What kind of visa would he/we need?

[infin8te 0]

Hello,

We are a family of 2 adults and 2 children. I am a British citizen and my husband has several passports including Dutch and Brazilian but grew up in Israel. We are currently living in London, UK.

He has recently started working for an American company that has a UK office. The headquarters are in the US (New York).

We would like to find out about emigrating to the US - presumably the only way we could do this is via a work visa? He has been told that the company would be prepared to move him to the US office and apply for his visa etc.

What I would like to find out is;

1) What visa he would initially have to apply for?

2) What are the conditions of this visa (can he only work for this specific company and if he loses his job would we have to return to the UK)?

3) Is this an initial starting point to getting a green card?

4) What rights would me and the children have in the States as spouse/children of someone there on a work visa?

5) Would we be able to purchase property if we are not citizens but on a temporary visa?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[kzielu 1,147]

1. None - his company will apply for a visa for him. Either L-1 or H-1B.

2. Yes - he will only be able to work for company that sponsored him for a visa. Both are temporary working visas and have nothing really to do with permanent residency.

3. Not really. Employment based green card is a separate process.

4. If he gets L1, you can be issued L-2 and apply for EAD which will allow you to work. On H-1B, you will get H-4, no work allowed.

5. Sure.

[Andrea&Henry 311]

Hi! Well according to my family experience: my uncle, my aunt and my 2 cousins, came to America 11 years ago with my uncle's working visa. He did not apply, his company applied for him and his family. Normally when a worker is transfer to another country is because he is not gonna get fired easily, actually my uncle signed some sort of protection so he cannot loose his job unless he do something very bad or commit some crime. The other thing is, he was the only one allowed to work. My aunt and cousins can go to school, got a drivers license, etc but they couldn't work. After 5 years being a working visa holders they could applied for their green card. This was 5 years ago, so they are now applying for their citizenship. And yes you can buy properties, cars etc etc

[JohnR! 5,495]

1) What visa he would initially have to apply for?

2) What are the conditions of this visa (can he only work for this specific company and if he loses his job would we have to return to the UK)?

3) Is this an initial starting point to getting a green card?

4) What rights would me and the children have in the States as spouse/children of someone there on a work visa?

5) Would we be able to purchase property if we are not citizens but on a temporary visa?

1 - Quite possibly they are speaking of a H1B visa, which is considered a temporary work visa. Your husband would not apply for the visa, so much as his company, here in the US would initiate the process. Companies oftentimes have lawyers on retainer for that purpose.

2 - These temporary visas as conditional to his employment with the company that applied for the visa. In some instance he would be able to change jobs but he would need to find a local company in the US willing to sponsor him and take over the responsibilities associated with the visa. Although this seems quite simple, many companies have contractual clauses that would prohibit someone from doing so, for obvious reasons. If the company were to lay him off they would be responsible to repatriate him to the UK.

3 - In a way, yes. It is all a matter of employment time. So if your husband were to stick with the company in the US for a few years he might end up as a resident, as would you and the children.

4 - I am not sure I understand what you mean by 'rights' but you and the children would be able to live in the US as long as his visa is valid. Chances are you will not be allowed to work, though.

5 - Yes you would be able to buy property.

Good luck!!

[infin8te 0]

Thank you for your replies! Very helpful indeed.

After how many years working in the same job would he be able to apply for a green card?

Edited March 27, 2013 by infin8te

[JohnR! 5,495]

Thank you for your replies! Very helpful indeed.

After how many years working in the same job would he be able to apply for a green card?

I believe it he needs to maintain the H1B visa for 5 or 6 years before he can apply for a permanent green card.

[kzielu 1,147]

Thank you for your replies! Very helpful indeed.

After how many years working in the same job would he be able to apply for a green card?

None. There is no relationship between length of work and there is no amount of time of working on a work visa that would make him eligible to apply for a green card on his own.

He needs to be petitioned by employer and that is completely independent from his work visa, although employers tend to do that after having worked for a while on a work visa.

To summarize it - his visa runs out and he did not get petitioned for GC, he goes home. He can get petitioned for GC even now if he finds employer willing to do that. He cannot "apply" for GC either now or in 5 years.

One more thing - window for H-1B applications opens April 1st, visas will be given out starting October 1st, but since there is cap on them, likely in a few days there will no H-1B left and you will have to wait until next year.

[infin8te 0]

None. There is no relationship between length of work and there is no amount of time of working on a work visa that would make him eligible to apply for a green card on his own.

He needs to be petitioned by employer and that is completely independent from his work visa, although employers tend to do that after having worked for a while on a work visa.

To summarize it - his visa runs out and he did not get petitioned for GC, he goes home. He can get petitioned for GC even now if he finds employer willing to do that. He cannot "apply" for GC either now or in 5 years.

One more thing - window for H-1B applications opens April 1st, visas will be given out starting October 1st, but since there is cap on them, likely in a few days there will no H-1B left and you will have to wait until next year.

Thanks for this info.

He will not apply this year as he has been told by his company that he needs to have worked there for 1 year before they can apply on his behalf (he started work at end of January 2013 and has not even passed his 6 month "probationary" period yet). I suppose the next opportunity to apply would be around this time next year?

[kzielu 1,147]

Thanks for this info.

He will not apply this year as he has been told by his company that he needs to have worked there for 1 year before they can apply on his behalf (he started work at end of January 2013 and has not even passed his 6 month "probationary" period yet). I suppose the next opportunity to apply would be around this time next year?

If they require him to work for a year, then it likely will be going for L-1 visa which is not subject to cap and can be applied for at any time (provided beneficiary meets 1 year of work criteria) - I came to US on L-1 visa actually.

[Boiler 45,314]

L1 for him, L2 for you and children.

[Darnell 8,478]

ya, intercompany transfer thingie (L1) is much easier to chase after than a H1-B visa.

Regardless - is all handled by the company and the company's attorney.