I guess I will cover the E3 visa first since it is the one on most Aussie's mind. The short version is that it is a great visa. If you can get an E3, you , your spouse (with marriage certificate) and your children can start a new life in America. Your spouse automatically gets a work visa as well. It is quite cheap compared to other visas and it can also be indefinitely renewed. There is also no age limit like the ones for the UK.
The cons are that will never covert into a greencard. That means that if you want to become a permanent resident and later on a US citizen this will not get you there. Unless they change the regulations, which I don't foresee in the near future.
The E3 is dependent on you having a Bachelor's degree and the job you are filling needs to require a Bachelor's degree and an employee willing to sponsor you. You cannot obtain it first then look for work. The job offer must be in place before you are eligible.
Due to this requirement the easiest way is to work for a company that wants to send you over to the US. Now for most people this is not a viable option unless you get lucky.
The self propelled option is to come to the US on a tourist visa and start looking for work. Aussies get an automatic tourist visa of 3 months when they arrive here. You can also get a multiple re-entry visa for 1 to 10 years. BUT make sure you leave the county on what we call a 'visa run' every 6 months so that you can get a new visa for another 6 months.
Once on US soil you can get an apartment, stay with a friend and start looking for work. Hopefully you will have the luck and timing to find something before your first 3 months is up.
This works quite well for the IT and anything computer related. However, it is a harder project for all other industries.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
I want to move to America!
Aussies are travelers by nature and many want to make the journey to the States sometimes before or after their London trip. They start off with lots of energy and enthusiasm, then hit roadblocks practically on day 1. It's not as easy as getting a visa to live/work in Canada or England. Not by a long shot!
Sure you can stay in the country for long periods on a tourist visa, you just have to pay more for the long term multiple entry visas. However, the big catch is that you cannot legally work here. Unless you are comfortably in the 'trust fund baby with uber dough' or the 'starving backpacker couch surfing' lifestyle, you have to work if you want to stay anywhere for a while. The uber rich do exist in small numbers and there are many more of us working plebs so I will concentrate on this population. As for the starving backpacker/fruit picker combo, I would warn you to think again. You have a plus, you speak English with that is seen as a cute accent here. However, there are large populations of illegal immegrants here who already have the fruit picking, under the table restaurant workers and other cash job markets cornered. Not saying you can't find work but there is a lot of competition out there!
Now for those that do want to live/work there are several options. I will mention them briefly here and expand in future posts. First off it depends on how long you want to stay and if you are/or want to be a student.
http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/
Student options:
1. If you are a full time student you can get a J1 exchange visitor visa. It is basically a seasonal work visa which technically can allow you to work for a 'season'. Though Summer is included they are mainly referring to Winter. The American students get the Summer off too and flood the seasonal market then. This means working for minimum wage or less at ski resorts sharing accomodations with a house full of people.
2. If you want to go back to school some programs offer the student visa. This means you can come in for school. Of course your program will be charged international student fees. Some programs will allow you to work up to 20 hours a week. For programs like a Bachelors or a Masters they may allow you to work for up to one year after the program. If at that point you can't find someone to sponsor you for an E3 of H1B visa then you must leave.
Working options:
1. E3 - Must have a Bachelors to apply for this and be sponsored by employer
2. H-1B - Very similar to E3 but much harder to get since the whole world applies for this, where as the E3 is only for Australian citizens. This can be exchanged for a green card though.
3. Green card lottery. Actually not as bad as it sounds. Across the world each year millions of people apply for what is called the 'diversity lottery'. 50,000 are selected and from there the process goes on. The program is that many who are selected cannot actually afford to complete the process. It is not free you still have to pay immigration fees, legal costs plus of course the cost of moving to the US within the time frame given. At the end of the day it is something like a 1 in 200 chance as many apply who cannot financially complete the process even if they were selected.
4. Tourist visa - that you can live here for a short period and work remotely from overseas. But this means that you cannot get a legal job here, drivers license or social security number. AND you MUST leave the country every 6 months to get a tourist visa. Do this a few times and immigration may have more questions for you.
These are the main legal ways of moving to the US and being able to legally work and stay here. There are of course illegal ways of doing this too, which I won't be covering. Why? Because it is a lot of effort and extremely high risk. I have known of people who were deported. Deported is not only for third world nation non-English speakers. They WILL deport you if you are caught living/working here illegally. Deportation is not a pretty picture. It means being taken off to jail when ever they get you. This is immediate, they won't let you go home and pack a nice bag for the trip! You will leave behind all your worldly posessions. You will sit in jail until they can get a flight out for you and they are in no rush to do so. So you could be waiting for up to a month unless you have money or friends to purchase a ticket immediately. You will also be barred from entering the country again for a period or a lifetime depending on the severity of the case.
Sorry to be such a downer but I really want to be truthful and not sugar coat things. If it is your dream to get over here I want to give you the information you need for it but it is of no help to you if I don't tell you the truth.
