# Australian moving to california



## nicoleharris1122 (Jun 24, 2012)

Hi,
My partner has just got a new job in the US, I want to move over to the US with him but I don't know where to start.
I have been working in the Fashion industry for 5 years as a production coordinator/developer. 
Can someone please help me.
Thanks


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## yappie (Mar 15, 2012)

nicoleharris1122 said:


> Hi,
> My partner has just got a new job in the US, I want to move over to the US with him but I don't know where to start.
> I have been working in the Fashion industry for 5 years as a production coordinator/developer.
> Can someone please help me.
> Thanks



Hi Nicole. Maybe you can check the USA expat forum? I am sure you will be able to get a lot of info from there. You can repost the question there. Maybe even try the US government website?


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## jb12 (Jan 27, 2012)

nicoleharris1122 said:


> Hi,
> My partner has just got a new job in the US, I want to move over to the US with him but I don't know where to start.
> I have been working in the Fashion industry for 5 years as a production coordinator/developer.
> Can someone please help me.
> Thanks


Hi Nicole,

I don't know much about visas for Australians wanting to work in the USA. However, I found the following links that maybe applicable to you. However, it looks like you will need to have a bachelor's degree in the area where you will work. Or work experience totaling about 12 years (3 yrs x 4 yrs (bachlr degree)) in a specific occupation. It's a temporary visa for 2 yrs and could possibly be extended?

The only problem is that you would need to find a job from the US before you can apply for this E-3 visa. But you can only apply for this visa outside of the USA. If you live near Canberra, you can probably visit the United States Embassy to ask for more information in person of how it all works?

USCIS - E-3 Certain Specialty Occupation Professionals from Australia

Qualifying for the E3 Visa | Embassy of the United States Canberra, Australia


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## ozbound12 (Mar 23, 2012)

nicoleharris1122 said:


> Hi,
> My partner has just got a new job in the US, I want to move over to the US with him but I don't know where to start.
> I have been working in the Fashion industry for 5 years as a production coordinator/developer.
> Can someone please help me.
> Thanks


Unfortunately getting a visa to live/work in the US can be difficult. If you and your partner were married, you would qualify for a visa as his dependent. Some of these visas would permit you to work (such as the E-3 visa, which is only available to Australians). The other option is to enroll in a school and obtain a student (F-1) visa.


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## stormgal (Sep 30, 2009)

Unemployment in California is about 11%. I doubt at this point they're giving out E3's for that industry. Another word of unnecessary advice, if I may - never chase a man to the other side of the world, if he's really interested, he'd bring you instead.


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## tara.jatt (May 15, 2012)

If you are married, then you can get a dependent visa and accompany him. As suggested by some others, there is a special E3 work visa which is available to Australians only. The suggestion by some other member above that you need to find a job and then will get a work visa will not be true if your partner is on E3 visa (its true if partner is on H1B). You as dependent of E3 will be able to apply for EAD and then you are free to look for jobs in USA. as you will not be requiring any kind of work Visa sponsorship you have a better chance of finding a job (based on your experience). 

Again all this reply is useful if 1. you are married. 2. your partner using e3 visa.




nicoleharris1122 said:


> Hi,
> My partner has just got a new job in the US, I want to move over to the US with him but I don't know where to start.
> I have been working in the Fashion industry for 5 years as a production coordinator/developer.
> Can someone please help me.
> Thanks


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## jb12 (Jan 27, 2012)

tara.jatt said:


> If you are married, then you can get a dependent visa and accompany him. As suggested by some others, there is a special E3 work visa which is available to Australians only. The suggestion by some other member above that you need to find a job and then will get a work visa will not be true if your partner is on E3 visa (its true if partner is on H1B). You as dependent of E3 will be able to apply for EAD and then you are free to look for jobs in USA. as you will not be requiring any kind of work Visa sponsorship you have a better chance of finding a job (based on your experience).
> 
> Again all this reply is useful if 1. you are married. 2. your partner using e3 visa.


Unfortunately, I don't think Nicole and her partner are married. Just because of the term "partner" that she used instead of husband. I'm not sure if a lot of countries use the term partner for their husband or wife? Also, I think majority of husbands would only accept a job offer for long term assignment to include their wife and children in the visa. Unless there was an urgent need for financial circumstances that the husband or wife had to leave to work in another country and the job does not allow the employee to bring their family. I know this is very common in some countries due to financial circumstances.

