Working in America
27 January 2013, 05:57 PM
#1
Working in America
Just wondering if anyone here has worked in the USA?
Once you have the work visa and the job how long do you have to work there before they give you citizenship - if ever.
While working there can your partner - husband / wife live out there with you?
Once you have the work visa and the job how long do you have to work there before they give you citizenship - if ever.
While working there can your partner - husband / wife live out there with you?
27 January 2013, 07:04 PM
#4
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Depends on Visa - of which there are many!
As a rule - on some visas your wife can go with you - but in a non working role incl "working" for charity etc.
Turning that working visa into a US Citizen takes several years. 5 years if you are on your own. Friends of mine have done it in 3 but they have married girls who live in the US.
Again as a rule, decent visas (i.e valid for years rather than weeks) require a fair bit of $$$$ behind them and are aimed at people with a company who deal in a global market. So its not easy to get a visa - without some kind of job offer on the table - which can then be turned into being a US citizen.
I guess the "best" one is the H1B. Thats issued for 3 years in most cases. To get this you require a job offer, to have all fees paid, to have all legal paperwork in place and then pass an interview with the Feds down in London. After that you get stamped up and you can work in that job for 3 years. IYSWIM. Wifey would get a H4 visa - and kids. They cant work. Girlfriends get nowt - only 90 day visa waiver. There is a 6 month tourist visa but its not worth the hassle TBH. So most g/fs will go over for 80 days or so. (never wise to stay for 89..)
With a H1B you can open your bank accounts, pay your state tax etc. With a H1B you can apply to be a resident - if you meet the state standards. Some do - some dont - depends on your own situation and how long you intend to stay etc.
All my info is 5 to 8 years old... so not 100% its all still valid but I guess it will give you an idea.
As a rule - on some visas your wife can go with you - but in a non working role incl "working" for charity etc.
Turning that working visa into a US Citizen takes several years. 5 years if you are on your own. Friends of mine have done it in 3 but they have married girls who live in the US.
Again as a rule, decent visas (i.e valid for years rather than weeks) require a fair bit of $$$$ behind them and are aimed at people with a company who deal in a global market. So its not easy to get a visa - without some kind of job offer on the table - which can then be turned into being a US citizen.
I guess the "best" one is the H1B. Thats issued for 3 years in most cases. To get this you require a job offer, to have all fees paid, to have all legal paperwork in place and then pass an interview with the Feds down in London. After that you get stamped up and you can work in that job for 3 years. IYSWIM. Wifey would get a H4 visa - and kids. They cant work. Girlfriends get nowt - only 90 day visa waiver. There is a 6 month tourist visa but its not worth the hassle TBH. So most g/fs will go over for 80 days or so. (never wise to stay for 89..)
With a H1B you can open your bank accounts, pay your state tax etc. With a H1B you can apply to be a resident - if you meet the state standards. Some do - some dont - depends on your own situation and how long you intend to stay etc.
All my info is 5 to 8 years old... so not 100% its all still valid but I guess it will give you an idea.
27 January 2013, 07:58 PM
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Like I said you need a job offer.
If you are, for example, an engineer with a specialist skill then you might be offered a job with a US company. They would then pay for your visa application and all legal paperwork etc.
Or, some people take a transfer within their own company, say banking. BoA might have brits working in the US.
The press are another example.
If you are, for example, an engineer with a specialist skill then you might be offered a job with a US company. They would then pay for your visa application and all legal paperwork etc.
Or, some people take a transfer within their own company, say banking. BoA might have brits working in the US.
The press are another example.
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27 January 2013, 09:41 PM
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My first bit of advice, pop over to the british expats forum, specifically the USA section here:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57
Also have a read of their wiki first, answers could be in there too: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Category:USA
In my previous job I did travel to our US office a bit and we were trying to get quite a few staff, about six of us, permits to work in the US, but only one of them ever did. US immigration deemed that the CEO and technical leads (including myself) were not necessary to the running of the company, and so would not grant us work visas.
I have a friend who was headhunted for a rather nice job at Apple, and the amount of paperwork he had to gather for the application for a visa was crazy. He had to get uni records from at least 12 years ago, and other items, all of which take time. He did submit the application, but alas had missed out on the visa quota for the year. They do have a very strict limit and stick to it. I believe they (Apple) did see if there was some way to get the app processed, but it was a no-go, doesn't matter who you are, when US immigration says no, they say no.
