Living in US options..

Rockee

Hey folks!

Simple really, I live in Dublin and my lady friend lives in the States. We're doing well with the ol long distance relationship at the mo but lets just say I want to move to the States, what are the LEGAL options I have?

She has applied to go to third level here in the autumn through the CAO and if she gets accepted Id be one happy bunny! Thing is though..what happens if she doesnt get accepted? Will I just have to keep relying on backwards and forwards expensive trips until we decide to go and get hitched???

I know that theres a greencard section available on this area of boards but I was just hoping for maybe any tips from any of you guys perhaps in a similar position.

Thanks

silja

Taking out the marriage option leavs studying and working

Since she is a student, maybe you are too? If so, getting a visa to study full time in the USA is quite easy, but university fees for both undergrad and postgrad over there are expensive. A work visa is much more difficult, really only available to those with highly sought after skills such as PhD chemists, computer scientists etc.

Rockee

silja wrote: »

Taking out the marriage option leavs studying and working

Since she is a student, maybe you are too? If so, getting a visa to study full time in the USA is quite easy, but university fees for both undergrad and postgrad over there are expensive. A work visa is much more difficult, really only available to those with highly sought after skills such as PhD chemists, computer scientists etc.

Hmm, I see. I am currently not a student. The fiance visa option seems the most realistic option at the moment. I understand that once it is issued it leaves a couple 90 days to get married, correct?

Doesnt leave much time to get preparations and invites done does it?

silja

Well, if you get the fiance visa (it takes 8-12 months to process), you have 6 months to fly over there and then 90 days to get married, so there is some time. What a lot of people do though is to get married right away in a courthouse ceremony (like registry office in Ireland), and then have a religious wedding/ reception later, once there is time to plan the big event.

The other option would be for you two to get married in Ireland, and then apply for a spousal visa to the USA. If she moves back to the US, it takes around the same time to proccess as the fiance visa. If she will be studying here, after being legally in ireland for 6 months she can apply for your spousal visa directly via the embassy rather than via the USA, and it only takes about 6 weeks (it is what we did- I am the Irish person and my husband is American). If you think you might go down the fiance/ spouseal visa route, check out this website which was a great help to me: http://visajourney.com

jimmybeige

I was exploring ways to go and work in the USA also, and as i am not eligible for the new J! I looked at alternatives.

I posted a thread asking about http://www.istplus.com/pct.html a few weeks ago, but got no feedback Seems like some kind of internship program for up to 18 months. Worth a look, oh and if you do get any more information, do send it on
Cheers

jimmybeige

Oh and a bit more info on the USIT site.... http://internship.usit.ie/eligibility.aspx

It does not mention here that you need to have graduated for less than 12 months, unlike the regular internship.

Ruu_Old

I too used visajourney.com during the majority of my immigration process. Excellent resource.