# An alternative route for getting a green card - Via Canada?



## FreemanUK (Apr 14, 2010)

I previously posted this topic some time ago:

expatforum dot com/expats/america-expat-forum-expats-living-america/46488-uk-student-us-residency-citizenship.html

(wouldn't let me post a URL even though it's from this forum )

...about my hopes of getting a green card in the US through a job offer, possibly after doing a Phd there.

If you haven't read my original post, I'm British, 21 years old, fluent English, a year away from finishing a degree in the UK at a good university in economics and politics. I should get a first class degree, or a 2:1 if not. And I'm interested in careers in business (consulting, management, sales, marketing, finance etc), economics, and academia. 

That's still plan A, but I'd appreciate your thoughts on what seem to me a more certain, if possibly more protracted, option.

After 1 year of work experience when I graduate I'll have 63 points on the *Canadian* immigration system. You need 67 to be eligible. If I were to be offered a job in Canada I would then have 73 points and be eligible for permanent residency there. Alternatively, after three years of work experience I would have 67 points - and if at least one year of that experience was in 'professional services to management' (which might well be the case) then I would be eligible for permanent residency even without a job offer.

Getting a job offer in Canada should be a lot easier than getting a US job offer, I think, since Canadian employers only need to show they're not paying their foreign employees less than Canadians in the same job, where as American employees have to go through the whole DoL process which is time consuming and expensive. So I'm hoping that it shouldn't be too difficult in Canada.

That's as I understand it anyway, someone with more knowledge of Canadian immigration may correct me.

So I get to Canada as a permanent resident, and after 3 years I can become a citizen. Once I'm a citizen of Canada I can work in the USA, without a visa, as a business consultant, economist, research assistant or teacher/lecturer under NAFTA. There are other jobs I could do, but those are the ones relevant to me that are listed.

Being in Canada, I can easily cross into the US to go to job interviews and it shouldn't be too difficult to find a job in the US under NAFTA I don't think (assuming the economy has picked up at least!)? Once I've got a job under NAFTA and I've been at it for some time, I would assume that my employer would be much more open to sponsoring me for an employment based green card (and thus having to go through the DoL process) than they would be to some British kid applying out of the blue from overseas?

So that would take a minimum of 4 years from graduation (1 working in the UK plus 3 in Canada to get citizenship), plus however long I'd have to work in the US before my employer would help me out with a green card.

Thoughts?

It seems to me that getting a green card directly is no sure-thing, it's dependent on maneuvering within a UK company for a transfer you might never get, or trying to get offered a job from abroad which is difficult, uncertain and, if it comes, probably won't be until late in your career when you have much more unique, marketable skills that would make a US employer willing and able to sponsor a green card. My other option is getting offered a job at the end of my Phd which is more likely than getting offered one from abroad, but to put all my eggs in that basket would seem risky.

Where as getting into Canada, for me at least, seems to me to be a sure thing unless I totally fail in my chosen career and end up working in Burger King, and from there it shouldn't be too difficult to get a NAFTA job and a green card from it by, say, 10 years or so from now.


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## Weebie (Sep 16, 2009)

Maybe in a few years yes but currently absolutely no chance but being in Canada is an advantage in networking and experience. In terms of Visa it makes no different but your plan has merit.


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## MarylandNed (May 11, 2010)

I'm sure you've probably done your homework and read this or somthing similar:
NAFTA • U.S. Consular Services in Canada

Although as a Canadian citizen you technically don't need a visa under NAFTA, you still need to obtain "TN status" to work in the US under NAFTA. However, in effect, this really is a visa. It's just easy to get (if you qualify) - you can even get it at the port of entry on your way into the US.

You have a viable plan but I'm not sure it's the best plan. If you really want the US to be your final destination, then I think you can do it quicker without the Canada step. Becoming a Canadian permanent resident (PR) and then citizen is going to take 5+ years when you factor in processing times. I suspect that you could obtain a H1B position in the US before that and then get started on your PR application while in the US. 

I'm originally from the UK and I lived in Canada for 7 years. I started out on a work permit, became a Canadian PR and finally a Canadian citizen. I returned to the UK for 2 years but became restless again. I obtained a job in the US on a H1B visa and eventually became a US PR (GC holder) and finally a US citizen. 

Like you, I actually thought about using my Canadian citizenship to go the TN route into the US - but I decided that the H1B route was better. TN is not a "dual intent" visa i.e. it does not allow for immigrant intent (the intention of obtaining PR). The H1B visa is a "dual intent" visa - it does allow for immigrant intent (I immediately got my PR application going as soon as I got to the US). This is a slightly confusing concept because TN visa holders can become PR's. However, this concept of "dual intent" and its lack of clarity (at least to me) was enough to put me off uprooting my wife and kids and moving from the UK to the US on a TN visa. The H1B took a bit longer to obtain but I had a lot more peace of mind (including no worries about possible problems at the port of entry). Of course, your personal situation is likely different to what mine was and the TN route may work better for you.

Good luck!


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## MarylandNed (May 11, 2010)

Here are other links discussing the TN visa and the intention to apply for Permanent Residence.

TN Visa & Immigrant Intent: Employment Green Cards - NAFTA TN Visa Lawyer - Brian D. Zuccaro - Buffalo, NY

FAQs about the TN Visa by Peng & Weber


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

A card house - the slightest change will collapse it.


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## JimJams (Jan 11, 2010)

Funny, i think was thinking about doing the exact same thing. Bit long winded and flaky as hell if something changes, but at the moment seems to be the easiest option... barring a H1B visa, but again difficult unless you have a very unique marketable skill in this economic climate.


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