Frustration

SG_Lover

I go to New York alot. I have an Aunt that moved there 30 years ago and married an American and they're kids are my age 26. I love going to visit. I first went on a J1 in 2005 and then 2006 and i go back every year. I have friends, and know my way around by now. Its like my second home. Recently i've met someone who i really like there and i miss her. But i find it frustrating that i can't even get a 1 year visa for the states. I have an honors degree now and would love to find an opportunity over there to use it. I know that there is now an extended J-1 but im out of college 3 years now and i dont think im eligible.
I was thinking about doing a part time course in Graphic Design here because its something im really interested in and i hear you can get a 1 year visa if you do a FETAC course ( so it would be a two birds, one stone situation). Does anyone know if you have to start the course or do a year of it before i could get this VISA?
I really would never go to the states illegally for fear of being banned and i still love travelling there to see my family so i'd never ruin it.
I find myself alot happier in life when im there.
And every year i apply for the green card visa.
If anyone could advise me of ways to get a visa for a year or longer any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

JohnMearsheimer

I think the course has to be fulltime. I'm not really sure if they will consider a FETAC course but I'd lean towards a no. Are you in a position to do a masters? A masters makes you eligible for the one year J1.

lil_lisa

USIT are advertising the FETAC course here however you have to have started the course already. I'm not sure how long the courses are but if its only one year, you can take the visa up to 12 months after graduating.

iMax

You could aways go to Canada for a weekend every 2.5 months

lonestargirl

iMax wrote: »

You could aways go to Canada for a weekend every 2.5 months

No he can't, travel to Mexico or Canada does not re-start the VWP clock. Back-to-back visits will raise suspicion after a while, you are not allowed to live in the US on the VWP.

Orange69

SG_Lover wrote: »

I go to New York alot. I have an Aunt that moved there 30 years ago and married an American and they're kids are my age 26. I love going to visit. I first went on a J1 in 2005 and then 2006 and i go back every year. I have friends, and know my way around by now. Its like my second home. Recently i've met someone who i really like there and i miss her. But i find it frustrating that i can't even get a 1 year visa for the states. I have an honors degree now and would love to find an opportunity over there to use it. I know that there is now an extended J-1 but im out of college 3 years now and i dont think im eligible.
I was thinking about doing a part time course in Graphic Design here because its something im really interested in and i hear you can get a 1 year visa if you do a FETAC course ( so it would be a two birds, one stone situation). Does anyone know if you have to start the course or do a year of it before i could get this VISA?
I really would never go to the states illegally for fear of being banned and i still love travelling there to see my family so i'd never ruin it.
I find myself alot happier in life when im there.
And every year i apply for the green card visa.
If anyone could advise me of ways to get a visa for a year or longer any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

The US immigration system is broken on pretty much every level. Your best options are to apply for the DV lottery every year or persuade this girl to marry you. Otherwise you will need to go through the long painful process of trying to find a H1B sponsor and then getting a green card via employment. Can take up to 10 years.

I have been in the US for the past 3 years on J1 and now H1B, its not an enjoyable process.

Stinicker

You can get a B1/B2 Visa from the Embassy in Dublin that will allow you a 6 month holiday in the United States, this would allow you to spend time with her at least, maybe then try to get her to marry you

lonestargirl

Stinicker wrote: »

You can get a H1/B1 Visa from the Embassy in Dublin that will allow you a 6 month holiday in the United States, this would allow you to spend time with her at least, maybe then try to get her to marry you

It's a B2 visitor visa, on another immigration forum I read there are many people people reporting denial of these due to not being able to prove enough ties to home, a US girlfriend is probably bad in this situation (most of these are through the London embassy). It seems retired people who want to spend 6 months in Florida get one ok but that they can be picky with younger people - maybe partly because the concept of long holidays or a career break is so alien to them.

Stinicker

lonestargirl wrote: »

It's a B2 visitor visa, on another immigration forum I read there are many people people reporting denial of these due to not being able to prove enough ties to home, a US girlfriend is probably bad in this situation (most of these are through the London embassy). It seems retired people who want to spend 6 months in Florida get one ok but that they can be picky with younger people - maybe partly because the concept of long holidays or a career break is so alien to them.

Yes you are right it is a B1/B2 visa for a 6 month holiday to the US my bad! I got one of these in May as I was afraid I would be denied entry to the United States as part of a 3 day stopover enroute from Sydney to London in the final leg of my Round the World trip this summer.

I was given a grilling in my last visit there in 2008 and they were reckoning I did not have enough ties to home for the Visa Waiver Programme as I was unemployed at the time in 2008 and to them I probably looked like an illegal immigrant as a single 21 year old male travelling on my own and eventually they admitted me "on the benefit of the doubt" after about a 30 minute interview in an office and told me to get a visa unless my future circumstances changed.

Fast forward to 2010 and I found myself unemployed again and went for the visa as I did not want to go through the same interrogation again in LAX as I faced in Shannon in 2008.