Though I know zip is joking, do NOT mess around with immigration if you really want to work and live in the US. I had enough grief flying / driving into the US to visit clients (had to have letters saying who I was, where I was going, who I was seeing, why I was seeing them, how long I was staying. They even suggested when I was on a pre-sales technical introduction trip, that next time, for the same situation I should have pro-forma invoice! Um, yeah, how do you get that from someone who hasn't see your software yet and might not. Utter madness!)
I can only speak to the Canadian system and from what I I know of it, so things may differ:
1. You WILL need a job offer up front, be it from a prospective employer, or from your own company if you're transferring to their US office (I was an intra-company transferee from our UK to Canadian company - I think there might be a US "L" visa which is the same kind of thing.). Some categories, most I believe, will require the employer to get an LMO (Labor Market Opinion) for you, and they might decide not to bother with the hassle of doing so.
2. Depending on the class you enter under, you might have Permanent Resident status, which is good, you need, I think 1095 days in the country as PR before you can become a citizen. If you don't have PR, and I did not, then you'll need to get it, seems the CEC (Canadian Experience Class) is a good route, you need two years experience in Canada, and can then submit an application. It'll probably take at least 12 - 18 months to get PR this way. Again, once you have PR, you need 1095 days in the country to qualify for Citizenship.
3. Once you have PR and have the 1095 days requirement, you can submit the citizenship application, for a normal application this usually takes about 12 months.
I started my PR application in 2008, got PR in july 2009, applied for citizenship in august 2011, and was granted Canadian citizenship in july 2012. So that was a four year process. Some work visa applications can take that long to go through, so do be prepared for a long wait depending on what you go in under.
I don't suppose either of your parents were US Citizens were they? If so then you might have US citizenship by decent and in theory you shouldn't need a work permit, just get your citizenship confirmed. My grandfather was born in the US and thus a citizen, and my uncle was able to move to the US without any real fuss, this was a while ago (70's or early 80's).
Any reason you want to go to the US? Have you considered Canada? Same continent, quite a lot of the things are the same, and. thankfully, some are not (healthcare for example - it's very much like the NHS in regards for not needing to pay, unlike the US' system)
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57
Also have a read of their wiki first, answers could be in there too: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Category:USA
In my previous job I did travel to our US office a bit and we were trying to get quite a few staff, about six of us, permits to work in the US, but only one of them ever did. US immigration deemed that the CEO and technical leads (including myself) were not necessary to the running of the company, and so would not grant us work visas.
I have a friend who was headhunted for a rather nice job at Apple, and the amount of paperwork he had to gather for the application for a visa was crazy. He had to get uni records from at least 12 years ago, and other items, all of which take time. He did submit the application, but alas had missed out on the visa quota for the year. They do have a very strict limit and stick to it. I believe they (Apple) did see if there was some way to get the app processed, but it was a no-go, doesn't matter who you are, when US immigration says no, they say no.
Though I know zip is joking, do NOT mess around with immigration if you really want to work and live in the US. I had enough grief flying / driving into the US to visit clients (had to have letters saying who I was, where I was going, who I was seeing, why I was seeing them, how long I was staying. They even suggested when I was on a pre-sales technical introduction trip, that next time, for the same situation I should have pro-forma invoice! Um, yeah, how do you get that from someone who hasn't see your software yet and might not. Utter madness!)
I can only speak to the Canadian system and from what I I know of it, so things may differ:
1. You WILL need a job offer up front, be it from a prospective employer, or from your own company if you're transferring to their US office (I was an intra-company transferee from our UK to Canadian company - I think there might be a US "L" visa which is the same kind of thing.). Some categories, most I believe, will require the employer to get an LMO (Labor Market Opinion) for you, and they might decide not to bother with the hassle of doing so.
2. Depending on the class you enter under, you might have Permanent Resident status, which is good, you need, I think 1095 days in the country as PR before you can become a citizen. If you don't have PR, and I did not, then you'll need to get it, seems the CEC (Canadian Experience Class) is a good route, you need two years experience in Canada, and can then submit an application. It'll probably take at least 12 - 18 months to get PR this way. Again, once you have PR, you need 1095 days in the country to qualify for Citizenship.
3. Once you have PR and have the 1095 days requirement, you can submit the citizenship application, for a normal application this usually takes about 12 months.
I started my PR application in 2008, got PR in july 2009, applied for citizenship in august 2011, and was granted Canadian citizenship in july 2012. So that was a four year process. Some work visa applications can take that long to go through, so do be prepared for a long wait depending on what you go in under.
