to get a work visa.

However, my company provides plenty of resource and we are currently engaged with international solicitors who will be handling the gf's application. Initial response based on her CV & degree is positive, "I would also say that most likely the evaluation will come back favorably and Rachel would be eligible for an H-1B visa if offered a job that uses her business skills and courses." :fingerscrossed:

Having a house and car supplied by the company is fantastic, we had to get all that ourselves with my OH's H1-B, so a lot of the stress and shit will be taken care of for you. As for your girlfriend, she still has to find an employer willing to spend the money on sponsoring her for an H1-B but I'll keep my fingers crossed for her - as I said before, good luck and enjoy :fingerscrossed: :)

cookie2112 Nov 1st 2011 9:45 am

Re: U.S. reccy booked for Oct 16th
 
So it looks like we are going. My gf will have the support of my companies attorneys and all but the sponsor fees that MUST be paid by a prospective employer will be paid for by my firm. From memory a company that wishes to hire gf will have to pay $2,300 (but we could do a deal on the salary for that). My companies attornies will take care of the process and other costs. If she DOES get a job offer the process should take 20-30 days to complete.

They also stated that they would take care of extending the visitors visa while my L1 ran and that she should never be 'thrown out'.

Appreciating the job situation everywhere we are taking the risk that this turns out ok. 'He who dares' as Del boy would say! :fingerscrossed:

GeoffM Nov 1st 2011 11:54 am

Re: U.S. reccy booked for Oct 16th
 

Originally Posted by cookie2112 (Post 9707950)
So it looks like we are going. My gf will have the support of my companies attorneys and all but the sponsor fees that MUST be paid by a prospective employer will be paid for by my firm. From memory a company that wishes to hire gf will have to pay $2,300 (but we could do a deal on the salary for that). My companies attornies will take care of the process and other costs. If she DOES get a job offer the process should take 20-30 days to complete.

It's an interesting idea that your company will pay the GF's prospective company's visa fees. No idea whether it's allowed though! However, note that your GF cannot take a salary sacrifice to subsidize the fees - well, unless the lower amount is still above the prevailing wage for that position.

How serious are you and the GF? Would a quick civil ceremony make your plans so much easier and far more secure? H1Bs have taken a long time to run out each year over the last few years simply because not many employers are so keen on dealing with the hassle anymore. You could always do the full "wedding" later on - plenty of people do.


Originally Posted by cookie2112 (Post 9707950)
They also stated that they would take care of extending the visitors visa while my L1 ran and that she should never be 'thrown out'.

Co-habiting visa?


Originally Posted by cookie2112 (Post 9707950)
Appreciating the job situation everywhere we are taking the risk that this turns out ok. 'He who dares' as Del boy would say! :fingerscrossed:

Your company's attorneys seem very confident... too much so?! Often advice given on this forum includes getting your own attorney to work in your interests, since the company's attorneys work for the company's best interests, not for yours.

tonrob Nov 1st 2011 12:12 pm

Re: U.S. reccy booked for Oct 16th
 

Originally Posted by cookie2112 (Post 9707950)
So it looks like we are going. My gf will have the support of my companies attorneys and all but the sponsor fees that MUST be paid by a prospective employer will be paid for by my firm. From memory a company that wishes to hire gf will have to pay $2,300 (but we could do a deal on the salary for that). My companies attornies will take care of the process and other costs. If she DOES get a job offer the process should take 20-30 days to complete.

They also stated that they would take care of extending the visitors visa while my L1 ran and that she should never be 'thrown out'.

Appreciating the job situation everywhere we are taking the risk that this turns out ok. 'He who dares' as Del boy would say! :fingerscrossed:


I'll secodn what Geoff said - this is a very unusual situation and I don't see how your employer's solicitors can possibly give you assurances that are as solid as you're making them sound.

If a propsective employer for your girlfriend has taken people on under H1-B before they will have their own lawyers. If they haven't taken people on before under H1-B how are they going to feel about getting a job application only to find it comes with the proviso that they send a couple of thousand dollars to a law firm they've never heard of ro dealt with? If she does get taken on and subsequently loses her job then your company's lawyers can't guarantee you now that she will get to stay in the country at this point in the future.

I see lots of doubt in this one - I suppose it all depends on how much uncertainty and potential time apart the two of you are prepared to live with.

Englishmum Nov 1st 2011 12:45 pm

Re: U.S. reccy booked for Oct 16th
 
TBH if I was the girlfriend there would be no way I would pack in my job in the UK (as well as my home) to move on non-immigrant status overseas with a boyfriend. There is no security whatsoever and possibly limited means of earning an income without proper sponsorship.

My line of thinking is - "if he loves me so much that he wants me to relocate overseas with him, then he had jolly well better ask me to marry him".

I concur with the other posters comments about the company's immigration attorney's....it sounds dodgy to me.

cookie2112 Nov 1st 2011 12:58 pm

Re: U.S. reccy booked for Oct 16th
 

Originally Posted by GeoffM (Post 9708142)
How serious are you and the GF? Would a quick civil ceremony make your plans so much easier and far more secure?


Originally Posted by Englishmum (Post 9708223)
My line of thinking is - "if he loves me so much that he wants me to relocate overseas with him, then he had jolly well better ask me to marry him".

Let's just say that all things considered, she deserves (& I am coming around to) the 'Vegas' solution as I call it :wub:


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