General questions about moving to the US

[gwenny 0]

So the situation at the moment is this: I live in Canada, my boyfriend lives in the US. He has a job and can support me, at the moment I do not have a job in the States but I am looking.

We have discussed marriage as a means to dual citizenship for me, but we would prefer to explore other options first. Let's say we do choose to get married. Would I be able to move to him and be able to stay with him beyond the 6 month visit period while my visa/citizenship processes? How long does it usually take?

Would it be fine to head over to the States and then get a job, or should I make sure to have one first? I ask this because I have searched for years for work out of province, and having been unsuccessful I feel that it would be much easier to get a job somewhere if I am already in that place.

What if I am self-employed, how would that work in terms of immigration? I have a hobby that brings in some money, not enough to support me on its own but enough to contribute to the support my boyfriend will provide me.

Thanks for any info/help.

[gwenny 0]

Oh, another thing I forgot to ask is what if I find a job, but it's an unpaid internship or volunteer work? Can I still get a visa and stay in the States that way? In my field (biology/zoology) people generally have to get a lot of unpaid experience before they can get a paying job.

[Ontarkie 14,228]

~~Moved to What Visa Do I Need, from US Citizenship General Discussion - As the OP learning and exploring her options.~~

[A'n'L 735]

If you opt for a visa as a fiancé (K1) or spouse (CR1), your job situation is unimportant.

You may not move to the US before your visa us granted, but you can visit like before (expect some additional scrutiny at the border).

A CR1 visa takes about a year to process. The benefits to this visa is that you immediately are granted a green card and can start working.

A K1 visa takes 6-8 months, and after arriving in the US you must marry your fiancé and apply for a green card. That will take additional time to process. You can not work until you've been granted a work permit, which will take 3-4 months after entry/marriage.

Another route is through a work permit. That'smore difficult, since you need to find an employer willing to sponsor you.

Having immigrant intent, an internship visa is probably not available to you.

Also, please note that immigrating to the US and obtaining citizenship are separate processes. Depending on your marital status, it will be 3 or 5 years until you are eligible for citizenship.

[chiggins82 88]

Sounds like you need to take a look at the options and timelines, pros and cons for each. For me, we knew the likelihood of getting a work visa was slim and we weren't ready to marry before filing, so we went the K1 route. It was faster than CR1, a little more expensive and I had to be ready to not work for a while.

If your line of work qualifies for a TN visa, you might want to look into that. Much easier to obtain so long as you qualify. My job didn't and a lawyer told me the HB1 visas we not easy to get and would require an employer to sponsor me, then wait for the application while holding a vacancy. Unless your job is pretty specialized or you have good connections with the employer, it could be a tough road.

But definitely do some research both on here and the government sites. Look at what you need to qualify, look at the costs and consider the timelines. Hope you find something that works for you