# Looking at potential move to the USA



## kzaki (Oct 5, 2011)

Hi all my wife is a USC and we are in UK at the moment, but we are looking at the possibility of moving to the USA, I have a few question and would appreciate any help.

1) Is $60000 a year enough for two people in Houston Texas?
2) What is the wait time for a USC applying for a visa for their parent?
3) What is the wait time for a USC applying for a visa for their sibling?

Thanks in advance.


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

1 . yes
1. what type of visa ...

3 aan immigrant visa for a sibling depends on their country 
but between 13-24 years ...that category is up for closure in the future


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## kzaki (Oct 5, 2011)

Hi thanks for the reply, yes I would be looking at an immigrant visa, how long is the wait time for a parent?


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

you don't give a country still a year or two probably ...if you earn enough for the affidavit of support and they have no criminal record and you are over 21 and US citizen

U.S. Citizens
http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/A1en.pdf


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## kzaki (Oct 5, 2011)

I should have specified, country for sibling / parents is UK.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

60k in Houston
It depends on your needs and wants. Deduct taxes, medical insurance, ...

Sponsorship of UK parent
First you have to be US citizen, be able to sponsor AoS

Sponsorship of UK sibling
See parent, check travel.state.gov bulletin for current processing times


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## kzaki (Oct 5, 2011)

I know I would need to be a citizen first, I'm asking as I would like to have timescales on when I could apply for family (I realise they are very rough timescales at this point).


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

kzaki said:


> I know I would need to be a citizen first, I'm asking as I would like to have timescales on when I could apply for family (I realise they are very rough timescales at this point).


You can apply as soon as you hold your Naturalization in hand.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

twostep said:


> You can apply as soon as you hold your Naturalization in hand.


..... which, if you are entering on CR1 visa (marriage to a US citizen) will be three years from getting your Green card (which you will receive about three months after you enter),

So it will be about 3.5 to 4 years before your parent gets their visa.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Green Card status and all rights and responsibilities is issued at point of entry by stamp in passport; actual Green Card will follow by mail.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

twostep said:


> Green Card status and all rights and responsibilities is issued at point of entry by stamp in passport; actual Green Card will follow by mail.


OK then, if OP applies for his parent's visa as soon as he lands in the US then probably 3.5 years to get the visa.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Crawford said:


> OK then, if OP applies for his parent's visa as soon as he lands in the US then probably 3.5 years to get the visa.


To sponsor parents OP has to have his US citizenship. He can apply 90 days short of three years of receipt of Green Card. Processing is hard to estimate; several months. He can immediately after swearing in start the process for parents. Again; several months.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

twostep said:


> To sponsor parents OP has to have his US citizenship. He can apply 90 days short of three years of receipt of Green Card. Processing is hard to estimate; several months. He can immediately after swearing in start the process for parents. Again; several months.


Correct. My last posting was rubbish, but my post before that was correct.

OP gets his naturalisation after three years of permanent residency. Applies for parent visa which will take a few months.

So between 3 and 4 years after OP lands in the States for parent to arrive.


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## kzaki (Oct 5, 2011)

OK thanks.

Both my wife and I are currently in the UK and the route we would take is to file for DCF in london and her sister would sponsor us financially, so with that in mind how soon would I be able to start working after entering the US assuming I get a job very soon after landing.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

kzaki said:


> OK thanks.
> 
> Both my wife and I are currently in the UK and the route we would take is to file for DCF in london and her sister would sponsor us financially, so with that in mind how soon would I be able to start working after entering the US assuming I get a job very soon after landing.


As soon as you have your Green Card status. Most employers will not touch you until you have your social security number in hand which takes a couple of weeks.


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## kzaki (Oct 5, 2011)

I have a follow up question, I currently work as an ICT Systems Engineer (Systems Admin and VMWare Engineer) in London making around £33k this is on the low side here because I work for the nhs/government, and I do not have a degree but do have some relevant certification (all USA based).

Now cut a long story short what I wanted to know is if $60-$65k would be a fair amount for someone working in my field in houston?


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## belgarath (Jul 15, 2011)

For an experienced IT person, this is very low. Looks OK for a fresh graduate.


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## kzaki (Oct 5, 2011)

How much should I be looking for?


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

You're really asking a group of people who don't know you (and who certainly haven't seen your CV -- no, don't post it) to judge how much a prospective employer should offer you in compensation? We have no idea if you're a fresh graduate, resemble one professionally speaking (likely, since you apparently have no U.S. employment experience and are applying "cold"), or not.

The compensation offered to you will be what's offered. The price for your services is whatever those services can fetch. If you don't think you are (or resemble) a fresh graduate, solicit other job offers to test your hypothesis, see what you can find, negotiate, then take the best offer. It's really that simple.


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## kzaki (Oct 5, 2011)

Thank you for the reply, I have been working 9+ years as an IT professional. I probably should have put a little more information to begin with.

Obviously what you say makes perfect sense (bbcwatcher) I just need some sort of baseline as to what the minimum is I should be aiming for. Job sites often don't give the salary that is being offered and what they do give can vary from one extreme to the other.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

kzaki said:


> Thank you for the reply, I have been working 9+ years as an IT professional. I probably should have put a little more information to begin with.
> 
> Obviously what you say makes perfect sense (bbcwatcher) I just need some sort of baseline as to what the minimum is I should be aiming for. Job sites often don't give the salary that is being offered and what they do give can vary from one extreme to the other.


Without knowing details such as which certs and their current status, your projects, geographic target market - there is no way to give you a range. Lack of degree is turning even in IT into a handicap.

I am currently dealing with networking folks from 1-15 years in the field. Certs only to PhD. Comp ranges from 30-150k and that across the board.


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## kzaki (Oct 5, 2011)

twostep said:


> Without knowing details such as which certs and their current status, your projects, geographic target market - there is no way to give you a range. Lack of degree is turning even in IT into a handicap.
> 
> I am currently dealing with networking folks from 1-15 years in the field. Certs only to PhD. Comp ranges from 30-150k and that across the board.


Well certs wise I have an MCSE(Server 2003), a VCP5-DCV, VCP5-DT, EMC ISM v2 an ITIL Foundation V3 (All are currently valid) and before making the move I would hopefully have completed VCAP aswell.

As for projects I have worked on the deployment of a fair few VMWare based projects, vcloud, vsphere, horizon view & mirage and a some hosted service projects.

I could go into a lot more detail but just want to give a brief overview as you appear to be someone who works in the recruitment field.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

I would start with LinkedIn and Dice.


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