speye91

I want to set the ball rolling ASAP,anyone here got any advice,how to get started,Green Cards,etc.

Cheers
Mick.

darts_aint_sport

I'd guess the foreign office and the US embassy website would be the best place to start.

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

Its hard, long story short you need one of these.

A skill to fill a guaranteed job that no American can do.
About $500k in the bank (this would give a temporary visa but long term)
A wife that you have been with for a set amount of time and you can prove that you have been with for that amount of time.

There are not many other ways of doing it, You can try an educational visa depending on your age. But as far as green cards go America is a bitch.

Snazy

USCIS Home Page

It aint easy
Not just some forms and a flight.

Like Tim said.

Another option is starting a business with the scope to employ US citizens.

PaulC72

Unless you are of one of the countries that they want then you cannot do it easily.

For some reason it is very hard for UK people to move over there and thats with us being their mates lol.

Snazy

lol thats what I have always found strange.
We have a "special" relationship with them, yet not allowed to even enter the green card lottery !

what would scooby do

Buy a bullet proof vest?

Fabioso

My advice.....if you really want to live in the US.....work for an US company in the UK and become "needed" to work in the US. Its the easiest way by far to get the doors opened. Otherwise its one serious uphill struggle.

speye91

Cheers all,it does look very difficult apart from Pupping a Yank Bird,and Marrying her.

The Company i work for,does have several Branches in the Us,and many independant suppliers,so its looks like a case of Sponsorship.

Im Currently seeing an American lass so marrage is the last resort.

hodgy0_2

oh and don't "Bring on the Cute Cuban Chicks" the septics won't like it

speye91

I know i must really change that.Its from Last year.

daddyscoob

Only thing I can add to whats been said is..... My sister and her hubby moved to Kissimme Florida about 4 yrs ago. They own 4 properties - rentals for the Disney holidaymakers ( web site is abbracadabrarentals ) set up a business etc spent a fortune trying to get visa's that elt them stay and it's a no no.

For the las 2 yrs ish they have been trying to sell up but the property market is in deep deep trouble so no chance. Lots of expats they know have cut their loses handed keys back to mortgage companys and just left.

They have temp visa'a but haven't been able to leave the US for the last couple of years cos they probably wouldn't get back in.

If you asked them they'd strongly advise you didn't bother

spireite

Learn to shoot

Mifo

iTrader: (10)

Get married to an american chick???
apparantly this doesnt come with any guarantee that you;ll be able to live there!!

You'd be better off with trying Australia mate!!

speye91

You wont know how easy it is to get a CWL in the States..anyone can have them.It was a bit of a shock to wander around Wall Mart and see Bullets on the shelf.
Went to the Mall,and a big sports shop,had Pump action Shotguns and Machine guns on the shelf lol.

Will

You are already in America mate, well when you are on ScoobyNet anyway

billythekid

I have obtained a work permit in the past.

The main thing you need is a skill, something fairly specialist - or something that not many people can do.

I got mine in about 4 weeks. The company paid for the costs - about £3000 at the time (couple of years ago).

Had I been married they would have also granted my wife a visa.
They also had to set me up with a bank account (so I could pay tax..) and various bits of other paperwork. So it can be done, and quite quickly, I know a dozen or so brits over there at the moment.

The visa was only temporary though for 6 months, and I have some fairly specialist skills. They will grant a H1B visa, but only after several years of working there. I know a few people who have done this - usually takes 5 years IME.

hth

boxst

It is very hard. As mentioned above, the easiest (apart from marriage!) is to work for an American company and then get transferred. Even that will only get you a temporary work visa generally for that specific country. You can then apply for a green card, but it takes quite a lot of effort, a good lawyer (that hopefully the company will pay for) and about five years.

Steve

hodgy0_2

the govt also do a green card lottery

Green card Lottery - immigrate to America easily

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

Unfortunately the green card lottery is not open to UK residents apart from those in NI.

billythekid

Exactly what kind of visa do they have? If they dont think they will get back in it sounds like they are on expired visas? Not good, esp if its gone over by a couple of years!!

