Canadian wants to be in the US

Hi...

I am a Canadian and would like to live in the states with my boyfriend. What's the easiest method? I work in a professional field and could get a job using an NT visa, but it seems so hard to get a job while in Canada.

Could I go on a tourist Visa for awhile to check out the area and make contacts while I'm there? How long can a Canadian stay in the states without a visa? With a visa? Thanks a lot. This is such a difficult process, it really is.

I can't really offer too much advice, as I've never lived in the states - But I know the job search sites in the Work Abroad section of this website (http://www.canuckabroad.com/overseasjobs/overseasjobs.shtml) have tonnes of jobs listed in the US. I think your best bet is to just apply to everyone that meets your criteriea (and even some that don't...yiou never know) and hopefully you'll get lucky.

As far as visa issues, perhaps one of the other members of the forum can offer you some advice.

Where in the US are you planning to move?

Good luck,
Matt

This link takes you to a yahoo group that SPECIFICALLY deals with immigration issues for canadians moving to the US.

It is moderated by a couple Canadian Immigration Lawyers who will give free advice.

If you are in the medical field, its really easy to get a work visa.

My experience (my wife is American) is that if you are planning to get married, do the fiance visa thing, don't wait until you are married and do the married visa thing. Best bet is to go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CaliforniaCanadians/ and ask there

if you can afford to come to the U.S without working initially (maybe you know someone you can stay with), you can enter the U.S for a max of 180 days (6 months) as a visitor, you dont need a visa....you could look for work then. get travel insurance though...i went through Blue Cross and it cost me about 425.00 for 6 months worth...if you dont use it all, you can get refunded on the days you didnt need it.

I opted not to go with the fiancee visa and rather come to the US knowing i can stay for 6 months. Does anyone have some advise as to how to look for work, knowing that i don't have the appropriate SSN or temp. working visa. How do employers view this? I have considerable experience in Restaurant Management and gave up an excellent career in Canada to be with my boyfriend in Texas. I know that employers can "sponser" employees to come to the US to work, but what happens when I am already living here?

[quote="Beverley"] Does anyone have some advise as to how to look for work, knowing that i don't have the appropriate SSN or temp. working visa. How do employers view this? I have considerable experience in Restaurant Management I know that employers can "sponser" employees to come to the US to work, but what happens when I am already living here?[/quote]

You look for a job the same way you would if you were in Canada keeping this in mind: your job HAS to require your professional (usually technical degree) to qualify for a TN visa. If this is the case then you apply for the job and when the company offers it to you, you go back to Canada and cross back into the US, going through immigration to get your TN visa (if all goes well). If you want a longer term visa (H1B) then the company has to do it for you. If they don't know how/don't want to, there isn't much you can do about it. For them to get an H1B visa they have to jump through a lot of hoops, including advertising the position and interviewing any possible candidates that are US citizens (to make sure non-citizens aren't taking away jobs from citizens).

I'd go the TN route if your degree qualifies. There's info on the net about TN (trade NAFTA) visas and the kinds of degrees that qualify.

Good luck and remember to take the advice of internet strangers with a grain of salt. =)
Lisa

Ah dear, maybe they should start a separate group for People Who Were Silly Enough to Fall In Love With Someone Across the Border (myself included).

My bf's in the States - I'm visiting him - and I despair over ever finding work down here. I'm university educated with a few year's work experience, but don't know about meeting the TN visa requirements. It feels impossible.

thank god I found this site and the Yahoo group someone mentioned. I hope we can all help each other out.

Hi,
I'm a canuck and i've been here for 6 years, came in to visit my folks for vacation 2 weeks, got a job and then went up to the border 13 hour drive to get my TN, now i'm on an H1-B (which is a better type of visa and easily handled by experienced immigration lawyers for a couple thou).
If you have any questions regarding either of those things i'd be happy to respond.

Finding a job when i came here originally was much easier, i got one job through a recruiter in 97 then switched to a job i found in the paper in 98 (different state). It definitely helps that you have someone supportive here while you are looking.....and unfortunately the americans have been busy destroying their awesome economy...so jobs just aren't what they were...but you know it's all about connections, making a personal impression, some people just don't care where you're from...and a lot of the bigger companies don't discriminate based on national origin (a new one eh?). You may want to try applying at big corporations that have chain stores on both sides of the border.

Good luck.

Hi Suzy,

thanks for your response. I have loads of questions and just as much desperation!

I'm trying to find work in California doing anything related to information design. the problem is finding jobs in this economy - no surprise there - and that every job ad gets hundreds of responses. also I'm kind of stuck in my situation:

a) not enough education to qualify for anything but entry or junior level (I have a B.A. and some certificates but not the formal training)
b) not enough work experience in my field (only a year's worth of professional consulting experience).

I can try targetting the bigger companies if they're more sympathetic to hiring Canadians. Was your experience with a recruiter any good? can they help find the companies willing to hire Canucks? Even on the job sites I'm seeing that some of the bigger companies are now stating in the job ads "will not sponsor H-1Bs". I probably have to start networking, but dread that step. I may have to go back to school, but can't AFFORD that step!

anyway, thanks for the posting. here's hoping something turns up (or that I make something turn up).

The job market just isn't what it was in 1997-2000 I don't care what Bush tries to feed the masses.

My experience with recruiters isn't good here in a big city (I'm in Phila), they have jobs to fill and commissions to collect and the easiest point from A-B is how they do that. They also don't know / want to know about the whole sponsorship H1-B / TN issue so don't go there unless they talk about it. Try to get in front of the employer, get their interest and then talk turkey (so to speak).

If you are in Information Design do i take that to mean Program & Application Development? (a lot of which is being outsourced to third world countries)? Good luck, there are jobs that will remain here but you just have to find the company or (create your own!). I forsee that not really working out great unless the company is huge but we'll see.

Actually the fact that you have limited experience will work in your favour with a bigger company here. They want grads so to speak or people starting on the bottom rung, they are busy laying off the senior and mid level people. Apply at some big companies....I recently filled out an ING application and they actually specifically asked about my status which is unusual. Try some small non-profits as well, they may be willing to go through the hoops because nobody wants the job.

You also will find that certain organizations like Hospitals, Universities are accustomed to and not against going through this process for employees since they do it for other difficult to fill positions like Doctors/Nurses/Profs/grad students etc.

I assume you know about posting your resume on Monster.com Hotjobs etc., try to find also a job board specific to your field, that is where you might get some better contacts.