EB3 visa Questions?

[ninny_poo]

Hi All,
I have spent the last few years looking into E2 visa etc etc blah blah blah and other ways that I might be eligiable to enter the US (to no avail) and tonight (after a period of not looking as it fries my head to much) I started reading about the EB3 visa....... I had never heard of it before and can't seem to find the answers I am looking for anywhere else on the web.
Please could someone simplfy the process for me?
My questions are these.....

Say I was to get a job offer in the US would I then have to wait 2-6 years for the visa to be approved?
And in that time would I be waiting back in the UK or would I be working for that employer (somehow) under a different visa?
Would I need to already be in the US on a different visa and get a change of status to apply for the job and if so which one?

I know these question are confusing. I confuse myself at times but any feed back would be gratefully appreciated.

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by ninny_poo

Hi All,
I have spent the last few years looking into E2 visa etc etc blah blah blah and other ways that I might be eligiable to enter the US (to no avail) and tonight (after a period of not looking as it fries my head to much) I started reading about the EB3 visa....... I had never heard of it before and can't seem to find the answers I am looking for anywhere else on the web.
Please could someone simplfy the process for me?
My questions are these.....

Say I was to get a job offer in the US would I then have to wait 2-6 years for the visa to be approved?
And in that time would I be waiting back in the UK or would I be working for that employer (somehow) under a different visa?
Would I need to already be in the US on a different visa and get a change of status to apply for the job and if so which one?

I know these question are confusing. I confuse myself at times but any feed back would be gratefully appreciated.

It needs to be a legitimate and real job offer from a company in the U.S. who wants to sponsor you for a permanent position in order to pursue residency through that job offer, and you must intend to work there when the green card is approved.

It's a 3-stage process: PERM labor certification, employer filing an employment-based immigrant petition (Form I-140) with the USCIS, beneficiary of approved PERM application filing application for adjustment of status (I-485).

The beneficiary’s dependent family members (spouse and children) may also file concurrent applications for adjustment of status.

The catch is as you noted: you need to wait until priority date becomes current before the AOS can be filed -- a wait of many years.

You probably need an experienced lawyer if you're going to use this as a back-up route. There are pitfalls everywhere.

[ninny_poo]

Thanks for the response Fatbrit

I was wondering if you could break that down slightly (by my own addmission I can be quite slow, especially early in the morning)

Hypothetically speaking, I get a job in the US but I am in the UK and have no legal visa allowing me to enter the US and start the job. Do I wait 2-6 years (which seems ludicrous as surely my new employer will just find someone else)? Or am I seriously missing something here?

Thought it may help if I gave you a bit of info about me.

I am a Drug Rehabilitation Support Worker working for a Christian charity here in the UK. I have only had on the job training and experience but I have been looking into getting a degree as an addictions counsellor recently.

[ninny_poo]

one other thought..... could I start work under an H2B visa and apply for an AOS from there??

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by ninny_poo

Thanks for the response Fatbrit

I was wondering if you could break that down slightly (by my own addmission I can be quite slow, especially early in the morning)

Hypothetically speaking, I get a job in the US but I am in the UK and have no legal visa allowing me to enter the US and start the job. Do I wait 2-6 years (which seems ludicrous as surely my new employer will just find someone else)? Or am I seriously missing something here?

Thought it may help if I gave you a bit of info about me.

I am a Drug Rehabilitation Support Worker working for a Christian charity here in the UK. I have only had on the job training and experience but I have been looking into getting a degree as an addictions counsellor recently.

Yep -- you wait it out in the UK unless you can find some other way to live over here legally. I don't think US immigration law knows the word ludicrous, I'm afraid. This method is unusual precisely because of its ludicrousness -- it's really only going to work with a mate holding the door open for you at the other end. Note that if the company or your job goes before you get the visa, that's the end of it.

BTW, in your case, your wouldn't file for final stage AOS but rather for an immigrant visa to the Consulate. I'd assumed you were already here in a non-immigrant visa capacity.

You would not attempt this path without competent legal counsel.

A degree is probably a must for counseling, but for a more minor job in the field such as behavioral health tech, possible not.

[ninny_poo]

GGGRRRRRR, what's the point in a pointless visa like that

That is ludicrous!!

I am right in saying that you cannot change status from an M, F visa or an E2 to an EB3? Those would really be the only ones that would I would ever be eligiable for and although I have assets cannot see the E2 as a viable risk.

What the other visa eligible for change of status to EB3?

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by ninny_poo

GGGRRRRRR, what's the point in a pointless visa like that

That is ludicrous!!

I am right in saying that you cannot change status from an M, F visa or an E2 to an EB3? Those would really be the only ones that would I would ever be eligiable for and although I have assets cannot see the E2 as a viable risk.

What the other visa eligible for change of status to EB3?

How could you support yourself for a decade in the US on an F visa? You'd be talking half a million bucks or more! Still you should be a PhD by the end of it and have little trouble finding a sponsor.

[ninny_poo]

Originally Posted by Fatbrit

How could you support yourself for a decade in the US on an F visa? You'd be talking half a million bucks or more! Still you should be a PhD by the end of it and have little trouble finding a sponsor.

Oh God No, I don't have half a million bucks or wish to study for 10 years!!!

Oh well, like I said in my OP I had just stumbled across this visa catergory and wanted to find out more about it...... guess its not the one for me.

Thanks for the input Fatbrit

[RICHNTRISH]

Hi Ninnipoo,
Whats putting you off of the E2 visa ? , just curious as im hoping to apply for one soon myself . I know what you mean about all these visa's and how they seem to be totally impossible to apply for and simply trying to read up about them just ties your brain in knots !
Seems to me the only real way to get in is if you are a pennyless lesbian trapist monk from a far away land nobody has heard off ! Brits dont even qualify for the Green card lottery , wheres the special relationship ?
Richard.

[ninny_poo]

Originally Posted by RICHNTRISH

Hi Ninnipoo,
Whats putting you off of the E2 visa ? , just curious as im hoping to apply for one soon myself . I know what you mean about all these visa's and how they seem to be totally impossible to apply for and simply trying to read up about them just ties your brain in knots !
Seems to me the only real way to get in is if you are a pennyless lesbian trapist monk from a far away land nobody has heard off ! Brits dont even qualify for the Green card lottery , wheres the special relationship ?
Richard.

Hi Richard,
I know what you mean about the 'special relationship'. It can really bug the hell out of meat times if I focus on it to much. I am trying to practice acceptance around that's just how it is and stop trying to change the visa's (in my head of course) to fit round my life and perhaps consider that I need to start changing my life to fit round the visa's.

On to the E2....I spent a lot of time (about 3 years) looking into it and finding out as much as possible from people who had done it. I heard a lot of negatives and still wanted to do it ('it will be different for me' syndrome)
I don't know, maybe it was a moment of clarity that stopped me in the end. We had a business lined up to buy from a friend in AZ but when it came down to it the risks seemed to far outway the benefits.
We are mortgage free here in the UK and although we are not rolling in it being free of debt provides certain security and freedom. I could not justify taking such a huge risk with our money for a slight chance that we may be accepted, plus getting ourselves in to debt, medical expenses, schooling etc and having the constant worry that the visa may be taken away if the business fails. I guess in the end I had to put aside my longing to live in a country that feels like my real home and think with my head instead of my heart.
Don't get me wrong I would still jump at the chance to live there - tomorrow- but the so-called 'easy' option has to many pitfalls for me.

To anyone else, maybe you may have some positive experiences on the E2 to share with RichnTrish

Good luck