# Applying for a VISA - Where/How do we even start!??!!?!



## Princess.Aurora (Oct 2, 2008)

Hi all

Me and my partner of 2 and a half yrs want to move to the USA to start our life together out there.
We both are in full time work and both plan to work full time when we get there.
We have no children and are not married yet.
We have looked on various websites such as the US embassy, USCIS, etc and don't have a clue where we would start or which forms we would need.
As first time applicants with no immediate family in the US (my partner's uncle and his wife are out there) which forms would we need to fill in first and under which visa?
How much do these cost as some sites have asked for $800 for one form.
Do we need to book interviews at the embassy before we fill out forms?

Any help AT ALL would be much appreciated as we have no idea where to start and keep being told different things by different people.

Thanks
sara


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Hi and welcome to the forum.

If you check around on the various threads of the forum, you'll soon find out that immigrating to America is not all that easy these days. First of all, you won't be able to make application for a visa together until you are actually married. The US doesn't recognize long-term relationships unless they have the marriage "seal of approval." So you may want to consider putting that hurdle behind you before you start worrying about filling out forms and all.

The next issue is how you can qualify for immigration visas at all. The only available routes at the moment are: 1. employment (which means you have to have a job in the US with a sponsor willing to do the necessary to petition you in), 2. family ties, which you admit you don't have or 3. the diversity lottery (your eligibility for which depends on your country of origin - basically the country in which you were born, though there are exceptions).

The ideal situation (short of winning the diversity lottery) is to get posted to the US on a transfer by your employer under an L category visa, but this means one of you has to be employed in a managerial or executive position with a company that can do this sort of transfer.

Which forms you have to fill out depends on the precise circumstances of your visa application, but the official USCIS fee schedule is here: http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/G-1055.pdf (and note the fees listed for the "petitioner" - your sponsor pays, too).

One hopeful note - there might be some changes to the immigration rules after the elections, however with the current financial crisis, the issue probably won't be the first thing the new administration will be working on.
Cheers,
Bev


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Why do you move to the US? 
What do you do professionally?
Are you ready to marry?


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## Princess.Aurora (Oct 2, 2008)

Bevdeforges said:


> Hi and welcome to the forum.
> 
> If you check around on the various threads of the forum, you'll soon find out that immigrating to America is not all that easy these days. First of all, you won't be able to make application for a visa together until you are actually married. The US doesn't recognize long-term relationships unless they have the marriage "seal of approval." So you may want to consider putting that hurdle behind you before you start worrying about filling out forms and all.
> 
> ...



Wow thanks for that! Finally some advice that makes sense and actually matches up with what the embassy website says!
I think the best bet for us would be to get jobs over there then.
Do you think it would be helpful if we came over on holiday and went around companies asking for work and handing our CV's out?

I don't think we would marry just to move to the US. 
I work as a Personal Assistant to a CEO and also as a Volunteer Coordinator. My partner works as a Banking Advisor.
We both want to move to the US as neither of us wants to spend our lives in the UK and we don't want to start a family here either. We feel our lives would be a lot better if we lived elsewhere and America is the best place we both agree on and both want to live.
I have always wanted to move there ever since I was little though!


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

There's a big risk to applying separately for jobs and visas - namely if one of you lands a job that will get you a visa, chances are it will be an H1B visa - which is a non-immigrant visa and is subject to a lottery even after you find someone willing to hire you.

Going over on separate job-related visas also means that if one of you loses your job, you're done. You have 30 days to leave the country, and your partner has no possibility of doing anything at that point to keep you around.

To get a job-related immigrant visa, you really need to be in a line of work that is pretty desperately in demand with few, if any, Americans qualified. PAs are a dime a dozen in the US - it's the standard career route for those who majored in liberal arts and can't really find any other sort of work. And certainly within the last few weeks, banking jobs of any sort are pretty much a lost cause.

You might do better to make moving to America more of a long-term project - or at least wait a few years until the financial situation and the immigration situation settle themselves out. There's nothing wrong with making holiday trips over and using those holidays to scope out the job situation, but I'm afraid at the moment you're going to find that things are pretty tough in most areas. As foreigners in need of visas, you're well at the back of the line for consideration for any job openings.

Wish I could be more optimistic, but for the moment that's the way it is.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

Princess.Aurora said:


> Wow thanks for that! Finally some advice that makes sense and actually matches up with what the embassy website says!
> I think the best bet for us would be to get jobs over there then.
> Do you think it would be helpful if we came over on holiday and went around companies asking for work and handing our CV's out?
> 
> ...


Your plan to come over and distribute CVs is futile with the information you have so far given. Simply, it ain't gonna happen. If you're coming over, enjoy your holiday instead. Look at OZ, NZ or possibly Canada if you want to emigrate to an English-speaking country.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Considering the shape the banking industry is in right now - he will not find an employer to sponsor a visa. The qualifications you have given about yourself will not allow an employer to sponsor you unless you have some really great out of the box skill set.

Everyday life has drastically changed over the course of the last year. Job cuts, notable price increases across the board, energy crisis, natural disasters ... What do you expect to find here? What positive changes of your lifes do you anticipate?


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## synthia (Apr 18, 2007)

You don't mention having university degrees, which would also reduce the odds of ever getting into the US on a work visa.

The suggestion to look at Australia and Canada is a good one. Australia's web site has a test you take to determing if you have enough points to immigrate. You can immigrate without finding a job beforehand. I don't know what your job prospects are once you get there.


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