> Myself and my family have just visited Florida, and like most want to
> move there. My hubbie is a truck driver and we noticed loads of work
> available for him. We have 4 children and don't see much future for
> them here in Blighty. So now I need help on where to start.
> We are very serious about the move so anything you may think of could
> really help.
The most common route to living and working in the US is the H1-B which
is a sponsorship based visa that the employing company applies for on
the employees behalf, and it is usually given for technical or
engineering jobs.
It is quite an undertaking for an employer (lots of paperwork and a few
thousand dollars to process the application) so, although it is far from
impossible, it's pretty tough to find a company willing to sponsor -
particularly if you are applying from overseas.
Also, the H1-B is a temporary work visa that has a limit of six years so
is not something you could make long-terms plans on. Immigration intent
is permitted when applying for this visa, so if you were fortunate
enough to find a company that would later sponsor you for a Green Card
you could change status from H1 to a category of Green Card but again
this is not something you should bank on. Whilst on an H1, the visa
holder's dependants (spouse, children) are give H4 derivitive visas,
which unfortunately do not permit them to work (the children may attend
school if they are of that age).
To qualify for an H1-B, the applicant must possess a degree or, in the
abscence of that, 12 years of related work experience (3 years for each
missing degree year). Also, the H1-B is subject to yearly cap of 65,000
visas which has already been met for FY2006, so the earliest one can
apply for an H1 is April 2006 for an October 2006 start date.
Another option would be an H2 but that is a seasonal workers visa so not
one you would be interested in.
Yet another would be for you or your husband to get a job working for a
company in your home country that has a US office. That way you could
transfer over to the US on either a J or an L visa.
Hope this helps!
Dan
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