Bob

Get married, she gets a company sponsor transfer.

Other wise, realistically, as fresh grads, neither of you are going to find someone willing to bother sponsor you, when there are no shortage of either over here who can work straight away and would be qualified in their state.

Orangepants

Why the USA? Does it have to be the US - the world is a big place. I lived in the Cayman Islands for a while and two of my friends were dentists from the UK, one now runs his own very successful practice and other works for him. Also many of the lawyers I worked with trained in the UK and then easily found positions at International law firms there. At least in the Caymans both of your qualifications would be highly regarded. Just throwing it out there...

bewildering

Yes, good question. Why the US.

To be perfectly blunt, I can't see many americans being too frilled with having a british dentist. British teeth are a standing joke over here.

Also, the legal system is rather different, why do you think your GF would be qualified or happy to work in this system. Additionally, my lawyer friends in the US are continually moaning about the over abundance of lawyers compared to jobs and work.

mrowl111

Again thanks for all the helpful advice. I never expected so many replies and it's really helped iron a few things out for us.

This seems to be the easiest way by far, but as I said before it's something that we would just have to hope for sometime in the future.

This is also quite a valid point. The sponsor would have to be willing to take a huge chance on either one of us and really go out of their way for us. What we plan on doing now is contacting a few people we know in the US working in legal firms with connections to our families/Ireland, and asking them straight out what the realistic chances of something like this happening would be. I am also trying to source some dental contacts who may offer the same information.

Because it is the place for us! The quality of life we would have in USA as a dentist-lawyer couple once we finally become established (even if it takes many, many years) would be so much greater than anything we could hope for here. There are so many more opportunities (the USA is HUGE) than here in the UK.

The American Dental system being 100% private is a much better system than working in the awful NHS system. You would be free to use whatever materials and provide the best, most aesthetic treatments you wished to everyone, rather than having to limit yourself, and your capabilities to basic NHS treatments for NHS patients. I know I could work as a 100% private dentist here in the UK, but realistically that couldn't happen until after spending a considerable amount of time gaining "experience" in NHS practices and attending multiple, overpriced courses. And even then, most private practices still have to offer NHS treatments to patients.

We would like to have children in the USA so they could be free to live and work there, or back here, and not have to worry about any of this hassle!

Any time we have visited the USA we have absolutely loved it. The people just seem to be so much happier than all the moaners and complainers back here. And the weather! Ireland is beautiful and green, but at the expense of the sky being grey, overcast and it raining all the time!

But I appreciate your insight into life in the Caymans and that is also something I suppose we could look into. I agree with you 100% - the world is a big place. But at the minute, we wouldn't rather live anywhere else than the US.

British teeth are a standing joke, I completely agree. And that is down to the NHS dental system providing inferior, less aesthetic treatments than private dentistry can offer. Don't get me wrong, the NHS is an absolutely amazing system for providing free healthcare to the public and I would never consider changing the health aspect of it. But with regards to dentistry, it creates a society where people do not place importance on their teeth and smile. Teeth are not a life-threatening health issue, so why would people look after their teeth when they can get them fixed for free? Why would they strive for dental aesthetics when the dentist is going to stick an ugly silver metal filling or crown in their teeth. NHS Dentistry = "British looking teeth". Private dentistry = "The American smile" .
TLDR: I'm quite interested in aesthetic dentistry and the NHS system in the UK limits me.

A bit of Irish charm can go a long way in America, and I would see that as quite a unique selling point to be honest. Many americans would be quite thrilled to have an Irish dentist in my opinion


Anyway, thanks for everything guys! It's provided a lot of food for thought and a lot of different avenues for us to consider in our pursuit of this elusive green card! If i have any more questions in the future (near or far) I hope you can still help me out. I will keep you posted on any developments and relay back any helpful information we get on the way.

Bob

Oh, you're in for a shock about the way of life in the US, once you take your holiday specs off then.

Good luck though.

Pulaski

A dentist-lawyer couple will be able to afford to replace them with really good quality rose-tinted ones though!

TimNiceBut

I think you're overlooking a teensy bit of a potential problem here - your ability to use whatever materials and to provide the "best treatments" is vastly limited by the depth of your client's pockets and their insurance company's unwillingness to pay (if they have insurance, which is often not the case). Let's just put it this way, I've never had the NHS argue with the pharmacist in the UK that they're cutting the amount of prescribed medication down to a third (from a 90 day treatment to a 30 day treatment) on medication that I paid out of my own pocket because we had a high deductible plan.

You're also overlooking the amount of time your billing clerk over here will have to try and chase people who can't or won't pay your bills, the fun arguments you will have with insurance companies because they decline to pay for something so you're back to chasing the patient, the expensive malpractise insurance you will have to have if you don't fancy putting your roof over the head in jeopardy every day and some of the other fun sides of the US health system.

You do realise that you will have to attend regular professional development type courses over here, too, and given the captive market they are going to cost you a few bucks.