I took my bank accounts to prove my financial situation and some utility bills and my bank loan of €3k which I had got for to pay for the RTW trip, I also had my trip booked and was travelling with friends so my visa was granted without a hitch and it was issued for 10 years but expires toghether with my passport in 2017 and I can spend upto 6 months at a time as a tourist in the USA but obviously not work, the B1 element of it also allows me to do business and attend meetings and conferences in the country

cheesehead

The following linked article speaks of potential help for US visa seekers. I'm not sure the time-frame will help you, but at least some interested parties are attempting to improve Irish nationals chances for legal work in the US. It's to the US' detriment not to allow incredibly qualified Irish immigrants a chance to work in the US. Hopefully some forward-thinking politicians will push this agenda when the 112th US Congress begins session in January 2011.

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Call-for-Irish-to-get-unused-Aussie-E3-visas-to-US--111253254.html

lonestargirl

cheesehead wrote: »

The following linked article speaks of potential help for US visa seekers. I'm not sure the time-frame will help you, but at least some interested parties are attempting to improve Irish nationals chances for legal work in the US. It's to the US' detriment not to allow incredibly qualified Irish immigrants a chance to work in the US. Hopefully some forward-thinking politicians will push this agenda when the 112th US Congress begins session in January 2011.

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Call-for-Irish-to-get-unused-Aussie-E3-visas-to-US--111253254.html

It's a potential step forward but, like Orange69, I wouldn't like to be on a non-immigrant visa longterm. There is no security and if you loose your job you loose the life you have built up for yourself. My husband and I are in training programs that have 5 years left in them and are realtively secure in the short-term we'll probably head back to Ireland when we are finished.

cheesehead

lonestargirl (Don't mess with Texas!): US' loss is Ireland's (and Canada/Australia/etc..) gain. I'm assuming you and your spouse carry advanced degrees and are in some type of Residency/Fellowship/Post-Doc type work and yet, as you say, you start to "put down some roots" and there is no security on the back-end.

As Orange69 states above - the system is broken and it's bewildering to me as to why. Anecdotally, many an Irishman from my father's generation who were looking to make their way in America (1950's and 1960's) were able to "pick their work" in NYC. Many a man turned down the NYPD and NYFD to take more lucrative union jobs. Beside being incredibly productive in their own right, their children often went on to become leaders across the spectrum of US society. As the Irish-American song "When New York was Irish" goes: "We started with nothing and ended up with it all...."

SG Lover, as Orange69 points out above, either way it looks like you have to take a knee: In prayer (that you hit the Visa Lottery) or in proposal.

Best of luck.

dave2pvd

cheesehead wrote: »

Anecdotally, many an Irishman from my father's generation who were looking to make their way in America (1950's and 1960's) were able to "pick their work" in NYC. Many a man turned down the NYPD and NYFD to take more lucrative union jobs. Beside being incredibly productive in their own right, their children often went on to become leaders across the spectrum of US society. As the Irish-American song "When New York was Irish" goes: "We started with nothing and ended up with it all...."

cheesehead, the times have changed. There is a world full of qualified potential immigrants out there. Ireland no longer has favored-nation status. I don't see that this is America's loss. Unless somehow Irish people make better immigrants than, say, Chinese, German, Korean, Kenyan, Mexican, and so on. Alas, we don't have some kind of magic ingredient that makes that so. Especially when legal immigrants are screened in a way that examines qualifications. The US just gets to take its pick of the best.

lonestargirl

dave2pvd wrote: »

Especially when legal immigrants are screened in a way that examines qualifications. The US just gets to take its pick of the best.

I agree with you that there is no justification for Irish people to get preferential treatment. However current US immigration policy is very much family based, immediate family members are guaranteed green cards (I know there a long waits in some categories). I have a route to a green card once my US citizen child turns 21, in no way would my qualifications come into play in this regard. This is very different to the way Oz and Canada approach immigration.

dave2pvd

lonestargirl wrote: »

I agree with you that there is no justification for Irish people to get preferential treatment. However current US immigration policy is very much family based, immediate family members are guaranteed green cards (I know there a long waits in some categories). I have a route to a green card once my US citizen child turns 21, in no way would my qualifications come into play in this regard. This is very different to the way Oz and Canada approach immigration.

I agree with you. The system needs some serious overhaul.

cheesehead

I agree dave2pvd - the system is broken. I'm in no way advocating the Irish should have preferential treatment over those other immigrant groups you list, but the fact an extremely well-qualified candidate whose mother-tongue is English can barely sniff an opportunity in the US is complete madness (and, again, is our loss).

I know this is not the political board, so I'll end my participation in this thread. My hope remains the overhaul you advocate becomes reality.

Best of luck to all those seeking the "American Dream". Hopefully it's not been completely extinguished for the Irish.

rockonollie

unfair or not, the US' responsibility is to it's citizens and not people who want to move here. Especially now that unemployment is so high here. If a citizen has a relationship with a non-citizen, they can get a visa because that US wants that citizen to be able to live in the US.......if you have no connection to a US citizen and don't offer high level skills to the workforce, why should the US government make it easy for you to come and add to the millions already struggling to find work.

It's unfortunate, and considering how immigrants built this country, it's unfair, but right now it's totally understandable.