My friend got caught out once because his G/F was on tourist visa (90 days) and they were taking a long weekend in Mexico to renew it (if you go in and out of the US you can apply for another 90 days).

They left it a bit late and because it was on the 90th day - and they had spotted this activity a few times they held her at the airport on the way out and held he for quite a while asking lots of quesions about work etc etc.

Same happend on her return and got held up again for a few hours... so watch out as they can get arsey!

And that was for the sake of a day....

wayne9t9

"Special relationship" always makes me laff. I have a green card and have been living in the US for four years. Most of the people I meet don`t know where the UK is or what it means. They don`t know anything other than american stuff, only stupid stereotypes from T.V. They look down on us, as they do all other countries. One guy even asked me if we celebrate Christmas FFS. Immigration is very complicated, there are many ways to achieve the same thing. If you break one small rule, forget it. Bear in mind this is a country that can turn you away at the airport for committing a crime involving moral turpitude (that even includes adultery). My advice would be to visit as many times as possible to get a feel for things and never overstay your 90 days. Be prepared to pay for health insurance and possibly losing property if you don`t have "coverage" if you have to go to hospital. Also be prepared for every yank to tell you its the best country in the world, even though he`s never been to any others. Have a nice day.

AndyK

I have been living in the US for about 5 years and it really suits me at the moment so don't let others put you off. I have many English and other nationality friends out here on Visas and green cards and all off them came out in the same manner. They got work at a company in the UK and did an inter company transfer. This will give you an L visa.

Take all advise with a pinch of salt as everything changes all the time. As said before L visas are for tranfers in the company and you have to prove that an American can't do your job. This is still the easiest way. You could also look at H1 visas which apply to a skill but are not specific to a company. Up until this year H visas have been a nightmare to get as many times as many people apply for them than can be given out. This year, due to the economy, there were more visas than applicants.

A visa is only a temp solution so once you are out here you look at getting a green card. Bare in mind that this has to be renewed periodically (7 years but has changed, I think) Green cards are a nightmare to get. If you are not in a management position then they can take years. For example, I applied for mine 3 years ago and I am still on the first stage and look to have another 4 years to go.

However, I have just got married to an American so can apply through her (and have). This green card has to be checked in 2 years time because if we divorce I get kicked out. Also, there is an interview for it and unlike the visa interview it is very in depth. They can ask x-rated questions to test the relationship.

As said in the previous post come over and test it out. From what he said above I would not move to a country as described. However, I came from the airport to a city called Hoboken and looked across the Hudson river and knew I had to do it. I now live in Hoboken and have a view of NYC out of my window. All the locals understand there are more countries than their own and almost all of them watch BBC news to get an outside view. It really depends on where you end up.

The only way I can explain the country is that each state almost is another country. When you travel from state to state there are totally different laws and values. You wouldn't expect people in Latvia to act the same as those from Glasgow so don't expect it here.

Final thing is......

There is every lifestyle here and location type. If you want to ski, ride or sit by a beech there is that life. If you want to live in a city with 8 million neighbours or sit by a lake with no one for miles around you can.

Andy (long time lurker)

Spooky Mulder

One of my biggest clients is an Indian organisation that works globally. They can get me (and have the legal wherewithal and money for the fees) a visa to work in the US. Although it is not a green card they have employees and associates over there indefinitely.

This is a easiest route as they will provide sponsorship, pay for the substantial fees and legal cover which will easily be $10k if not more, and will keep the visa renewal going.

However it does mean you a tied to a specific company and if I was not working with them I would have to come back.

There is also a possibility that Barry may make things more difficult in a streak of protectionism!

hodgy0_2

yeah I sort thought I had heard that it was very biased towards Ireland

didnt realise that UK citizens were barred completely