I don't suppose either of your parents were US Citizens were they? If so then you might have US citizenship by decent and in theory you shouldn't need a work permit, just get your citizenship confirmed. My grandfather was born in the US and thus a citizen, and my uncle was able to move to the US without any real fuss, this was a while ago (70's or early 80's).
Any reason you want to go to the US? Have you considered Canada? Same continent, quite a lot of the things are the same, and. thankfully, some are not (healthcare for example - it's very much like the NHS in regards for not needing to pay, unlike the US' system)
Last edited by Markus; 27 January 2013 at 09:59 PM.
27 January 2013, 09:44 PM
#10
The wife works for MasterCard and can work at either Miami, new York or st Louis offices with moving costs paid...
No point her going if I can only go at weekends.
And F1 the Faye comments are getting boring. We have all moved on. You need to too.
No point her going if I can only go at weekends.
And F1 the Faye comments are getting boring. We have all moved on. You need to too.
27 January 2013, 09:56 PM
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I didn't mind it, but there wasn't too much to do as we were in a small town. If you're in downtown STL then it's a rather nice place. Only US city where I've been carded (was 28 at the time) in the same bar, by the same person, two nights in a row.
I'd go for NYC or Miami, only been to NYC once, liked it, never been to Miami, so cannot comment, but guess it would not get the same kind of winters that NYC does.
27 January 2013, 10:18 PM
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IF she was to get a H1B visa then you would get a H4 as you are married so you would get to stay for 3 years - not just weekends. But you cant work.
As for what Markus says - this is not what I found at all. My H1B was sorted in less than 4 weeks. And I have a lot of friends who all had similar XP. We did work in a fairly specialist area though - so its very easy to prove our requirements. I got my paperwork through in about 2 weeks and my interview was about 2 weeks after that. They paid a lot of $$$$ to a lot of lawyers to get it sorted quickly though.
I would also look at your tax position if she is really thinking about it seriously and speak to someone who can advise you on that before you do anything. Also look at exchange rate fluctuations on any costs you have back here if she is being paid in USD or vice versa if she is being paid in GBP.
As for what Markus says - this is not what I found at all. My H1B was sorted in less than 4 weeks. And I have a lot of friends who all had similar XP. We did work in a fairly specialist area though - so its very easy to prove our requirements. I got my paperwork through in about 2 weeks and my interview was about 2 weeks after that. They paid a lot of $$$$ to a lot of lawyers to get it sorted quickly though.
I would also look at your tax position if she is really thinking about it seriously and speak to someone who can advise you on that before you do anything. Also look at exchange rate fluctuations on any costs you have back here if she is being paid in USD or vice versa if she is being paid in GBP.
27 January 2013, 10:25 PM
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Like I said you need a job offer.
If you are, for example, an engineer with a specialist skill then you might be offered a job with a US company. They would then pay for your visa application and all legal paperwork etc.
Or, some people take a transfer within their own company, say banking. BoA might have brits working in the US.
The press are another example.
If you are, for example, an engineer with a specialist skill then you might be offered a job with a US company. They would then pay for your visa application and all legal paperwork etc.
Or, some people take a transfer within their own company, say banking. BoA might have brits working in the US.
The press are another example.
27 January 2013, 10:32 PM
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If you can get a US company to offer you a job in that role, AND pay for your visa AND pay for the lawyers then perhaps.. you might get a visa.
In most cases the US company will have urgent requirements for a specialist skill which they cant get from someone in the US. The more specialist the more chance you have. Generic roles, tend not to be something that gets a visa, like taxi driver just as an example. They have lots and lots of them in the US as it is. In fact, because the US is so big they tend to have someone for 99% of the jobs.
In most cases the US company will have urgent requirements for a specialist skill which they cant get from someone in the US. The more specialist the more chance you have. Generic roles, tend not to be something that gets a visa, like taxi driver just as an example. They have lots and lots of them in the US as it is. In fact, because the US is so big they tend to have someone for 99% of the jobs.
27 January 2013, 11:42 PM
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I think some visas the potential employer HAS to pay the fees, the application is forbidden from doing so. Not sure if the company will then recover the fees from the employee's wages.
As mentioned by others, it does depend on what you do. If you're in a niche area then you might be ok. If it's a fairly common job, you may well find it very difficult to get an employer to put time, effort and money into employing you when they can just hire someone locally.
As mentioned by others, it does depend on what you do. If you're in a niche area then you might be ok. If it's a fairly common job, you may well find it very difficult to get an employer to put time, effort and money into employing you when they can just hire someone locally.
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