Yeah, they're handing out the happy pills like candy over here...

Which describes Seattle down to a T .

I think you're making a mistake limiting yourself like this. *Especially* because that limitation comes with a massive price tag.

Yeah, if you can pay. I don't think I've seen that many toothless smiles in the UK as I have over here. Dental insurance is usually an add on even if you have health insurance and the annual limits on it are piss poor and in my case, doesn't cover about 80%-90% of the work I need to have done. Or more, given that over the next 5-6 years I need a decent brand new car's worth of work done.

Don't get me wrong, I like it over here but you seem to suffer from a bad case of the grass being greener on the other side of the fence.

What you're describing might be true for the income affluent "it" dentist in Beverly Hills, but I think my rather good dentist here would disagree with a large part of your rose-tinted view that you would have it made just because you managed to land on this side of the pond.

Michael

You get what you pay for. I'm 69 and no dental insurance and I went to my dentist last week because the back teeth on my upper left side was acting up. It was only an occasional tinge that lasted for about a second every few days but I wanted to have it checked out before it became worse. I have several three crown bridges and when I looked at that area, it appeared to be a three crown bridge. After a full mouth x-ray, the dentist noticed a more major problem in the back on the right side which also had a three crown bridge. The problem was on a tooth that already had a root canal done and the dentist stated that it may not be possible to save that tooth but since a root canal was already done on that tooth, I'm not felling any pain. When he looked at the main area of my concern on the left side and tapped on my teeth to determine which tooth was causing the problem, he noticed an extremely small issue for that tooth on the x-ray. For that tooth, he was hesitant about recommending work on that tooth since it isn't currently causing me any major problems and the cost would be about $4,000 ($3,000 for a new bridge and $1,000 for the root canal). On the other side it appeared unlikely that the tooth could be saved so it was decided to leave that one alone unless it acted up and then pull the crown to see if the tooth can be saved otherwise pull the tooth and if possible, put a filler tooth in it's place with a 3 crown bridge (about another $4,000-$5,000). I doubt that much work would be done by the NHS to try to save those teeth but as long as I am willing to pay for it, every effort will be made.

If it comes to where I have to have work done on the teeth, I'm going to ask my dentist if it is possible to just drill through the crown to try to save the tooth and then fill the crown with silver so that the bridge won't have to be replaced. This in not the recommended procedure but at my age, a filling may last for the rest of my life and the remaining crown may be able to hold the tooth together. The last time I had a root canal done on a 3 crown bridge, they drilled through the crown to perform the root canal work and only after the work was completed was the bridge removed and replaced.
My dentist and his wife have their own dental office and do very well. They live in the most affluent area, send their kids to private schools, and drive nice cars. Why they would send their kids to private schools I don't know since their school district is the best in the state. I suspect they have more money then they know what to do with. Just like doctors, they also take Wednesdays off.

AdobePinon

+1. Another category of invisible people over here.

AdobePinon

It won't help the OP, but NIW applicants can self-petition. It's a particularly useful category for H1B holders who are running out of visa time / employment to stay in the US, or for those who are having a hard time finding a follow-on sponsor for a visa. I've known several who went this way - it can be very fast as long as you have sufficient evidence and don't screw up the paperwork. Most petitioners outside the US are probably at a big disadvantage unless they are already working at a high level.

bewildering

Good luck, don't let me put you off your dream of the US.

I am from Belfast originally and I love the US. It is hard to describe how much better life is over here than when I lived in Belfast. Although I am sure Belfast is better now the troubles have ended.

Do apply for the DV lottery.

Also, do you have postgraduate qualifications? Are there any research positions to which you could apply at an american dental school? By far the easiest way to get a job in the US is to come across as a researcher and work at a university. The J1 visa is easy to obtain (and your wife can work on a J2) if you can find a lab to join.

Eventually you might be able to get a transfer to a academic H1B (unlimited, compared to an industry H1B), which is an immigrant visa. It would be a long haul but it worked out for me. I am now a permanent resident.

Michael

I know it can be very fast but didn't realize that EB2 with a NIW could self petition. There was someone recently on BE who was hired by an American company with a EB2 visa with a NIW and it only took a few weeks to get the visa. From what I remember, he was some sort of security specialist.

I guess in my previous post, I should have said that EB2 without a NIW cannot self sponsor.

markonline1

I don't blame you one bit! I suppose a lot has a lot to do with whereabouts you settle, but I'm on the Californian coast, and I absolutely love it here! The quality of life is so much better than the UK. I heard loads of horror stories about moving here, no leave, screwed healthcare, etc etc, none have materialised. I of course maybe just lucky, but I loved the place when I was visiting on holiday, and I love the place even more now I'm living and working here. It won't be easy to relocate out here as you are probably now finding out, but I wish you all the luck in getting out here



No it doesn't. As I said earlier, my wife was born in Bolton but was eligible for an Irish passport and entry into the lottery!