As it states in the website regarding dependents for the E-3 visa: _The E-3 visa classification applies only to nationals of Australia as well as their spouses and children. E-3 principal applicants must be going to the United States solely to work in a specialty occupation. The spouse and children need not be Australian citizens. However the U.S. does not recognize De Facto relationships or same-sex Civil Partnerships for the purposes of immigration, and to qualify as a spouse you will need a marriage certificate from the Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages._

Since the US does not recognize De Facto relationships - partners or boyfriend/girlfriend could not be qualified to get the E-3 visa as a dependent. However, Nicole could proceed to apply for the E-3 visa on her own only after she finds a job offer that is related to her bachelor degree. She would not be able to apply for the E-3 visa before the job offer. Different compared to the Australian WHV. 

In addition, it can be assumed that most fashion industry jobs would likely be located in the NY area since NY is considered the fashion capital in the US. This would help if her partner was actually going to work in NY. 

This is an example of current some job postings:
Fashion Production Coordinator Jobs, Employment | Indeed.com

Nicole has options if she really wants to come to the US. Either E-3 visa if she meets the educational qualifications and has a job offer. Or the student visa route. And of course if they are married, she will be a dependent on the E-3 (can work) or H1-B (can't work) visa.


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## stormgal (Sep 30, 2009)

jb12 said:


> Unfortunately, I don't think Nicole and her partner are married. Just because of the term "partner" that she used instead of husband.



Now that you mention it, I have wondered about the "partner" expression as well. In my naive self, at first, I used to think the expression, "partner" was for same sex couples, but then reading more I saw it was used for either husband or wife or even people who are living together.


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## jb12 (Jan 27, 2012)

stormgal said:


> Now that you mention it, I have wondered about the "partner" expression as well. In my naive self, at first, I used to think the expression, "partner" was for same sex couples, but then reading more I saw it was used for either husband or wife or even people who are living together.


Actually, I've only heard the calling of partner for same sex relationships. I don't commonly here it for couples living together or to represent husband and wife. But I guess we also have to listen to the context where it is used. There are times it is also used in the expression in businesses and corporations.. business partner, law partner.. But sometimes it's just cut short to say, my partner...


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## stormgal (Sep 30, 2009)

jb12 said:


> Actually, I've only heard the calling of partner for same sex relationships. I don't commonly here it for couples living together or to represent husband and wife.


Oh I agree with you. I have never heard of partner being used outside the same sex realm. I think it may be an American thing to refer to "partner" as meaning same sex couples because sometimes people don't want you to know that they're gay, so they use the word, "partner". But everybody already kind of knows what it means. 

What I meant from hearing it someplace else is actually from immigration forums like PIO: A lot of people from the UK for instance use the expression, "partner" so that's where I learned that the term wasn't restricted for same sex couples, although for the longest time I used to think (admittedly in my ignorant self) that there were a lot of same sex couples in the UK.


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## ozbound12 (Mar 23, 2012)

stormgal said:


> Oh I agree with you. I have never heard of partner being used outside the same sex realm. I think it may be an American thing to refer to "partner" as meaning same sex couples because sometimes people don't want you to know that they're gay, so they use the word, "partner". But everybody already kind of knows what it means.
> 
> What I meant from hearing it someplace else is actually from immigration forums like PIO: A lot of people from the UK for instance use the expression, "partner" so that's where I learned that the term wasn't restricted for same sex couples, although for the longest time I used to think (admittedly in my ignorant self) that there were a lot of same sex couples in the UK.


I think people use the term "partner" because talking about a "boyfriend" or a "girlfriend" sounds pretty middle-schoolish.


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## stormgal (Sep 30, 2009)

ozbound12 said:


> I think people use the term "partner" because talking about a "boyfriend" or a "girlfriend" sounds pretty middle-schoolish.


To who?


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## stormgal (Sep 30, 2009)

It's just a cultural thing - the word partner as I have always understood it is either a business partner or someone like a bowling partner.

If someone (from the US says to another American), "My partner and I are moving to Australia", the first thing that would come to my mind is, "oh, that person is involved in a same sex relationship". People would usually say, "My husband/wife/man/girl/boyfriend/girlfriend and I are moving to Australia". 

I'm just saying it's just a small cultural difference. If you google it you can find jb12 and I are not the only ones who thought of partnership as either a business or same sex relationship.


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## ozbound12 (Mar 23, 2012)

stormgal said:


> It's just a cultural thing - the word partner as I have always understood it is either a business partner or someone like a bowling partner.
> 
> If someone (from the US says to another American), "My partner and I are moving to Australia", the first thing that would come to my mind is, "oh, that person is involved in a same sex relationship". People would usually say, "My husband/wife/man/girl/boyfriend/girlfriend and I are moving to Australia".
> 
> I'm just saying it's just a small cultural difference. If you google it you can find jb12 and I are not the only ones who thought of partnership as either a business or same sex relationship.


I live in the US and I have heard people in unmarried different-sex relationships use the term "partner" for the reason I just mentioned. However, I don't disagree that there are Americans who think that the term "partner" is used exclusively by gay people and business partners. It seems to be more of a generational thing.


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