# Help needed



## DAVETARA1 (Mar 17, 2015)

H guys and girls, im dave new to all this so bare with me

Me and my family currently live in the UK and we have had enough, for a while now we have been looking in the states for places to possibly move to. We have now decided on Texas and this is where we need help.

We have searched high and low for a definitive list on the requirements for coming over etc and as of yet haven't found one.

Where do we start???

HELP PLEASE

Many Thanks in advance.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

For which visa do you qualify? :

Work visa - need prospective employer to sponsor you
Investment visa - looking at thousands of dollars to invest
Family visa - close relatives wishing to sponsor you (parents/siblings)

Look at the sticky immediately above this post - Looking to live and work in the US


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

Pick a visa 


There are basically NINE ways that you can get a visa to live and work in the US: 

(1) Marriage (or engagement in anticipation of marriage) to a US citizen. 

(2) You have skills that are in short supply in the US e.g. scientific or medical training. A degree is normally a must. Or you have superior specialist skills with at least 12 years experience. (H visas)applications next received on 1st April 2015 for an Oct start

(3) You have an Employer who is willing to transfer you - but even the employer has to make a good case for you - so you have to be a manager unless you fall under category (2) above.(L visas)

(4) You may get a Green card in the diversity lottery (UK citizens, except N.Ireland, are not generally eligible unless you, your spouse or parents were born abroad or held a different citizenship.

(5)You own or buy business (does not get you permanent resident status i.e. no green card)You must be a national of a qualifying Treaty countries. The business must have a minimum value of around $150k (more the better) bearing in mind you will need somewhere to live and with any startup business you will need at least 2 years living money as back up. So a figure of $350k would be a nearer minimum (E-2 visas)

(6)You are an "investor" i.e. you have at least US $1m in assets to bring with you. half of that in a few areas. And your background will be investigated to the hilt. (EB-5 visas)

(7)You have a close relative (mother, father, brother, sister and no further) who is an US citizen who would sponsor you, approx time this take 2-12 years?

(8.The R1 visa is available to foreign members of religious denominations, having bona fide non-profit religious organizations in the U.S., for entering the U.S. to carry on the activities of a minister or religious worker as a profession, occupation or vocation

(9)THE UNUSUAL You are in a position to claim refugee status/political asylum. or You get a member of Congress to sponsor a private bill with legislation that applies just to you. 
The S visa issued to persons who assist US law enforcement to investigate and prosecute crimes and terrorist activities such as money laundering and organized crime


Recruitment agent will not take you seriously if you are not already in the US. Writing for jobs is really a waste of time; likewise US employers have no idea what foreign qualification are or mean (except Degrees) it may pay you to get your qualification translated into a US equivalent, there are Companies that do this (World Education Services - International Credential Evaluation Expertise) .. 
But if you are getting a visa under (2) above then you need a job offer before you can get the visa. Your Employer will be your sponsor this will cost them upward of $5k. So you can see you have to be offering something really special to get considered They may also have to prove to the Dept of labor that there is no American who can do the job if the position is to be permanent ©
DO NOT USE VISA CONSULTANTS


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Travel.state.gov and USCIS.gov are the two official US sites regarding immigration and walk you through the process soup to nuts.


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## Loosehead (Nov 18, 2013)

Pleas make sure that you know what you are getting into before moving to Texas. There are many advantages to living here, but many adjustments to make as well. Government and State organisations have developed pointless burocracy to a level that baffles the normal Brit, while, if you have ever wondered what it feels like to be treated like a criminal in a high security prison regime, a visit to your local IRS Advice Center will give you a taste.

Sharp business practice; 15 days vacation a year; car insurance that would make your eyes bleed; medical insurance that doesn't quite cover what you think it should - just some of the things to watch out for.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Loosehead said:


> Pleas make sure that you know what you are getting into before moving to Texas. There are many advantages to living here, but many adjustments to make as well. Government and State organisations have developed pointless burocracy to a level that baffles the normal Brit, while, if you have ever wondered what it feels like to be treated like a criminal in a high security prison regime, a visit to your local IRS Advice Center will give you a taste.
> 
> Sharp business practice; 15 days vacation a year; car insurance that would make your eyes bleed; medical insurance that doesn't quite cover what you think it should - just some of the things to watch out for.