Sure you can stay in the country for long periods on a tourist visa, you just have to pay more for the long term multiple entry visas. However, the big catch is that you cannot legally work here. Unless you are comfortably in the 'trust fund baby with uber dough' or the 'starving backpacker couch surfing' lifestyle, you have to work if you want to stay anywhere for a while. The uber rich do exist in small numbers and there are many more of us working plebs so I will concentrate on this population. As for the starving backpacker/fruit picker combo, I would warn you to think again. You have a plus, you speak English with that is seen as a cute accent here. However, there are large populations of illegal immegrants here who already have the fruit picking, under the table restaurant workers and other cash job markets cornered. Not saying you can't find work but there is a lot of competition out there!
Now for those that do want to live/work there are several options. I will mention them briefly here and expand in future posts. First off it depends on how long you want to stay and if you are/or want to be a student.
http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/
Student options:
1. If you are a full time student you can get a J1 exchange visitor visa. It is basically a seasonal work visa which technically can allow you to work for a 'season'. Though Summer is included they are mainly referring to Winter. The American students get the Summer off too and flood the seasonal market then. This means working for minimum wage or less at ski resorts sharing accomodations with a house full of people.
2. If you want to go back to school some programs offer the student visa. This means you can come in for school. Of course your program will be charged international student fees. Some programs will allow you to work up to 20 hours a week. For programs like a Bachelors or a Masters they may allow you to work for up to one year after the program. If at that point you can't find someone to sponsor you for an E3 of H1B visa then you must leave.
Working options:
1. E3 - Must have a Bachelors to apply for this and be sponsored by employer
2. H-1B - Very similar to E3 but much harder to get since the whole world applies for this, where as the E3 is only for Australian citizens. This can be exchanged for a green card though.
3. Green card lottery. Actually not as bad as it sounds. Across the world each year millions of people apply for what is called the 'diversity lottery'. 50,000 are selected and from there the process goes on. The program is that many who are selected cannot actually afford to complete the process. It is not free you still have to pay immigration fees, legal costs plus of course the cost of moving to the US within the time frame given. At the end of the day it is something like a 1 in 200 chance as many apply who cannot financially complete the process even if they were selected.
4. Tourist visa - that you can live here for a short period and work remotely from overseas. But this means that you cannot get a legal job here, drivers license or social security number. AND you MUST leave the country every 6 months to get a tourist visa. Do this a few times and immigration may have more questions for you.
These are the main legal ways of moving to the US and being able to legally work and stay here. There are of course illegal ways of doing this too, which I won't be covering. Why? Because it is a lot of effort and extremely high risk. I have known of people who were deported. Deported is not only for third world nation non-English speakers. They WILL deport you if you are caught living/working here illegally. Deportation is not a pretty picture. It means being taken off to jail when ever they get you. This is immediate, they won't let you go home and pack a nice bag for the trip! You will leave behind all your worldly posessions. You will sit in jail until they can get a flight out for you and they are in no rush to do so. So you could be waiting for up to a month unless you have money or friends to purchase a ticket immediately. You will also be barred from entering the country again for a period or a lifetime depending on the severity of the case.
Sorry to be such a downer but I really want to be truthful and not sugar coat things. If it is your dream to get over here I want to give you the information you need for it but it is of no help to you if I don't tell you the truth.
So you want to move to the US
I happened to be back in Australia in March 2005 when I first heard about a new E3 Visa from America just for Aussies. I was so excited! Since this would mean lonely Aussie me might have more Aussie friends to play with State side. But I also knew that even with the visa it wouldn't be an easy transition for most.
Here is the thing. Visa's in general had a stigma attached to them. Expensive and hard to get. I live and work in the San Francisco Bay Area a.k.a. Silicon Valley. The landscape has changed over the last few decades due to visas, but only in certain fields. Namely that of IT. The previous visas that were coveted were the HB1's, quite expensive and large demand to supply. They were coveted since the visa can be converted to a green card (permanent residency) with the sponsorship of your employer. And E3 cannot ever be converted to a green card but can be renewed indefinitely.
I've seen friends, friends of friends and even my own family try for the E3 visa with varying success. I would like to share my knowledge and in the coming posts will put up posts on different topics I think people should know. They will fall into two categories:
1. Those wanting to move here and
2. Those newly arrived and slightly lost.
Please let me know if there are topics of interest you would like me to cover. If I don't know it I can ask friends in the community here.
Here is the thing. Visa's in general had a stigma attached to them. Expensive and hard to get. I live and work in the San Francisco Bay Area a.k.a. Silicon Valley. The landscape has changed over the last few decades due to visas, but only in certain fields. Namely that of IT. The previous visas that were coveted were the HB1's, quite expensive and large demand to supply. They were coveted since the visa can be converted to a green card (permanent residency) with the sponsorship of your employer. And E3 cannot ever be converted to a green card but can be renewed indefinitely.
I've seen friends, friends of friends and even my own family try for the E3 visa with varying success. I would like to share my knowledge and in the coming posts will put up posts on different topics I think people should know. They will fall into two categories:
1. Those wanting to move here and
2. Those newly arrived and slightly lost.
Please let me know if there are topics of interest you would like me to cover. If I don't know it I can ask friends in the community here.
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