need visa advice urgent

christhesheep8

my girlfriend is irish but has an american passport too. she wants to move there for a year and me to go with her. the problem is i have no idea what i need to have/do to get a visa.

do i need a job over there before i go and what visas/forms are best for my situation.

any help would be great

Palmy

You will pretty much have to get Married to go live with her.There is No real visa's for what your looking at doing unless you have just finished a Degree in the past year and can get a j1 visa for a year.

silja

*** Moving from US Travel to USA (Living) for better answers ***

Since you say this is urgent I imagine she is planning to travel soon? There isn't a visa you can get quickly wqhich allows you both a year's stay and to work. You have several options:
- Travel to visit her on the visa waiver program, 90 days at a time, then come back to Ireland for 90 days. Can't work on that.
- Apply for a B2 Tourist visa, with the reason that you are co-habiting; takes 4-6 weeks to get. Can stay 6 months at a time and a reasonable chance of getting another 6 months extension, which would take you up to 12 months. Can't work, and likely won't be allowed back into the USA for a year or two after because you just spent a year there.
- Apply for a work visa. Need an employer to sponsor you, so it would take a while to get that sorted. Also need special skills, or a multi-national employer who can do an intra-company transfer.
- Would you like to continue studying? Go for an F1 student visa. Easy to get, only takes a month or two, but US college fees are expensive, you'd need to study full time and can only work 20 hours/ week on campus.
- Get married and apply for a CR-1 spousal visa. Get greencard upon entry, can work etc. But costs several thousand dollars in fees and takes 6+ months to get.

christhesheep8

so looking at that i need to get a job. she wants to go around november. i have no proper qualifications but alot of experience for a 23 year old.
but the visit and not work thing isn't really an option

silja

You aren't really going to get a job at 23 without a Masters that allows for a visa, sorry. If she truly only is going for one year, you may need to settle for a long distance relationship for that time.

cena

silja wrote: »

You aren't really going to get a job at 23 without a Masters that allows for a visa, sorry. If she truly only is going for one year, you may need to settle for a long distance relationship for that time.

You mean a degree is now good. None of my cousins over there have anything more that a degree

avalon68

cena wrote: »

You mean a degree is now good. None of my cousins over there have anything more that a degree

It's a lot easier with higher degrees. In any case I believe the h1b quota is gone for the year. My understanding is that you can't apply for one until next April, and then can't start work until November? So that won't help the op. marriage is probably the only realistic option, however, it's not one of the best reasons I can think of to get hitched . The USA is one of the more difficult countries to immigrate to. Would she consider Canada? Much easier than the us

silja

cena wrote: »

You mean a degree is now good. None of my cousins over there have anything more that a degree

How did your cousins get over there? If they went via a family visa or the DV lottery the degree does not matter. If you go via a work visa, the US employer needs to show that he cannot find a US citizen to do the job, which is very very difficult unless you have an advance degree. Maybe if you did IT and specialised in some very rare programming languages....

spideog7

silja wrote: »

cena wrote: »

You mean a degree is now good. None of my cousins over there have anything more that a degree

How did your cousins get over there? If they went via a family visa or the DV lottery the degree does not matter. If you go via a work visa, the US employer needs to show that he cannot find a US citizen to do the job, which is very very difficult unless you have an advance degree. Maybe if you did IT and specialised in some very rare programming languages....

There's no requirement for the employer to show they can't find a US citizen to do the job. There is something like that if they have a very high percentage of H visas but for normal companies they just have to show the foreign national is qualified. In fact they could turn down an equally qualified US citizen and give the job to he foreign national if they meet the min requirements for the position.

As was mentioned earlier though OP is very unlikely to get that without a degree and it wouldn't be until October 2013 at this stage.

cena

silja wrote: »

How did your cousins get over there? If they went via a family visa or the DV lottery the degree does not matter. If you go via a work visa, the US employer needs to show that he cannot find a US citizen to do the job, which is very very difficult unless you have an advance degree. Maybe if you did IT and specialised in some very rare programming languages....

They are americans. Should of said

Darren1o1

silja wrote: »

You aren't really going to get a job at 23 without a Masters that allows for a visa, sorry. If she truly only is going for one year, you may need to settle for a long distance relationship for that time.

This is simply not true. As defined by the US DOL

"What is the definition of a "specialty occupation"?
For purposes of the H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 programs, the Department's regulations define a specialty occupation as an occupation that requires theoretical and practical application of a body of specialized knowledge, and attainment of a bachelor's degree or higher degree (or its equivalent) in the specific specialty as a minimum for entry into the occupation in the United States."

silja

I maintain that in practical application, it is true.

avalon68

silja wrote: »

I maintain that in practical application, it is true.

I believe IT and engineering positions are the exception, and also some finance positions. Microsoft for example brings a huge number of people in every year with just a bachelors. In the sciences a phd would be necessary.

Darren1o1

silja wrote: »

I maintain that in practical application, it is true.

It is not. You can attain a H1b with experience alone. I believe they equate 4 years of applicable experience to 1 year of education and therefore with say 20 yrs exp you could be similar to a someone with a masters. Of course this all gets very messy and requires qualified reviewers etc. I will say getting a H1b with a bachelors in Engineering and IT mainly but I have seen it in sciences, finance and legal professions. It just depends on the specialty occupation and the DOL classification.

silja

Darren1o1 wrote: »

It is not. You can attain a H1b with experience alone. I believe they equate 4 years of applicable experience to 1 year of education and therefore with say 20 yrs exp you could be similar to a someone with a masters. .

Ah, there we do not disagree. The poster here is 23 years old though.

Darren1o1

silja wrote: »

Ah, there we do not disagree. The poster here is 23 years old though.

Which is why I have spoken in general terms. By making a blanket statement of requiring a masters it can be unhelpful without going into detail. While the OP is 23yrs young there are other who may find some use to the statement.