Sour grapes here?


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## Loosehead (Nov 18, 2013)

twostep said:


> Sour grapes here?


Some. On balance, I enjoy living here, but don't let's kid on it's all a bed of roses. The way my wife was treated at the IRS office simply trying to obtain a tax ID number for our son was disgraceful and would not be acceptable in the UK. The really alarming thing was that my Texan colleagues were not in the least bit surprised and accept it as normal.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Loosehead said:


> The way my wife was treated at the IRS office....


Sounds awful. Any link to a prior post to read about that incident?


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Loosehead said:


> Some. On balance, I enjoy living here, but don't let's kid on it's all a bed of roses. The way my wife was treated at the IRS office simply trying to obtain a tax ID number for our son was disgraceful and would not be acceptable in the UK. The really alarming thing was that my Texan colleagues were not in the least bit surprised and accept it as normal.


After beating around the bush long enough - what happened?


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## Loosehead (Nov 18, 2013)

What happened was nothing unusual, apparently. It happens every day.

We had to get a tax ID form my son as the DSS would not issue him a SS number as a non-immigrant minor. So, the options were post the paper work with his passport or take the paper work and passport to a local IRS office. Except if you go in person, he must go too.

As is normal, the IRS do not offer an appointment system, you must queue up and hope for the best. So my wife carefully examined the IRS website to make sure she knew everything required, took him out of school at lunchtime and took him along.
As is normal at a U.S. public building, you first of all line up for the airport style security, but the next line was most extraordinary. They were ordered to line up along a wall in strict single file. Anyone moving from the wall, including young children was barked at and ordered back into line. During this line someone came along and checked reason for visit and that paperwork was complete.
This line, which took an hour, was to get to a desk where reason to visit was asked and paperwork checked. Yes, I know, it was already checked in the line.
Except, this time, the official told my wife that she would have to come back. They had finished doing tax IDs for the day.
After some discussion, it transpired that the supervisor had decided that they had done enough of these and no more were to be processed after 11am (this was 2pm)
My wife asked to speak to the supervisor.
She asked him to explain how he could simply stop processing tax IDs. He apparently has the discretion to do what he likes.
Why is it not on the website that tax IDs will not be processed after 11am?
Well, they might process them after 11am, it depends what he decides to process and what not to.
Why weren't they told at the earlier document check?
You have to wait in line.
They must get complaints about this ridiculous system?
Oh, they get many complaints very day, but he has the authority to organise his team any way he likes.
Ok, when do we have to be here tomorrow to be sure that my tax ID can be processed?
He can't say. He can't say if they will process any tomorrow. You have to stand in line and see.

So, my wife returned the next day.
Got through security.
Stood in a single file against the wall.
Got passed the document check, was given a number and sent to the waiting room to await having the number called.
To be told. 
Only one person from each party allowed in the waiting room, all others must go to the cafeteria.
Everyone in the waiting room, MUST sit down on a chair. No standing up allowed.
One gentleman went to talk to someone he knew and was immediately barked at and ordered to return to his chair and sit down.

After all that, it took less than 5 minutes to process the paperwork and receive a tax ID.

To reiterate. my wife did not experience anything different or unusual, but simply every day poor treatment of the public by IRS officials. The officials appear to be struck by their own petty authority and run the office as if it were a prison. Such behaviour would simply not be tolerated in the UK in my opinion.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Loosehead said:


> So, the options were post the paper work with his passport or take the paper work and passport to a local IRS office.


Well no, there's a third option to obtain an ITIN that the IRS heavily promotes: visit any IRS-authorized acceptance agent. There are _lots_ of them. Practically every H&R Block office, for example. You can schedule appointments with most of them, and you don't have to take your shoes off (unless you want to).

