mike411

My childhood friend wants to visit the U.S. Early 30s with a 2 year old boy and a wife living in Hong Kong. He lives in mainland Guangzhou.

He is in the process migrating to HK. He wants to visit all the spots and his sister in NY for about 3 weeks. He is thinking Las Vegas, LA, SF, then NY.

What advise should I give him?

I wouldn't believe everything you read.

I know nursing and teaching job forecasts are based on population growth and not on school and hospital plans.

I work combining #2 and #67.

Wait to start after you return from vacation. 1 month of experience doesn't mean jack and I wouldn't call it professional.

What is the big deal! It obvious to me and will be to your employer that the vacation is more important and that is not accepted in this culture.

Tell them the vacation was planned for months before or doing for family commitment. Don't let them know you haven't purchased airline ticket yet.

You can't take more than 2 weeks in most jobs. I had problems when I took 3 weeks off for my 1st born. Management took actions to punish me. I survived but not good for my long term growth.

I know IT is booming in the US but to get employed in under a month so soon after EAD gives me hope before I move, I'm DV winner and my interview is mid 2015 and hoping to move permanently to the US early 2016

I also work in IT but on the network administration/engineering side with 10 years of experience plus in addition to my B. Tech degree, Cisco certs, Comptia certs, VCP5, ITIL etc and studying for my MSc in network security.

My question is did you limit your search to a particular region/state or did you cast a wide net nationwide in your job search?

Do you believe that your experience at the company HQ in the US played a huge role in being successful in getting employed?

Did any of the interviewers raise any questions on you being an immigrant to the US?

Can you recommend any other sources you used in your job search..

Thanks in advance..

IT is not booming. They are asking for lots of knowledge and experience for less pay than 10 years ago because they can.

Getting one to hire you before you actually have legal work status is difficult. Security and process certs are much more valuable than technical certs now. 150k+ CCIEs are in the past.

If you can be anywhere, then I would open it up to the whole U.S. There are many good jobs in the Washington DC area.

HQ has no value, but big company names do. They asked if I was legal to work, but that's usually done with HR and not the interviewer. It may come up if you have foreign experiences and accent.

Have agents to help because you need some involvement from their legal department.

One big thing I see is to let them know they are not paying for relocation. This is one item I crossed many times. If a company that is not budgeted for it, it will not pursue you when they think you are not local.

I would post resume on the job sites and open/unhidden it so recruiters can find your resume. You should apply for what you see at the same time. There are tons of companies out there that will not deal with recruiters.

They will start calling you to ask for what you are looking for mainly to get keywords. I like recruiters because they already have a foot in the door to companies that have weak HR and can help your negotiation.

You should not have a problem if you are legal to work in the U.S. regardless of immigration status. They will back off if you need their legal department to get involved.

I am direct and honest in all my interviews. Ask about the position and challenges and provide some thoughts to what you want to do if you were hired. I usually talk about personal things near the end of the interview such as my family and interests. When I feel good about the interview and position, I usually get an offer.

Another site is DIce.com. I use it because Monster is very expensive to the recruiters.

What else do they expect from China? There is lots of money there and they want to share the wealth. You can't take part if you have no power.

Most of the secret billionaires in China are politicians. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I talked with my wife before we got married that we wanted kids. Now we have a boy.

My friend just assumed his wife also wanted kids because she "likes kids" from his observations. It's been over 2.5 years in the U.S. and she is still not ready yet.

My wife's view is that if not happening within the 1st couple of years, she is not having a baby with him.

I think there is definitely a risk. What do you think?

Companies looking for you to get a DoD security clearance will not hire you because you are not a citizen. It's a costly process and your risk of not getting approve is high as hell.

I think you will have to put 0 from line 22 and get co-sponsor. Your husband's income doesn't count unless he can show his income will continue in the U.S.

Looks like you need a sponsor because your husband's 1040s did not meet the requirement. Do you have money in bank accounts or other assets to fill the gap?

I don't see how they can let you pass by only looking at your husband's current pay stubs.

You mail it in, they send you a NOA letter extending your GC expiration date 1 year (3-5 days), you get another letter for biometrics appointment (2-3 weeks), you show up for biometrics (1-2 weeks), nothing happens until approval (4-5 months), letter of approval, new green card (7 days later)

RFEs and interview will change everything...

I would call them immediately. The Bio appointment date is usually around 1 month after NOA.

That is tough... it all depends who is reviewing your package...

I sent in bank statements 3 month back

No W2 for my tax returns

Copy of her drivers license

You can add names to bank accounts or open no-interest accounts at most national banks with a foreign passport. (done it with Wells Fargo and Bank of America in CA)

You have work to do! You need more...

Get a couple of credit cards - add her as authorized user

Both names on the savings account

Print a lease agreement from the web and have your mom sign it

Evidence of car purchase from your money to her name

Joint tax returns

Affidavits from family and friends (his and hers)

Write a letter from you explaining the progression of your relationship and future plans

They are looking for evidence that YOU trust your husband. Mixing finance shows you trust him. That includes putting your credit on the line, retirement accounts, investment accounts, and bank accounts. Add her as the beneficiary if you can't add to the account.

I didn't change any of my utility bills after my wife arrived. My wife receiving a bill does nothing without mixing finance.

Address on the drivers license, bank, cover page of magazines, and credit card statements was enough. We didn't try to send junk mail.

I send only the summary page with our names and account balance. I don't think length matters much because I have a friend that received a request from USCIS demanding him to add his wife's name to his accounts and send in prove before she was approved.

It's time to try another browser or another computer. Call them if everything fails..

I think it's U.S. banks only.

Update

MIKE411...............12/28/13......12/30/13......01/27/14......05/09/14 (biometrics walk-in on 01/29/14. GC received 5/16/14)

The dates are not important. USCIS told my friend to co-mingling their finances and they did everything that was asked in a week. USCIS was fine with that..

Looks like if you can't trust your spouse to co-mingle finances, they won't either.

You can search the Timelines and see how much time others are taking for your location.

What is the the last paperwork you submitted? You submitted I-864 and pay the IV bill yet?

If that's done, then you are moving quick. You should get interview date within 2 week.

Your husband will need to bring all original docs you submitted PLUS lots of photos. I don't know what else you need since you two lived together.

Choose Files and select Choose Existing

Use the tool in Photo Standard Guide

Do it yourself! You have everything you need here and people with experience answering questions and concern as you go.

My friend hired a lawyer, but the person doing all the work was the assistant. They just help filling out documents and the go between on everything and delaying everything.

I agree with ExExpat.

Sending money needs explanation. The CO is looking out for the American and make sure they are not being scammed. So money receipt without explanation is not good.

I would submit a letter describing how you two met and the development of the relationship to K1.

I filed DS-230.. wish I had the electronic version .

They will tell you when case is completed! I didn't get anything about the affidavit of support.