what visa is best for my circumstance? J1 B1 or TN ?

[shalonsims 0]

Hello,

Thanks in advance for your help.

I'm a Canadian writer and editor, and I want to work temporarily in New York in publishing, to get some experience and get my foot in the door. I also just want to experience living in NYC for 6-12 months.

I have a bachelors degree and 5 years experience in working in communications.

Question 1: can I get a TN visa as a technical writer, or does that apply to traditional publishing? I do write technical documents for work.

Question 2: if I want to get an internship at a major publishing house, can I do this with a B1 visa?

Question 3: I want to avoid getting a J1 visa because it costs so much money. However I am eligible because I only graduated last year (I'm 37 and did my degree very slowly). So where is the cheapest place to get my J1 and is there any way to make it cheaper?

[Boiler 45,516]

1. Do not know

2. No

3. Cheap and US Visa's do not come together, get your Employer to pay for it.

Do you have a job lined up, was under the impression it is a difficult market to get into.

[shalonsims 0]

1. Do not know

2. No

3. Cheap and US Visa's do not come together, get your Employer to pay for it.

Do you have a job lined up, was under the impression it is a difficult market to get into.

Hi Boiler,

Thanks for your reply.

Regarding your response to Q.2, I am really confused about this one because I have heard very different things on the web. Here is a link to a site saying that you can work as an intern on a B1 visa: http://ed2010.com/generic/how-international-students-can-land-u-s-internships/quote: "If you’re taking on a 2-3 month unpaid internship for educational purposes, then the B-1/B-2 Visa is the best choice for you."

Do you have any link to a government document stating it is not legal to do an internship on a B1?

The only government-provided info on the B1 that I can find is this: http://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-visitors-business/b-1-temporary-business-visitor And nowhere does it state that you cannot do an internship on this visa.

Regarding your response to Q.3, in the J1 visa, your employer is not involved in the visa process. You go through a third party sponsor. You pay the cost of the visa process ( $400), plus the service fee of the third party sponsor (600-1500). In the publishing industry, unlike tech or hard sciences, as a rule internships are unpaid except for college credit or a very minimal travel stipend. Have you heard of an intern getting their J1 visa paid for by their employer, in publishing or otherwise?

It's true that it's a difficult market to get into, but there are literally thousands of internship opportunities in New York because it's the tradition of the industry. As a mature recent graduate with over 10 years experience writing professionally, I have a better chance than most 24 year old recent graduates. Except for the fact that I'm Canadian.

Thank you for your help answering my questions.

Edited February 2, 2015 by shalonsims

[Boiler 45,516]

There is all sorts of things you can not do on a B.

Healy and Goodchild may be a relevant case.

To work in the US you need work authorisation, that can come in many ways but not through a B.

You mentioned that in your field that interns are not usually paid or if so not very much. I was thinking in IT I have seen people quite well paid on a J.

I do not know what you are doing. For example volunteering in a soup kitchen would fall under B2, not a task that is normally paid no matter what, I would think what you are looking at is usually paid. They just like having people around for free.

I would imagine it would be difficult to suggest what you do is training under a B1, a clearer example is you need to train on a particular product which you would sell or service in Canada.

Edited February 2, 2015 by Boiler