There's at least one reason security is tight at U.S. federal buildings, particularly when you probably pass by a dozen or more acceptance agents providing the same service in order to pay an unusual personal visit to the IRS. Also, if you're referring to the office in Dallas, that building is also home to the United Stated District Court for the Northern District of Texas, U.S. Court of Appeals (Fifth Circuit), U.S. Bankruptcy Court, U.S. Magistrate Court, U.S. Probation, U.S. Pretrial Services, U.S. Attorney, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Health and Human Services, U.S. Corps of Engineers, and the General Services Administration. Yes, there's a bit of security there.


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## Loosehead (Nov 18, 2013)

BBCWatcher said:


> Well no, there's a third option to obtain an ITIN that the IRS heavily promotes: visit any IRS-authorized acceptance agent. There are _lots_ of them. Practically every H&R Block office, for example. You can schedule appointments with most of them, and you don't have to take your shoes off (unless you want to).
> 
> There's at least one reason security is tight at U.S. federal buildings, particularly when you probably pass by a dozen or more acceptance agents providing the same service in order to pay an unusual personal visit to the IRS. Also, if you're referring to the office in Dallas, that building is also home to the United Stated District Court for the Northern District of Texas, U.S. Court of Appeals (Fifth Circuit), U.S. Bankruptcy Court, U.S. Magistrate Court, U.S. Probation, U.S. Pretrial Services, U.S. Attorney, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Health and Human Services, U.S. Corps of Engineers, and the General Services Administration. Yes, there's a bit of security there.


Houston South West Branch office


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Frankly, the IRS offices in the US have a terrible reputation for being abrupt/surly/unpleasant with the taxpaying public. And they have had this reputation for a LONG time. (Since LONG before the current security mania took hold.)

It's one of the reasons I was so surprised to find that the overseas offices of the IRS (well, the Paris office, at least) was staffed by hardworking, pleasant to deal with, though seriously overloaded, people. I'm actually going to miss them when they shut down the office here later this year.

But it's nothing that your wife did or said. That's just how the office works back there. And one of the reasons most people scan the IRS website to find any way they can to avoid having to go into or call the IRS office.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Loosehead (Nov 18, 2013)

Bevdeforges said:


> Frankly, the IRS offices in the US have a terrible reputation for being abrupt/surly/unpleasant with the taxpaying public. And they have had this reputation for a LONG time. (Since LONG before the current security mania took hold.)
> 
> It's one of the reasons I was so surprised to find that the overseas offices of the IRS (well, the Paris office, at least) was staffed by hardworking, pleasant to deal with, though seriously overloaded, people. I'm actually going to miss them when they shut down the office here later this year.
> 
> ...


No, I appreciate that she didn't do anything wrong. It astonishes me that any public body are allowed to treat the public in this way, and it astonishes me that the public don't get something done about it. People here seem to feel powerless, and one of my colleagues responded with "that's why we hate the government".


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Sorry folks - "have a reputation", "my wife ....", third party information mixed with personal feelings. If you have a real issue you can file a complaint. Did you?


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## Loosehead (Nov 18, 2013)

twostep said:


> Sorry folks - "have a reputation", "my wife ....", third party information mixed with personal feelings. If you have a real issue you can file a complaint. Did you?


Yes, of course.

Perhaps you have been here long enough that you are prepared to be treated like cattle, but we are not.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

The IRS is underfunded, bottom line. (Though I am frequently amazed at how well they do given their lack of funding.) One political party advocates boosting IRS funding, and the other advocates cutting IRS funding. For those of you who can vote, you may want to factor this policy difference into your voting decisions.


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## invisibletexan (Aug 23, 2015)

Lived in Texas most of my life and never heard anything like that about the social security office. Texas is a good choice. Trying to change it into the place your running from is not though. The cost of living and housing is low compared to most other states, and other countries. I paid $2.07 a gallon (3.8l) for gas today. If you pick a good area to live in you don't really have to worry much about crime. I reccomend just west of Fort Worth. Aledo has some of the best schools in the nation.No state income tax. Things are different here, but try being a Texan who immigrated to New Zealand. (My wife is the kiwi.)
It's all relative. Most people are even able to get used to the heat, which really isn't that bad anyway. 

P.S. Please bring Marmite!


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## Edward.Mei (Aug 13, 2015)

go for immigration, registerd yourself and apply your visa.


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