Briton in USA- Need help please

[andrewjk]

Hi

I'm a British citizen and currently in residing in Colorado. I am here using an ESTA which is a waiver which means I can stay here for 90 days without a visa. The problem is I want to stay in the USA and settle, as I have started dating an American, but am having problems getting a Visa either to work or remain here simply living off my funds.

Can anyone give me advice on which visas I could be eligible for please and can I do it in the USA or would I have to fly back to England?

Thanks in advance

 

[Baruch Menachem]

You can talk to a lawyer for 150 who will tell you all you need to know. US Immigration law is very very very complicated. And the department that you will be dealing with looks with a great deal of disdain at folks who immigrate for love.

If you have a visa as a dependent of a US citizen, you can work. (That is, as a spouse.) They generally are very fussy about these visas, so pregnancy is your best option there. Of course, with the US jobs situation (about 20% real unemployment) and very hot feelings toward immigrants these days actually getting the job even with the visa will be hard. So pregnancy is a very bad idea. If you don't have insurance, the delivery costs $9,000 or so.

Again, spend the money on a lawyer. The law here is such a minefield that depending on a newsgroup poster will get you deported and PNGd forever.

 

[Foxfyre]

Hi

I'm a British citizen and currently in residing in Colorado. I am here using an ESTA which is a waiver which means I can stay here for 90 days without a visa. The problem is I want to stay in the USA and settle, as I have started dating an American, but am having problems getting a Visa either to work or remain here simply living off my funds.

Can anyone give me advice on which visas I could be eligible for please and can I do it in the USA or would I have to fly back to England?

Thanks in advance

The immigration rules and regs have had rapidly moving goal posts ever since 9/11, Andrew, so I'm nowhere near as up on it as I used to be.

I know that an ESTA could not be extended in the past, but the rules re ESTAs have also changed and I don't know whether that is still the cast. The ESTA website is here and might help. There is a lot of information when you click on the HELP link just under the first graphic:

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta....89BA889_k77ACE464-526E-595C-1933-811120E4C846

And excellent information here:
Frequently Asked Questions about the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) and the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) - CBP.gov

If you could obtain a Visa, I know those are extendable under certain circumstances, and it might be worth your while to see if you can get one. The rules used to be pretty tight on that too, though, and it was tough to get a Visa unless you were in your home country with demonstratable ties there and generally a paying job. (This was so you wouldn't be tempted to stay here. )

Some other information here:

Practical travel information on Visas in USA - Lonely Planet Travel Information

I didn't see anything that specifically dealt with extensions or expiration of an ESTA though it did seem to be valid for 2 years, not 90 days? Don't take my word for that though. Verify through a credible source and preferably get it in writing.

And if you do want to stay here permanently, here's where you start working on getting your green card:

USCIS - Green Card

Your best bet is to check with your Embassy or our Embassy or Immigration Services or some such. The British Consulate in DC is a good place to start though:

British Consulate
3100 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 588 6500
Our embassy

 

[Uncensored2008]

Hi

I'm a British citizen and currently in residing in Colorado. I am here using an ESTA which is a waiver which means I can stay here for 90 days without a visa. The problem is I want to stay in the USA and settle, as I have started dating an American, but am having problems getting a Visa either to work or remain here simply living off my funds.

Can anyone give me advice on which visas I could be eligible for please and can I do it in the USA or would I have to fly back to England?

Thanks in advance

Are you a Muslim?

If so, you're in!

Are you college educated? If so, you have no chance.

Sorry, uneducated and radical is the way we like our immigrants.

 

[Angelhair]

Listen to uncensored2008. Let's not forget poor so that they can live off the american taxpayer.

 

[Mr. H.]

Why not just marry your sig other?
Wouldn't that guarantee you an "in"?

 

[Foxfyre]

Why not just marry your sig other?
Wouldn't that guarantee you an "in"?

Give the poor guy a break. He only has 90 days. Mr. Foxfyre and I were engaged within the first 90 days, but it took a whole six months to get to the wedding.

 

[California Girl]

Hi

I'm a British citizen and currently in residing in Colorado. I am here using an ESTA which is a waiver which means I can stay here for 90 days without a visa. The problem is I want to stay in the USA and settle, as I have started dating an American, but am having problems getting a Visa either to work or remain here simply living off my funds.

Can anyone give me advice on which visas I could be eligible for please and can I do it in the USA or would I have to fly back to England?

Thanks in advance

Yea. Leave. We have don't have enough jobs to be taking in Brits. TIA

 

[Ernie S.]

Fly to DC and grab a cab to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I hear there is someone there that can fix you up with a fake birth certificate.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Why not just marry your sig other?
Wouldn't that guarantee you an "in"?

Actually, no. There has been enough abuse that They crack down on it and it is not an automatic in.

 

[Toro]

Check out to see if you are eligible for an H1-B visa.

If you are here for more than six months without a proper authority, you can be barred from the country for 3 years. More than one year, barred for 10 years. So make sure you are doing everything above board.

 

[andrewjk]

Thanks to those who posted helpful replies and will look into the comments and links provided I am here legally and just want to work legally, that's all.

I just find the whole process to come here extremely complicated.

 

[koshergrl]

Congratulations on dating an American. It has to be a step up.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Back in the day it was a lot easier. Hop on a boat and provided you were here. The first immigration controls were at Castle Island in NY and it was to protect immigrants from predators.

When Ellis Island went in, they added a bunch of regulations. No communicable diseases and no obvious insanity.

When PG Wodehouse made the first trip all he had to do was buy a ticket. By the time he decided to actually immigrate in 1950 things got really complicated. He had to fly to Montreal from NYC, apply for a visa there, then fly back to the same airport with his visa in hand and take the boat out to Ellis Island and spend the whole day there filling out forms and being subjected to inspections. He seems to have been more annoyed at the trip to Ellis Island than the whole 18 months he spent in a POW camp in Poland.

 

[Swagger]

Trapped behind enemy lines, eh, Andrew...

I jest, of course. No, I married one of 'em and the law over there isn't anywhere near as clear cut as it is in Blighty. Your best course of action would be to commission the services of a solicitor/lawyer (but ask our embassy for recommendations) and proceed with the information and advice they give you before showing-up and making your case anywhere official.

All the best.

 

[California Girl]

Thanks to those who posted helpful replies and will look into the comments and links provided I am here legally and just want to work legally, that's all.

I just find the whole process to come here extremely complicated.

It may have escaped your attention, but we haven't got enough jobs for our own citizens. This isn't fucking Europe, we don't just let anyone work legally. Try breaking the law and work without a permit.... the democrats will help you.

 

[koshergrl]

There is a shortage of housekeepers and yard workers, though. Go figure.

 

[Warrior102]

There should be a shovel-ready job available. Do you know how to dig ditches?

 

[koshergrl]

Ditch digging is now down by backhoes...

You have to have a cdl, a clean driving record and pass a drug test.

 

[Warrior102]

Ditch digging is now down by backhoes...

You have to have a cdl, a clean driving record and pass a drug test.

Well, the piss test will disqualify most dope-smoking Liberals.